Hall of Famer's grandson named new defensive coordinator for Rams

Shula is a familiar name in NFL circles and there's now another one rising up the ranks hoping to make a name for himself like the coaches in his family before him.

It's being reported by ESPN that the Rams have promoted pass-rush coordinator/linebackers coach Chris Shula to defensive coordinator. He'll be replacing Raheem Morris, who is now the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.

Shula has heavy ties to Rams head coach Sean McVay, so this is a move that makes sense. He and McVay played college ball together at Miami (Ohio) from 2004-07. 

Shula started his coaching career as an assistant linebackers coach at Ball State in 2010 and got his break as a defensive coordinator for John Carrol in 2014. That led him to the NFL, where he served as a defensive quality control coach for the San Diego Chargers before being swooped up by McVay in 2017 as an assistant linebackers coach.

Shula has been with McVay ever since, serving as L.A.'s outside linebackers coach in 2019-20, linebackers coach in 2021, pass-game coordinator/defensive backs coach in 2022 and as mentioned, most recently as the Rams' pass-rush coordinator/linebacker's coach.

Shula is undoubtedly very much in tune with McVay's defensive goals and he was an intriguing candidate across the league. In fact, the Miami Dolphins wanted to interview him for their vacant defensive-coordinating job.

He seems to make sense for the Rams, but a Dolphins hiring would have been an ironic twist of fate for Shula. His great grandfather, Don Shula, had a Hall of Fame coaching career with the Dolphins. He was head coach in Miami for 26 seasons, winning Super Bowls in 1972 and 1973.

Chris Shula's father, David Shula, was also an NFL head coach – for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1992-96.