Three things to know about Chris Shula, the Rams assistant who interviewed for the Dolphins head coach vacancy on Friday

Strong series of coaching connections & mentors

The Los Angeles Rams' website recently put out an excellent piece of Shula and his mentors — none of which are named Shula. It is, of course, worth noting the influence his family ties had on his career in football. But Shula spent three seasons in Los Angeles as an understudy of Wade Phillips from 2017-2019. Phillips, of course, is the son of former NFL head coach Bum Phillips, took his first NFL job in 1976 and enjoyed stints as a head coach with the Saints (1985, interim), the Broncos (1993-1994), the Bills (1998-2000), the Falcons. (2003, interim), the Cowboys (2007-2010), and the Texans (2013, interim). Phillips was crowned the AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year in 2015 with the Denver Broncos.

Brandon Staley and Raheem Morris are other young coaches who didn't successfully land their respective head coaching opportunities in recent years but both are well-respected defensive coaches in the league who overlapped with Shula these past 10 years with the Rams. Staley, incredibly, preceded Shula as Division III school John Carroll's defensive coordinator in 2013 (Shula took over in 2014).

And coach with a defensive background is also going to require connections on the offensive side of the ball. Shula picked a great guy to buddy up with at Miami (Ohio) during his college playing years. He and McVay go all the way back to 2004 when Shula arrived on campus. McVay has pushed so many coaches out into the NFL from his staff, Shula will have that working for him in an effort to assemble a sound assistant staff on the offensive side for any team that puts in the call for him as their head coach.

Chris Shula's coaching career

• Ball State: Assistant LB coach (2010)
• Indiana: Grad assistant (2011-2013)
• John Carroll: Defensive coordinator (2014)
• San Diego Chargers: Defensive quality control (2015-2016)
• Los Angeles Rams: Assistant LB coach (2017-2018)
• Los Angeles Rams: Outside LB coach (2019-2020)
• Los Angeles Rams: LB coach (2021)
• Los Angeles Rams: Pass game coordinator & DBs coach (2022)
• Los Angeles Rams: Pass rush coordinator & LB coach (2023)
• Los Angeles Rams: Defensive coordinator (2024-present)

Making the most of what he's given

The Rams' starting secondary is comprised of: a fourth-round pick in 2022, a sixth-round pick in 2022, an undrafted rookie from the 2024 season, a former first-round pick bust claimed off the waiver wire in December of 2024, and a free agent playing on a $4.5 million per season deal. There's no star player here.

The linebackers? Troy Reeder was an undrafted rookie in 2019 who latched on with the team under Shula's guidance, pin-balled to the Chargers and Vikings before returning to the Rams. Another undrafted rookie in Shaun Dolac from this year's class. ANOTHER undrafted rookie in Omar Speights, who is a starter and playing in his second NFL season, and free agent signing Nate Landman, who signed a three-year, $22.5 million contract with the Rams in March.

Even on the defensive line, the draft investments for Shula's front include:

- One first-round pick: Jared Verse (2024)
- One second-round pick: Braden Fiske (2024)
- Three third-round picks: Kobie Turner (2023), Byron Young (2023), Josaiah Stewart (2025)
- Two fifth-round picks: Nick Hampton (2023), Ty Hamilton (2025)

Plus 2025 free agent signing Poona Ford, who is in the first year of a three-year, $27.6 million contract. There's no Aaron Donald here. There's no Jalen Ramsey here. There's no Von Miller here. This is a Rams defense that is 29th in the NFL in cash spending in 2025. In 2024, they were 28th in cash spent ($45.4 million in payroll). And despite all of this youth, the Rams, since the start of the 2024 season when Chris Shula took over as the defensive coordinator, rank 8th in the NFL in defensive EPA per game. They're third in defensive red zone efficiency. 10th in defensive success rate. Third in total pressures (fourth in pressure rate) while blitzing at the 4th lowest frequency in the league. Sixth in percentage of opponent dropbacks that end in sacks. And seventh in takeaways (50).

If you see 'Shula' and your brain stops there, you're doing it wrong.

The scheme

The Rams, under Shula, do not blitz a ton. They rank fourth lowest in blitz rate over the last two years (19.8%). You want to play for this defensive front, you need athletic disruptors up front. The hallmark players in the front are Verse, Fiske, Turner, and Young. They're all compact, powerful, explosive rushers who can collapse blockers and squeeze the pocket or shoot a gap and penetrate the pocket.

It is predominantly a zone scheme; nearly 80% of the coverage calls over the past two seasons have been some variation of zone. They're top-eight in QQH (quarter, quarter, half) split field coverage — the staple of the Vic Fangio scheme. They're also top-8 in Cover 3 and Cover 2. The Rams force opposing quarterbacks to conduct a lot of their work post-snap via coverage rotations. The hope is that they can slow down the timing of the quarterback and allow that disruptive front to get home to the quarterback.

And they are not afraid to play light. The Rams are among the league leaders over the past two seasons of playing 'DIME' personnel, with six defensive backs on the field at once. A collection of diverse inside/outside coverage defenders with the ability to play eyes to the quarterback is the key.

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