The move would be a bold one, no doubt about it.
But for a head coach like Sean McVay who's assistants get plucked every year for jobs away from the Rams, veteran head coach Lovie Smith could provide the assistant head coach role the consistency it needs to make McVay and the Rams successful beyond 2025.
Current AHC Aubrey Pleasant was in the running for the Bears defensive coordinator job and once the Saints finalize their head coach situation, Pleasant could once again be in play for New Orleans. Pleasant has also interviewed for the Jaguars DC job after Jacksonville hired former McVay assistant Liam Coen for their head coaching role.
If that happens, Pleasant would be the fourth AHC out of the four McVay has had in eight years to leave the Rams for a coordinator job somewhere else. Joe Barry joined former Rams assistant Matt LaFleur in Green Bay, Thomas Brown became the offensive coordinator in Carolina and Jimmy Lake followed Raheem Morris to Atlanta.
In that scenario, could McVay make a bold call and hire Lovie Smith for the role? Smith, the former head coach of the Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Illinois Fighting Illini served under David Culley as the Texans AHC and defensive coordinator during the 2021 NFL season. Smith would then be elevated to the head coaching position after Culley was controversially fired.
During his time with Houston, despite massive issues with the roster, Smith's defense was a turnover machine, taking the ball away 25 times in 2021. Smith would be controversially fired, making it appear that he was always supposed to be a lame-duck coach as ownership paved the way for DeMeco Ryans to inherit the top job.
If Smith is interested in coaching and McVay needs a new AHC, both men could elevate each other to a championship standard. For some reason, despite having the film and numbers, Smith is not regarded as one of the most brilliant defensive minds in the 21st century. Spoiler alert, he is.
Pleasant played a big role in designing the Rams' defensive game plan and Smith would be able to do the same. Smith is also not likely to leave Los Angeles for another job at his age so like several of McVay's older assistants, Smith could be the answer for the AHC position for the future.
He has head coaching experience, he's been an assistant head coach in the past and he's a winner. What more could McVay want?
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/rams/ as Could Lovie Smith be the Rams Next Assistant Head Coach?.