Coaches for teams in the wild card round won’t be available for head coaching interviews until next week and one of the assistants who is seen as likely to see some interest is Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula.
Shula is in his second year as a coordinator and he’s been with the Rams since 2017. Being a Sean McVay assistant is generally a good path to a head coaching job and Shula adds to that by being McVay’s college roommate as well as the grandson of the legendary Don Shula.
On Wednesday, Shula said he took time during the summer and the team’s bye week to prepare for potential head coaching interviews. That’s allowed him to be “locked in on that routine” ahead of this week’s game against the Panthers while waiting to see “if the right situation presents itself” in this cycle.
“I think that’s the goal of any coach that wants to be in this league,” Shula said, via Greg Beachum of the Associated Press. “That doesn’t mean you’re just going to walk away for any opportunity. I love it here, and my family loves it here. We’ve been here nine, 10 years, coaching with my best friend. We obviously have a great group of players and a great staff. So for the right opportunity, we’ll see.”
The Rams defense was part of the reason for the 3-3 finish that ended their hopes of taking the top seed in the NFC, but a rebound in Carolina would put them right where they want to be and it wouldn’t do anything to hurt Shula’s chances of making the next step up the coaching ladder.
