Getty Sean McVay looks to the field on November 13, 2022.
Sean McVay is already in the process of losing assistant Jake Peetz to the college football realm, as Pete Thamel of ESPN reported on Wednesday, November 30 Peetz will soon go from the Los Angeles Rams to the University of Nebraska.
Peetz may not be the only staff member loss for the Rams. Other names have been linked or called upon by fans to other coaching openings across the league and in college football. And that includes one who is one of the younger assistants on McVay’s staff.
Fan Base Wants Rams Assistant to Return to Lonestar State
One of the most prominent openings down in the Southeastern Conference is Texas A&M’s offensive coordinator position.
The reason? Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher — who once coached a young Jalen Ramsey at Florida State — recently fired his offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey on November 28. Dickey also served as the Aggies’ tight ends coach. Things unraveled quickly in College Station for the Aggies: They went from top 10 program to start the year to finishing seventh overall in the SEC West division. Included in their 5-7 season? The stunning 17-14 loss to Appalachian State that dropped them out of the top 10.
Now that Dickey is out, members of college football’s version of the “12th man” fan base want a current Rams assistant with Texas ties to come over: Ra’Shaad Samples, running back coach for L.A.
“I’d think outside the box and take a look at Ra’shaad Samples. Young guy (27), worked his way up Fast under Dykes at SMU, now at LA Rams. Not sure if he’d be ready to call plays, but his fast ascension indicates promise, and youth could help him have energy to recruit,” one fan stated on Twitter.
Another fan “called his shot” on Texas A&M luring in the former college RB coach Samples.
Okay, calling the shot on the next A&M coordinator. Where there’s smoke….
Brian Hartline – Co-OC, passing game coordinator
Ra’Shaad Samples – Co-OC, running game coordinator
One more fan sent a tweet out to Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork to hire Samples.
Even 247Sports website GigEm247 (the site that covers the Aggies through the CBS Sports Network), has forum board posts hoping Samples comes on board.
The Texas A&M fans are saying their OC fired himself for being a non play caller OC and putting his job in Jimbo Fisher hands. It’s his own fault he got fired.🥴 Hire Ra’Shaad Samples. No way in hell Samples is going to A&M to regress his career under a burning Jimbo Fisher.
Samples, 27, has deep ties to the Lonestar State. Before joining McVay’s staff in 2022, Samples spent three seasons at Southern Methodist University under Sonny Dykes — who now has Texas Christian one game away from winning the Big 12 title with an undefeated record. He was also the program’s recruiting coordinator at SMU in 2020. Samples also has a background as a wide receivers coach — a position he held at the University of Texas in 2018 under former Longhorns head coach Tom Herman (now hired on at Florida Atlantic).
While fans at Texas A&M crave Samples to be Fisher’s new OC and leave his post with the Rams, Thomas Brown — who shares coaching duties with Samples in the backfield and is assistant head coach of the Rams — was revealed to be interested in Arizona State and its head coaching opening per CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd on November 22. The Sun Devils have since filled their head coaching vacancy with Kenny Dillingham.
Another Rams Assistant Was Linked to a Now Filled Power 5 Opening
Georgia Tech has now decided on interim head coach Brent Key to take the head coaching reins. But were the Yellow Jackets interested in potentially plucking from McVay’s staff?
According to the Atlanta Constitution-Journal on November 22, Henderson was listed as “a possibility” for the opening. Then the following day, Richard Johnson of Sports Illustrated said Henderson’s name was involved in the search “according to a source close to the search process.” A move would’ve brought Henderson back to his college alma mater and coach against the Atlantic Coast Conference against the likes of FSU, Clemson and North Carolina.
Lastly, Kentucky sports radio personality Matt Jones of KSR revealed that the University of Kentucky is “inquiring as to the possibility” of a return for Liam Coen to the Wildcats. Coen was last with UK before joining McVay’s staff as the 2022 offensive coordinator.