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Teams with star power are going to be known to have some unique personalities. And the Los Angeles Rams are loaded with various personas.
Some come with bravado (Jalen Ramsey), others will have a blue collar attitude (Aaron Donald), some will bring a cerebral side (Bobby Wagner), and even the leader of the coaching staff (Sean McVay) has his honest and masterful side that fuels his persona.
But there’s one man who’s been on the “bright and dynamic” side who is new to the Super Bowl 56 champions. And per one Rams insider on Thursday, July 14, this newcomer, whose under the age of 30, has already found a way to win over his veteran players without playing alongside them.
This newcomer is also not a player, but a coach.
Coach is Filling a Spot Vacated by Popular Member of Rams Staff
Jourdan Rodrigue unveiled the state of the Rams’ running back room as part of her position-by-position previews for The Athletic on Thursday, July 14.
But the Rams insider didn’t just wrote down how Cam Akers is coming back from injury or how Jake Funk looks more “solidly built” from his rookie season. She gave a description of how the champs are adjusting to life without longtime RB coach Thomas Brown, who’s now with the tight ends.
In Brown’s place: Ra’Shaad Samples, who is in his first NFL coaching gig after spending his headset career in the college ranks.
The 27-year-old Samples comes over with zero ties to the Rams and no previous tie-in to McVay or his coaching tree. However, per Rodrigue, he has shown that he doesn’t need the resume to win over members of the Rams and the unit he will soon coach up. It also turns out that Samples is much like his RB coach predecessor according to Rodrigue.
“So far, Samples seem like a bright and dynamic coach who, similar to Brown, is able to quickly develop strong relationships with his players,” Rodrigue wrote.
One Hint at Possible ‘Intriguing Marriage’
Here’s another reason why Samples’ hire is considered an outside the box-type hire by numerous NFL analysts: He comes over from a system not known for running the ball and not beating teams off of balance.
That’s because Samples is considered a disciple of the Air Raid offense — a popular pass first offense that has produced notable NFL names like Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray at quarterback, plus is known to be a wide receiver friendly system.
The Rams have a scheme that looks nothing like what Texas Tech, Oklahoma or what Texas Christian and Southern Methodist ran when the latter two schools had Samples on the coaching staff. However, Rodrigue has reason to believe that this “intriguing marriage” involving Samples could occur this season when the Rams are putting together plays.
“His influences as a coach and player in the Air Raid at a college level could lend to an intriguing marriage to the Sean McVay/Kyle Shanahan system,” Rodrigue said.
However, Rodrigue said that it’s only mere speculation if there will be some Air Raid concepts with Samples on board, writing “but we don’t yet know what the possibilities are for Samples and his young group of running backs.”
But for the most part, the past “elite level recruiter” from the college game has brought a bright and dynamic persona to a team filled with different personality traits.
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