The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles area of California. The Rams have competed in the National Football League (NFL) since 1937, one year after their formation in Cleveland, Ohio as a charter member of the second incarnation of the American Football League.[1] The team moved to Los Angeles in 1946 where they became the city's first professional sports team.[2] They first played their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before moving to Anaheim, California in 1980, where they played their home games at Anaheim Stadium.[3] The Rams moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1995, and remained there for two decades until they returned to Los Angeles after the 2015 NFL season.[4] Currently, they are members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) and play their home games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.[5][6]
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From among the 28 head coaches throughout the team's history, Sid Gillman, George Allen, and Dick Vermeil were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of their contributions as coaches. Joe Stydahar and Bob Waterfield were also inducted into the Hall of Fame, although they were recognized for their contributions as players, not coaches.[7] Five coaches have been recognized as coach of the year by major news organizations: Adam Walsh in 1945, Pool in 1952, Allen in 1967, Chuck Knox in 1973, Vermeil in 1999, and Sean McVay in 2017.[a]
History
Damon Wetzel was the Rams' first head coach in 1936. Although team was scheduled to play against Boston Shamrocks in the AFL's Championship Game, the Shamrocks forfeited the game after unpaid players on that team declined to participate in it.[1] The Rams then moved to the NFL the following year and hired Hugo Bezdek as their new head coach. During his tenure, however, he coached the team to only a single win in his first year.[12] He was later fired after three games to start the 1938 NFL season and was replaced by assistant coach Art Lewis, for the remainder of the season.[13] The Rams continued to struggle under subsequent head coaches Dutch Clark and Aldo Donelli, none of whom had a winning percentage of over .400.[12] The team finally found success under Adam Walsh who guided the Rams to the franchise's first NFL Championship in 1945. Walsh remained head coach during the team's relocation to Los Angeles before being replaced by Bob Snyder in 1947. His tenure lasted only one season, due to then-owner Dan Reeves firing him prior to the start of the 1949 NFL season and replacing him with newly minted advisor Clark Shaughnessy.[14] For the next three seasons, Shaughnessy and his successor Joe Stydahar, who was previously the team's line coach, led the team to three playoff berths including the franchise's second NFL Championship in 1951.[12][15] The following season, however, tensions between Stydahar and backfield coach Hamp Pool led the former to resign and the latter succeeding him as head coach.[16] Pool led the team to a playoff berth as did his successor Sid Gillman.[12]
After Gillman left to coach the Los Angeles Chargers in the newly formed third incarnation of the American Football League, the team languished from 1960 to 1965 under head coaches Bob Waterfield and Harland Svare whose tenures yielded winning percentages no higher than .279.[17][12] In 1966, the Rams hired George Allen as head coach where he led the team to two playoff berths in five seasons. After Allen stepped down, Tommy Prothro served as head coach for two seasons until he was succeeded by Chuck Knox. From 1973 to 1980, Knox and his successor Ray Malavasi guided the team to seven NFC West division titles and eight playoff berths including an appearance in Super Bowl XIV at the end of the 1979 NFL season, their first in team history. After the 1982 season concluded, Malvasi was replaced by John Robinson.[18] During his time as head coach, Robinson led the team to six playoff berths and one division title. He is still the Rams' leader in years as head coach (9), regular season games coached (143), wins (75) and loses (68).[19] After a 3–13 finish in 1991, Robinson was fired and Knox was rehired as head coach where he remained with the team for three seasons prior to the Rams' relocation to St. Louis.[20][21]
For the Rams first two seasons in St. Louis, Rich Brooks served as head coach before being replaced by Dick Vermeil.[22] Despite two consecutive seasons where the team finished last in their division, Vermeil alongside a rejuvenated offense nicknamed The Greatest Show on Turf led the Rams to a win during Super Bowl XXXIV at the end of the 1999 NFL season, marking the franchise's first Super Bowl title.[23] Upon Vermeil's retirement at the conclusion of the aforementioned season, offensive coordinator Mike Martz was named his replacement, leading the Rams to four playoff berths in five seasons.[24][12] After Martz took a medical leave of absence after five games into the 2005 NFL season, assistant coach Joe Vitt was hired as his replacement for the remainder of the season.[25] From that point on until 2016, the Rams entered a twelve-year period poor results under the leadership of head coaches Scott Linehan, Steve Spagnuolo, and Jeff Fisher, with the latter's tenure occurring during the team's return to Los Angeles. Vitt, Jim Haslett and John Fassel also served as interim head coaches during that period.[12] The Rams fortunes turned around with the hiring of Sean McVay as the 28th and current head coach of the team. Upon his hiring in 2017, he became the youngest head coach in league history.[26] McVay has led the Rams to five playoff berths and a victory in Super Bowl LVI during the 2021 NFL season.[27] The aforementioned win made McVay the youngest head coach to lead a team to a Super Bowl championship.[28]
Head coaches
| † | Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach |
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