The Los Angeles Rams have parted ways with assistant head coach Aubrey Pleasant, who had previously interviewed for other defensive coordinator roles. Head coach Sean McVay indicated the decision was mutual, and it may be linked to the hiring of Kliff Kingsbury and the promotion of Jimmy Lake within the coaching staff.
One of the more surprising revelations from the Los Angeles Rams' 2026 coaching staff announcement was the absence of assistant head coach and passing game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant. While Pleasant had interviewed for multiple defensive coordinator positions elsewhere, he didn't land any of those jobs and also parted ways with the Rams.
Head coach Sean McVay said the decision wasn't easy, but didn't offer any reason why Pleasant wasn't retained other than that it "felt like it was going to be in the best interest of both parties to move on."
Well, The Athletic's Nate Atkins thinks he knows what happened. In his weekly mailbag, Atkins explained that he believes the decision had less to do with Pleasant and more to do with two of the other big assistant changes for 2026: Jimmy Lake and Kliff Kingsbury. Lake was promoted to pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach, while Kingsbury was hired to be the team's assistant head coach.
Atkins surmised that McVay wanted to hire Kingsbury to a more senior role than the vacant passing game coordinator position following Nate Scheelhaase's promotion to offensive coordinator. The only other potential opening was assistant head coach ā which was one half of Pleasant's current role.
Additionally, Atkins wrote that the Rams "have been big believers in Jimmy Lake since they added him as a senior defensive assistant" since they hired him in 2025. Atkins added that the Rams "couldnāt keep him in a role like senior defensive assistant for much longer," which meant he needed to be promoted ... to the other half of Pleasant's position.
And so Pleasantās departure was mostly circumstantial. The Rams have to pull out all the stops to chase a Super Bowl this season, and they donāt feel like they can wait to see whether the coaches they had could adjust schematically and personally to the influx of talent they were bringing in with McDuffie and Jaylen Watson.
The other element Atkins considered was the decline of the Rams' secondary unit in the second half of the season. Atkins wrote that Pleasant was "ultimately a fall guy for the Ramsā lack of investment in this group" following the gaudy passing yard numbers given up this past season, including in the NFC Championship loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
But in a year thatās all about trying to win the Super Bowl with a 38-year-old Matthew Stafford, the Rams couldnāt mess around with this group anymore. That meant leveling up the talent and also finding the best coaching fit for those players, and they believe they have it now since Jimmy Lake recruited and coached McDuffie at Washington. Time will tell if theyāre right.
The loss of Pleasant sounds tough, but it remains to be seen what will actually happen to the defense with his departure. Pleasant's interviews throughout the offseason indicate he has interest in the league, but remains without a role at this point in the offseason.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams insider theorizes why L.A. moved on from Aubrey Pleasant
The Rams' decision to part ways with Aubrey Pleasant was described as mutual by head coach Sean McVay, potentially influenced by the hiring of Kliff Kingsbury and the promotion of Jimmy Lake.
Kliff Kingsbury was hired as the assistant head coach, while Jimmy Lake was promoted to pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach.
Aubrey Pleasant served as the assistant head coach and passing game coordinator before parting ways with the Rams.
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