The Rams have requested permission from the Atlanta Falcons to speak with quarterbacks coach Matt LaFleur about becoming their new offensive coordinator, according to an NFL source. And barring any snags, the club is expected to soon hire the 37-year-old LaFleur to run their offense.
LaFleur has spent the past two years as an assistant in Atlanta under former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who was hired by the San Francisco 49ers on Monday as their new head coach.
LaFleur had spent the previous six seasons as an offensive quality control assistant with the Houston Texans and the quarterbacks coach with the Washington Redskins and at Notre Dame.
If the hire becomes complete, the Rams will have triple-downed on their quarterback development expertise this offseason with the hiring of head coach Sean McVay, LaFleur and new quarterbacks coach Greg Olsen.
The hope is to expedite the development of second-year quarterback Jared Goff, whom the Rams chose with the first pick overall in last April’s draft after trading six picks to move into the top spot.
LaFleur, who worked with McVay when both were assistants with the Redskins from 2011-2013, is credited with helping the development of Redskins quarterbacks Robert Griffin III and Kirk Cousins and with helping Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan produce the best season of his career in 2016.
LaFleur’s only experience as an offensive coordinator came at Ashland University in 2007. And he hasn’t called plays at the NFL level.
That inexperience will be mitigated with the Rams as McVay is expected to have a significant hand in the offense and will almost certainly call plays,
The Falcons, incidentally, hired former USC head coach Steve Sarkisian as their offensive coordinator to replace Shanahan on Tuesday. In doing so, it eliminated LaFleur as a candidate for the position and made the Falcons granting permission to the Rams to talk with him virtually a certainty.
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