Rams make another coaching hire, this time taking someone away from the Seahawks?

Rams hire Sean Desai in a defensive role under Chris Shula

The Seattle Seahawks have poached a number of coaches from Sean McVay, including Shane Waldron and Andy Dickerson three years ago and then most recently Jake Peetz, but this time there is a coach going the other way. Sort of. The L.A. Rams are expected to hire veteran coach Sean Desai as a senior defensive assistant, two years after he was working for Pete Carroll in Seattle and then most recently as the demoted defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles.

A Vic Fangio disciple from the Chicago Bears, Desai can now assist first-time defensive coordinator Chris Shula as the Rams prepare for life after Raheem Morris, now the head coach of the Falcons.

The 40-year-old Desai was with the Bears from 2013-2021, serving as defensive coordinator in his final year with the team. He was let go after that season and hired by Carroll to be an associate head coach and have a role on defense under former Chicago colleague Clint Hurtt. The team lost Desai after the season when Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni made him the new defensive coordinator to replace Jonathan Gannon after he left for the Arizona Cardinals and when Philadelphia was unable to retain Fangio because they thought Gannon was staying, giving Fangio enough time to be hired by the Dolphins.

When the Eagles had one of the worst defenses in the NFL in 2023, Sirianni demoted Desai and promoted Matt Patricia to defensive coordinator which fixed…nothing. The Eagles fired Desai and Patricia (technically Patricia’s contract ran out) and the Dolphins allowed Fangio to leave Miami to return to Philadelphia.

Desai now joins the McVay tree, a move that has been beneficial for other coaches on hard times in the past. Consider where Raheem Morris was after his stint with the Atlanta Falcons and now he’s the head coach of the Falcons. Kevin O’Connell was better off after being the offensive coordinator for the Rams. Mike LaFleur has seen a rebound in his career after one season as the OC.

Desai also spent two years overlapped with former Rams DC Brandon Staley when the two worked for Fangio in Chicago.