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Nacua on Stafford's return announcement: 'I almost did a front flip' (1:57)
Puka Nacua joins "The Pat McAfee Show" to discuss his relationship with Matthew Stafford and the veteran's return at QB for the Rams. (1:57)
Sarah BarshopFeb 20, 2026, 07:58 AM ET
- Sarah Barshop covers the Los Angeles Rams for ESPN. She joined ESPN in 2016 to cover the Green Bay Packers for ESPN Milwaukee. She then moved to Houston to cover the Texans. She came to ESPN after working as a writer and editor for Sports Illustrated.
The Los Angeles Rams are promoting passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase to offensive coordinator and making quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone their co-offensive coordinator/QB coach, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Friday.
Scheelhaase, 35, remained with the Rams after interviewing for five head coaching jobs during the offseason.
The Rams had the top offense in the NFL last season and are bringing back quarterback Matthew Stafford, who announced when he accepted the NFL MVP Award that he would return for 2026.
Los Angeles needed a new offensive coordinator after Mike LaFleur was hired by the Arizona Cardinals in early February. The Rams have had four offensive coordinators under coach Sean McVay -- Matt LaFleur (2017), Kevin O'Connell (2020-21), Liam Coen (2022) and Mike LaFleur (2023-25) -- and all four have become head coaches, as did quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor. They did not have an offensive coordinator for the two seasons between Matt LaFleur and O'Connell, and McVay calls plays and leads the design of the offense.
Among his responsibilities in Los Angeles, Scheelhaase was tasked with literally drawing the offensive plays taught to the Rams for each week's game plan -- a detail-oriented job previously held by several Rams assistants who went on to bigger things. He will now lead an offensive staff that brought in former Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury earlier this month.
Before he was hired by the Rams in 2024, Scheelhaase was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Iowa State.
Ragone also joined the Rams in 2024 as quarterbacks coach after serving as Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator for three seasons.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
