The Steelers have requested to interview two coaches from Sean McVay's staff with the Rams: Passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase and defensive coordinator Chris Shula.
While he's not a name with which a lot of people in Pittsburgh will be familiar, Scheelhaase is one of the more interesting coaches in this particular cycle. He's already been requested by the Ravens, Browns and Raiders for head coach interviews. The Steelers are the fourth team to request an interview.
Scheelhaase, 35, coached at Iowa State for six seasons, helping develop a number of players that would be drafted to the NFL, including Brock Purdy, Breece Hall, Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel. McVay snagged him ahead of the 2024 NFL season, and he's served as both offensive assistant and passing game specialist in his first year, then was promoted to passing game coordinator for 2025. As teams keep trying to find fruitful branches from the McVay tree, especially on the offensive side of the ball, Scheelhaase seems to be one of the latest favorites.
Here's a look at just one thing Scheelhaase has done for McVay over the past two seasons:
For those who want the Steelers to go after someone from the Kyle Shanahan/McVay trees but also is okay with the franchise's precedent to lean toward the defensive side of the ball, Shula might be your candidate.
The grandson of legendary Dolphins coach Don Shula, Chris has coached under McVay ever since he was hired to be the Rams' head coach in 2017. And, he's held just about every position imaginable on the defensive side, including assistant linebackers coach (2017-18), outside linebackers coach (2019-2020), linebackers coach (2021), pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach (2022), pass rush coordinator & linebackers coach (2023) and finally defensive coordinator for the past two seasons. Shula is also just 39 years old, fitting the same mold as when both Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin were initially hired by the Steelers: Young, never had head coaching experience and lean toward the defensive side of the ball.
While the Rams' peripheral defensive stats aren't eye-popping (17th in total defense, 10th in scoring), a deeper look shows they've been one of the more efficient units in the NFL this season. The finished third in red zone efficiency and drives that ended in a turnover, fifth in takeaways, sixth in points against per drive, seventh in EPA/play, success rate, sacks and third down efficiency.
THE ASYLUM
Steelers request to interview two Rams coaches
The Steelers have requested to interview two coaches from Sean McVay's staff with the Rams: Passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase and defensive coordinator Chris Shula.
While he's not a name with which a lot of people in Pittsburgh will be familiar, Scheelhaase is one of the more interesting coaches in this particular cycle. He's already been requested by the Ravens, Browns and Raiders for head coach interviews. The Steelers are the fourth team to request an interview.
Scheelhaase, 35, coached at Iowa State for six seasons, helping develop a number of players that would be drafted to the NFL, including Brock Purdy, Breece Hall, Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel. McVay snagged him ahead of the 2024 NFL season, and he's served as both offensive assistant and passing game specialist in his first year, then was promoted to passing game coordinator for 2025. As teams keep trying to find fruitful branches from the McVay tree, especially on the offensive side of the ball, Scheelhaase seems to be one of the latest favorites.
Here's a look at just one thing Scheelhaase has done for McVay over the past two seasons:
For those who want the Steelers to go after someone from the Kyle Shanahan/McVay trees but also is okay with the franchise's precedent to lean toward the defensive side of the ball, Shula might be your candidate.
The grandson of legendary Dolphins coach Don Shula, Chris has coached under McVay ever since he was hired to be the Rams' head coach in 2017. And, he's held just about every position imaginable on the defensive side, including assistant linebackers coach (2017-18), outside linebackers coach (2019-2020), linebackers coach (2021), pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach (2022), pass rush coordinator & linebackers coach (2023) and finally defensive coordinator for the past two seasons. Shula is also just 39 years old, fitting the same mold as when both Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin were initially hired by the Steelers: Young, never had head coaching experience and lean toward the defensive side of the ball.
While the Rams' peripheral defensive stats aren't eye-popping (17th in total defense, 10th in scoring), a deeper look shows they've been one of the more efficient units in the NFL this season. The finished third in red zone efficiency and drives that ended in a turnover, fifth in takeaways, sixth in points against per drive, seventh in EPA/play, success rate, sacks and third down efficiency.
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