LOS ANGELES — It’s the start of practice, and Nate Scheelhaase has some pep in his step.
Scheelhaase, the new Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator, is bouncing around the field. The 35-year-old pedals back into coverage, simulating a defensive back to give his tight ends a good look as they run routes with the quarterbacks, stopping a player to correct footwork or offer a word of encouragement.
Scheelhaase’s energy and enthusiasm are something that doesn’t go unnoticed by his boss, Los Angeles head coach Sean McVay.
“He’s done a great job,” McVay told me. “He’s got great organizational skills, great communication skills. He shows great leadership to be able to bring people together. He’s got a great capacity for the game, and he’s continuing to learn the foundation of some of the things we’ve been doing. But he’s been awesome. And I’ve been really pleased with the job he’s done.”
The former University of Illinois quarterback is the latest offensive assistant of the McVay coaching tree expected to springboard to stardom as an NFL head coach. Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals), Liam Coen (Jacksonville Jaguars), Matt LaFleur (Green Bay Packers), Mike LaFleur (Arizona Cardinals) and Kevin O’Connell (Minnesota Vikings) are all current head coaches who served as offensive coordinators for McVay, while Brandon Staley (ex-Los Angeles Chargers head coach) and Raheem Morris (ex-Atlanta Falcons head coach) are defensive coordinators who moved on to earn head coaching jobs in the league.
“You just learn how to communicate with people on a clear and concise level,” Coen told me when asked what he learned from McVay. “Obviously, you learn the schematics and techniques of all three phases. But honestly, I think what makes Sean different is just the way he can connect with people — white, black, purple, green, rich, poor, from here or there — it doesn’t matter. Sean can connect, and I think that’s something you always appreciate about learning from him.”
Scheelhaase interviewed for head coaching jobs in Baltimore, Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Las Vegas during the last hiring cycle. But he returned to take on the offensive coordinator role in Los Angeles, replacing Mike LaFleur. Scheelhaase understands he’s a work in progress, as he looks to add value to a loaded roster considered to be a heavy favorite to win the Super Bowl.
“What doesn’t change in this game and being involved in it is you feel like you’re one piece of the puzzle, and your contribution can make an impact,” Scheelhaase told me. “That was one of the things that excited you as a player to be in the locker room. And a lot of guys stepped into coaching for that reason — to be a part of something bigger than themselves. That’s what I love about coaching, being able to make an impact. And it looks different based on the role that you have or based on the position you play. But it matters.
“It matters from our head coach to our backup left guard, to our athletic trainers and to the people that are making our food in the morning. So, being able to own my role and make meaningful contributions is a huge deal to me.”
Sean McVay has the most extensive coaching tree in the NFL with former Rams OC and current Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell being one of his five former assistants to hold a head coaching job this season. (Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
How Scheelhaase’s Coaching Journey Began As A Player
Tony Severino, a recently retired legendary head coach at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri, told me he saw something in Scheelhaase as an aspiring player at his football camp.
“I saw something special in him back then,” Severino said. “He’s one of the first freshmen we ever started. He started in the secondary and at slot receiver because we had a senior at quarterback. Midway through his sophomore year, we put him at quarterback, and he was special, and then whenever we needed him on defense at safety. He was always a great football player.”
Scheelhaase told me he got his foundation from playing for Severino. Along with Severino, Scheelhaase said he also got his first football education from his parents, former University of Iowa defensive back Nate Creer and LouAnn Scheelhaase.
“My dad was my coach, and my mom was the head video coordinator,” Scheelhaase told me. “She had the video recorder in the crowd. We’d play on Saturday and watch on Sunday after the game.
“I learned the behind-the-scenes parts after games could make a huge impact on what you were trying to do on the field. You could learn and become a better player from the behind-the-scenes stuff. So, I think somewhere inside me, it created an appreciation for everything that happened before the snap, and so that carried on. He coached me all the way through eighth grade.”
Nathan Scheelhaase was a four-starter at Illinois, playing against the likes of Kirk Cousins. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/Getty Images)
Scheelhaase describes his father as a survivor. Creer grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised by an older sister after losing both parents at 10 years old. From that, Scheelhaase said he learned how to grind and battle through adversity from his parents, who sold their house and moved to Illinois to be closer to him when he played football in college.
“He knows how to work,” Scheelhaase told me about his father. “He’s worked warehouse jobs his whole life, freaking third shift. And knowing a little bit of where he comes from, I have a lot of gratitude for where I’m at and what I get to do here. So, I think you learn a lot, not only from the football side but how to work.
“My mom is the same way. My mom is a stud. I was able to go to private school that was out of our budget because she freaking took a job that was not her favorite, but she knew she could make enough money to get me through high school at the place that I wanted to go to school. She is meaningful in probably every character piece that I have and still is to this day. I’ve got awesome parents. And certainly, on the human side, but also on the football side, I’m super grateful for them.”
A Natural Leader
Scheelhaase, who was a four-year starter at Illinois, holds the program record for total yards with 10,634, and while things didn’t always go as he would like, Scheelhaase played his best when the game mattered the most, according to Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm, who served as one of the four offensive coordinators he worked with at Illinois.
“Nathan was intelligent, very bright,” Brohm told me. “He was a very good teammate, supportive of everybody — even the guys he was going against. To be quite honest, he performed better on game day than he did at practice. He was a guy who always came through in the game, had a lot of grit, toughness and character – and those things always showed up in the game and helped us win.”
Brohm pointed to two performances in bowl games by Scheelhaase that were key moments in his rise. He led Illinois to wins over Robert Griffin III in the Texas Bowl in 2010 before a victory over UCLA in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl a year later, earning MVP honors in the latter.
Nate Scheelhaase threw for a touchdown and ran for 110 yards in Illinois’ win over UCLA in the 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
As Scheelhaase had a strong college career, he credited his playing days for helping him succeed so far as a coach. Scheelhaase said playing quarterback from youth football to college helped him see and coach the game through a quarterback lens.
“Obviously, the quarterback is the trigger man; he’s going to make a meaningful impact on the offense and the team at large,” Scheelhaase told me. “I think anytime you can view things through his lens as a starting point, it’s going to just give you a good barometer of where to go and what to do as far as what should we put into the install? How should we schedule our offseason programming? And what’s going to ultimately be on the third-down game plan?
“So, if you’re always viewing things through his lens — as far as are we providing clarity for him and are we putting him in the best position to be successful – it’s the lens in which I view the game.”
Severino echoed Scheelhaase’s sentiment, believing the player he once coached in camp was ready to take on the challenge of coaching due to his playing background.
“Quarterback is kind of like a catcher,” Severino told me. “A catcher sees the whole game out in front of them, and they make great Major League managers. Quarterbacks, a lot of times, if they’re good people, they make great leaders. And they become good head coaches.”
How Scheelhaase Found His Coaching Voice
After his playing career was over, Scheelhaase said he earned his first full-time job as a running backs coach for head coach Matt Campbell at Iowa State in 2018 after a few years on Illinois’ coaching staff. Scheelhaase spent six seasons with the Cyclones, coaching running backs and receivers before ultimately being promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, where he helped to groom Brock Purdy and Rocco Becht.
Campbell, who is now the head coach at Penn State, remembers how infectious Scheelhaase’s personality was when he was at Iowa State.
“No. 1, he galvanizes the players, galvanizes the people around him,” Campbell told me. “There’s a humility and curiosity with how he comes in and really tries to grow himself and the people around him in football. And then I think the second thing I really appreciate about him is he just has a sense of trust and leadership.
“He just had this ability to lead in a positive way, and I think everyone around him felt that.”
Nate Scheelhaase cut his teeth in coaching as an assistant at Iowa State. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
That personality allowed Scheelhaase to form a close bond with Campbell. In fact, Scheelhaase, his wife Morgan and his family went on a vacation with Campbell’s family to Hawaii once.
It was moments like those that Scheelhaase shared with Campbell that the new Rams offensive coordinator credited with helping build his foundation as a coach.
“He helped to form a lot of who I’ve become as a coach,” Scheelhaase told me about Campbell. “The way to do it, the way to treat people, the way to come to work every day, the way to go about it with the right mindset — which is how you can put players and people in the best position to be successful. And pouring everything you’ve got to help that happen. I learned a whole lot and will forever be indebted to him. He’s the man.”
Scheelhaase has continued that building process with the Rams. McVay allowed him to call plays during preseason games the last two years, and he’s constantly working to help Los Angeles find an edge that will help them on game day.
An example of that last season included daily work with receiver Konata Mumpfield, which led to the rookie contributing to L.A.’s NFC Championship run last season.
“Mumpfield was a rookie receiver who is really talented and has continued to make a great impact for us,” Scheelhaase told me. “But we started utilizing him on third down, and he was really our third receiver on third down. I can remember behind the scenes working with him in walk-through practice just so he had a great idea of the concepts we were running and how he fit in the puzzle before he was even playing. This was probably seven, eight or nine weeks before he may have been out there in those situations, but behind the scenes he was working.
“And then seeing him get into a Sunday night game against Tampa and Matthew [Stafford] hit him on a bottom in-cut, and you’re feeling such as you have been in a position to contribute to assist create readability for him, which is clearly our job as coaches.”
Now, Scheelhaase ought to have much more say within the Rams’ offense in 2026. He is shortly risen by the ranks of McVay’s workers, going from offensive assistant and passing sport specialist in 2024 to go sport coordinator in 2025 earlier than his promotion to offensive coordinator over the offseason.
Nate Scheelhaase has added responsbilities in 2026, getting promoted to offensive coordinator. (Photograph by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-Information through Getty Photos)
However Scheelhaase mentioned he has already had the liberty to search out his position and voice as a coach, crediting McVay as he mentioned that is one of many Rams head coach’s secret sauces.
“There’s a lot extra to it than the X and Os,” Scheelhaase instructed me. “The best way he builds a tradition within the NFL the place individuals matter, and connection issues, is one in all our secret sauces, for positive. And the best way he brings up leaders and permits them to see behind the scenes, have the ability to see behind the scenes and study, to listen to his ideas and the way he’s pondering. How he strikes and the way he operates all through the course of a 12 months, I’ve been lucky sufficient to simply be a sponge and have the ability to absorb a ton of perception in these conditions. That’s part of it.”
McVay nonetheless stays the offensive playcaller for the Rams in 2026. That should not deter groups from pursuing Scheelhaase as a head coach candidate subsequent offseason, although, if all the things goes proper this 12 months. It actually hasn’t stopped groups from pursuing McVay disciples up to now, both, because the likes of Kevin O’Connell and Mike LaFleur did not name performs below the Rams head coach earlier than getting head coach alternatives themselves.
And whereas McVay nonetheless holds onto playcalling duties, it is the best way he leads that Scheelhaase is paying attention to as he probably turns into the subsequent McVay disciple to develop into a head coach.
“He is aware of what the foundational items on this sport are all the time going to be, and he’s prepared to double down on these issues time and time once more,” Scheelhaase instructed me. “I don’t suppose he’s making an attempt to chase a distinct id. I don’t suppose he’s making an attempt to chase what possibly any person else is doing.
“However I believe he has a fantastic perception in what it seems wish to be a profitable group, and what that emphasis seems like all year long. It’s not simply within the fall, nevertheless it’s a 365-day-a-year job, and I believe he’s bought that mapped out fairly darn properly for what’s necessary.”
