Music City Miracles
Chris Shula is the current defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams and is considered one of the hottest head coaching candidates in the NFL right now. Obviously, the Titans would prefer an experienced candidate on the lines of Mike McCarthy, Robert Saleh, or even Brian Flores (all people who we will cover eventually). Still, though, this is going to be a candidate that is seriously looked into during the search. Although the Titans will probably end up choosing experience, they will 100% still look into a first timer that, if impressive enough, might get the job. So now there are many questions to ask, questions about how Shula got here, his positive aspects, his “negative” aspects, and how likely he is to get the job. So, with all that being said, let’s get into the head coaching profile of Chris Shula.
Before getting into the positives and negatives, it is necessary to look at how we got here and why Chris Shula is such a hot head coaching candidate. Well, it all started at Ball State, where he was brought on as an assistant linebackers coach. After a year there, he was brought on as a grad assistant at Indiana, where he would stay for 3 years, and then was brought on as a defensive coordinator for John Carroll, where (after doing the math) his defense only allowed 13 points per game. This caught the attention of the San Diego Chargers, and at the time, head coach Mike McCoy, quite ironic, isn’t it? Anyway, he was hired as a defensive quality control coach and stayed there for the remainder of McCoy’s tenure, and after McCoy was fired, he was brought on to Sean McVay’s staff, where he continued to climb the ladder and eventually became the defensive coordinator. In his tenure as defensive coordinator, he has led the 9th best defense in the NFL both years as coordinator for this unit, according to Statmuse, and that’s why he is considered one of the best head coaching candidates for 2025.
The positives of Chris Shula are some of the best positives among all head coaching candidates in the NFL. First off, he has experience running his side of the ball with Sean McVay being busy with the offense, which is something we could never say about Callahan, who was the vice captain under Zac Taylor (who isn’t that great either). He has run a great defense as well with a very young roster. Has a very young D-line, and four undrafted free agents, and has still had a top ten defense, which has been great against some of the best offenses in the NFL. Also, he has consistently climbed the ladder in Los Angeles, a place flowing with great coordinators. That shows a lot about a coach when he is able to stay in one place and climb as consistently as he has. Coach McVay [had this to say about his...
