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.
Chris Shula’s start
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.
Positives of Chris Shula
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 defensive coordinator,
“One of my favorite things about Chris is that he is mentally tough,” stated McVay.
“He’s been brought up in a football family where he knows not to ride the wave. There are ebbs and flows that go on throughout the course of a season, but I think he understood that his players, his coaches, he knew that I did, had his back. What I like is he was solution-oriented. It was a humbling start for us. But you can either do one of two things, you can either feel bad for yourself or you can say, ‘I’m going to swing. I’m going to fight and I’m going to figure out what’s the next best thing to try to do right by these players and by these coaches.’ That’s exactly what he’s built on.”
So, as you can see, Sean McVay had a lot of high praise for his defensive coordinator and his journey. Probably my favorite positive, though, is the way he runs his defense, where, instead of matching personnel, he matches up against tendencies. This had led to him being considered more of an innovator in defense, and also fared very well for him when matching up against fellow head coaching candidate and offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, Klint Kubiak. There are a lot of positives when it comes to Shula, but what about his negatives?
Negatives of Chris Shula
Now, I’ll say this from the jump, there are a few negatives with Chris Shula. He may have the least negative qualities of all the head coaching candidates, especially new ones. There are still negatives, though, starting out with something that isn’t completely his fault, and that’s the inconsistency of McVay assistants post LA. Now, O’Connell and LaFleur have been pretty great, no doubt, and even Liam Cohen has started to get back up, but we can’t forget about the other two who have not been great, Zac Taylor and Raheem Morris (a defensive mind!) Again, this isn’t on Shula, but I do think there is something to be said when it comes to how weird the tree has been. Probably the biggest thing is his defensive background, not that being a defensive mind is a bad thing, it’s just there’s a big need for for Cam Ward to have consistently good offensive minds in the building, now, obviously the Rams tree is full of solid minds, but it would be a big risk to go for a new offensive coordinator to give all the pressure to develop Cam Ward. This is where a Robert Saleh is stronger, a dude who has connections to formerly great offensive coordinators who can develop Cam Ward into something solid. The last thing I’ll bring up is the thing that pops out the most when discussing Chris, and that’s his last name. Look, do I think Chris Shula is a nepo baby schematic nerd with no leadership skills? No. Is it something the front office will have in the back of their heads when interviewing him? Yes. Look, with the Titans coming off the Brian Callahan era, it’s very hard for the front office not to look at that last name and be a little worried. Even though he has his negatives, Chris Shula doesn’t have the most red flags as a candidate when it comes to people being talked about.
How Likely Is Shula to get hired?
Overall, it is very hard for me to see a world where Chris Shula ends up the Tennessee Titans’ next coach. It’s a shame, too, because he is one of, if not my favorite, head coaching candidates when it comes to the search. Why do I believe this? Well, it comes down to two differences between him and the Titans wants, those being experience, and his last name. The Shula name is going to hang over these guys as long as the Titans are still interviewing him, and if he were to be hired and fail, every person would cry about how the Titans hiring a nepo baby who never deserved to be there. Adding on top of that, his experience is very little as the leader of a unit is very small, let alone an entire football team. Now, again, I would personally love to see the post come across my phone that says the Titans are finalizing a deal to make Shula the next head coach, but I just don’t see it. I do really hope that he gets serious consideration when it comes to the job,