There was no official announcement, only the omission of a name when the Los Angeles Rams released their 2026 coaching staff on Tuesday. Left off the list on the Rams’ official website was Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Backs Coach Aubrey Pleasant.
Throughout Sean McVay’s tenure, Pleasant has been one of the most respected coaches on the staff. There’s a reason why he was the Assistant Head Coach. While this was technically Pleasant’s second stint with the Rams after leaving in 2020, McVay was quick
to bring him back in 2023.
During the offseason, it was expected that Pleasant would leave to be a defensive coordinator elsewhere. However, former Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur opted to retain Nick Rallis when putting together his staff for the Arizona Cardinals. Pleasant was interviewed by the Cleveland Browns who ultimately hired Mike Rutenberg. Despite interviewing with the Los Angeles Chargers, they stayed in-house and hired Chris O’Leary. Lastly, the Las Vegas Raiders who also interviewed Pleasant, hired Rob Leonard.
Pleasant has consistently been part of rising coaches lists. Last year, Pleasant was part of The Athletic’s 50 Under 40.
“Pleasant’s work as a technical coach and his knack for reaching players helped the Rams’ young defense exceed expectations after major roster turnover in 2023, and transition into one of the NFL’s ascending groups quickly after Aaron Donald’s retirement last spring.”
To say it was surprising that Pleasant left would be an understatement. Was it a mutual parting of ways? After Chris Shula didn’t get a head coaching job, did Pleasant feel stuck as a position coach? Or did the Rams and McVay actively make this change after the cornerbacks struggled significantly last season?
One of the primary objectives for the Los Angeles Rams this offseason will be to rebuild the secondary. After three years of putting a band-aid over a bullet wound, the Rams are going to need to make the cornerback position a priority. The Rams have spent much of the last three years getting by with Darious Williams, Ahkello Witherspoon, and taking a chance on Emmanuel Forbes. However, those options haven’t been good enough and for the Rams to take the next step, they’ll need to rebuild that position group with a mix of young and veteran talent.
Despite needing to take chances on younger players, the Rams arguably didn’t find a single player that they can continue to build around in the next iteration of the secondary. Some of that can be attributed to a lack of talent. The Rams certainly haven’t invested heavily in the position. An argument can be made that players such as Ahkello Witherspoon and Emmanuel Forbes have played their best football with the Rams. With that said, it’s fair to question whether or not Pleasant has truly gotten the most out of the Rams cornerbacks.
This wasn’t the first time that Pleasant had struggled to get the most out of a young secondary. In fact, Pleasant’s 2022 season with the Detroit Lions and the last year with the Rams tell a similar story. With the Lions, Pleasant held the same position as he did with the Rams as the Defensive Backs Coach and Passing Game Coordinator. The Lions secondary was a disaster to start the Dan Campbell era and there was little to no improvement. While a first-round draft bust in Jeff Okudah showed some improvement, the rest of the group was a mess. Under Pleasant in 2021, the Lions allowed the sixth-most passing yards per game. When Campbell made the change he said,
“I think Aubrey is a hell of a coach. I’ve got a ton of respect for him. It was a tough decision, but we’re in a production-based business, and after seven weeks I felt like this change needed to be made.”
Much like the Rams, the Lions didn’t invest a ton in the secondary. The only veterans were essentially stop-gaps and one-year tryouts. In both cases, an argument can be made that there wasn’t a lot to work with at cornerback and there was a massive lack of talent. With the Lions, it was Okudah and a bunch of players who wouldn’t start elsewhere. For the Rams, it was Forbes and a bunch of guys who probably wouldn’t start on many other teams. At the same time, there were instances where Rams defensive backs looked lost on the field and that was the same with the Lions in 2021. In 2021, a reason for Campbell making the change was believing communication needed to improve.
It’s true that the Rams dealt with some injuries in the secondary. However, as was said at the time, if this team was relying on Witherspoon to be their savior, that’s a larger issue. At the end of the day, the Rams allowed Sam Darnold to throw for 346 yards and three touchdowns in the NFC Championship game. Over the final six weeks of the season, the Rams allowed the ninth-most passing yards per game.
If the Rams are going to rebuild the secondary, it makes sense to start over with a new defensive backs coach as well. Taking over for Pleasant will be Jimmy Lake. Lake was the Assistant Head Coach for the Rams in 2023 and the Atlanta Falcons Defensive Coordinator in 2024. He spent last year as a Senior Defensive Assistant and hasn’t coached defensive backs since 2017 at the collegiate level with Washington.
However, it’s fair to wonder if promoting Lake into that role was the correct move. Under Lake, the Falcons had the worst opponent completion percentage allowed in 2024 and allowed the second-most touchdown passes. Some of that was due to a lack of pass rush, but that was also after the Falcons invested in the secondary. The defense didn’t get better until Raheem Morris became more hands-on.
Lake was fired following a Week 18 game in which the Falcons allowed 44 points and head coach Raheem Morris was “shocked” that the defense “did not come out to play.” Lake won’t be the defensive coordinator and in charge of the defense as a whole. However, that mentality is something that the Rams struggled with last year.
It makes sense if the Rams wanted to move on from Pleasant and if Pleasant wanted a change of scenery. However, it is worth wondering whether Lake is the correct replacement as well. Who the Rams have coaching and developing their replenished secondary is just as important as the players they select to do so.
