What an eventful week it has been for the Pittsburgh Steelers , from being eliminated from the playoffs on Monday night to the surprise resignation of longtime head coach Mike Tomlin the following day, this offseason is off to a wild start.
With a franchise-record nine straight seasons without a postseason win, it's not hyperbole to say that this is an organization at a crossroads, needing to turn over every stone in an effort to escape from the NFL's dreaded middle-class purgatory. Over the last 48 hours, several of their top candidates have been revealed and unsurprisingly, there's a common theme between the majority: young, defensive minded coaches.
With that specific archetype in mind, there's one particular name that stands out above the rest, which is Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula, a target that the organization had been monitoring for roughly a month. The deeper you dive into his background, the more the connection makes sense. For years, the Steelers franchise has been uniquely drawn to NFL bloodlines. Shula's grandfather, Don, won a combined 347 games over the course of a 33-year career, the most in NFL history. His surname certainly makes for a cool story but naturally added immense pressure to live up to legendary standards and fend off allegations of perceived nepotism.
Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium on Dec 7, 2025. — Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images
When Sean McVay was hired as the head coach of the Rams in 2017, he made it a priority to get Shula, his college teammate at Miami (Ohio), on his defensive staff as the assistant linebackers coach. From there, he spent time in various roles, bouncing around position groups from the trenches to the secondary. Over the last decade, Shula has basically been getting a PhD in defensive football, soaking up every bit of knowledge from the legendary Wade Phillips, as well as respected minds Brandon Staley and Raheem Morris. Finally, in 2024, it was Shula's time to shine as defensive coordinator.
There were several compelling things that stood out in his introductory press conference following his promotion, none more insightful than what he learned from his predecessors. From Phillips, it was that listening is a skill, trusting his coaches and that the genius is in the simplicity. Shula was complimentary of Staley's innovative mind and his hunger to learn and be observant of league-wide trends to stay ahead of the curve. He stated that Morris' ability to build relationships with everyone in the building and the joy that he brought to the day-to-day operation stood out. Those takeaways aren't specific to being a defensive play caller; they're qualities that every organization longs for in their head coach.
Aaron Donald's decision to retire made Shula's life as a first-time coordinator that much more difficult, with most analysts having significant concerns about the remaining talent on defense. After a tough start to the season, the Rams defense began heating up, behind a youth movement that included Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse , sophomore leaps for guys like Byron Young and Kobie Turner , and the emergence of Quintin Lake. In Shula's first ever playoff game as a play caller, his unit suffocated a talented Vikings attack, holding them to just nine points, registering nine sacks, and generating a pair of turnovers.
Virtually all of the Rams' defensive metrics have improved this season, finishing fifth in points per drive and seventh in both EPA/play and success rate. From a schematic standpoint, Shula's hybrid defense draws inspiration from the Vic Fangio ideology currently running rampant in the league. On early downs, they'll rely mostly on light boxes, using five-man surfaces up front to create a wall, allowing them to keep their safeties deep. On the back end, it's a disguised-based attack that forces quarterbacks to work post-snap versus a primarily zone-centric coverage menu. He leans more into the simulated pressure world, as opposed to allocating more resources to the rush via the blitz.
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens, left, runs a pass as Los Angeles Rams safety Russ Yeast defends during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Los Angeles spent just $62M on its defense this season, dead last in the entire league. General manager Les Snead deserves kudos, specifically for his 2023-24 draft classes that helped replenish the cupboard. Having said that, Shula deserves serious recognition for elevating a group that has clearly punched above its weight from a pure talent perspective. This is a physical, highly energetic group that creates a ton of chaos with only three squads forcing more turnovers this season. The Rams' takeaway culture is hardly surprising and far from lucky. It's by design.
While presented at the Glazier Clinic in 2020, Shula's message was centered around his takeaway philosophy, emphasizing that winning the turnover battle was the stat that correlated most to winning. One of the slides in his presentation was the result of him individually charting every single fumble that occurred during the 2019 NFL season, broken down by category. On the surface, that exercise probably sounds extreme to the average Joe. But it's that level of detail that has his troops back in the hunt as one of the remaining eight teams left fighting for the Lombardi Trophy.
Being an effective coordinator, nor merely being a part of the McVay coaching tree, does not guarantee that hiring him would be a success. But NFL teams, especially the Pittsburgh Steelers, would be wise to pull away knowledge from arguably the best organization of the last decade. Since 2017, the Rams are fourth in total win percentage and have reached the Super Bowl on multiple occasions. They've been able to balance being consistently competitive while also having a long-term vision. There's no better illustration of that than the present, with the second-best odds to win it all this season, while simultaneously possessing two first-round picks next cycle. Considering the yearly brain drain out of the building, that feat seems even more impressive.
Where Shula is at a natural disadvantage is that the NFL is still very much an offensive league for multiple reasons, but mainly because that side of the ball is just much more stable year over year. Since 2018, no NFL team has reached the Conference Championship weekend with an offense ranked lower than 11th in EPA/play. Art Rooney II and general manager Omar Khan are surely going to ask about his coaching rolodex in their sit-down with him. Nailing his first offensive coordinator hire will be crucial, but even assuming that goes according to plan, those guys typically get poached quickly for promotions elsewhere. Alas, the cycle continues. Not to mention that the Steelers don't even have a starting-caliber quarterback on the roster for next year.
While that's not ideal, neither the lack of a quarterback solution nor the aging state of Pittsburgh's roster will prevent this from being atop the list of attractive openings. Current ownership offers an unprecedented level of stability that is quite frankly unmatched elsewhere. Pittsburgh isn't looking for a quick fling. In a perfect world, they're going to come away from this process with their next Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher or Mike Tomlin. Those are big shoes to fill, but on the surface, Shula seems built for this.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Bell: What Would Chris Shula Bring to the Steelers?
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