{"id":730776,"date":"2026-02-05T08:47:44","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T08:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/730776\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T08:47:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T08:47:44","slug":"analyst-explains-what-st-coordinator-bubba-ventrone-brings-to-rams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/730776\/","title":{"rendered":"Analyst explains what ST coordinator Bubba Ventrone brings to Rams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feb. 4, 2026, 12:01 p.m. PT<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Rams<\/a> hired<\/a> ex-Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts special teams coordinator for the same role on their team, following the mid-season ousting of Chase Blackburn. Ventrone comes to L.A. with a trove of coaching experience on that side of the ball, and Rams head coach Sean McVay noted<\/a> that he had his eye on Ventrone “for a while.”<\/p>\n

Ventrone brings more to the table for the Rams than justhis special teams prowess<\/a>. The Athletic’s Nate Atkins, who also covered the Colts when Ventrone was on that coaching staff, explained<\/a> that the Rams’ new special teams coordinator is also a great talent evaluator and situational coach. Those two traits fit well with the Rams’ existing coaching staff, per Atkins.<\/p>\n

In Indianapolis, he held a stronger role than other coaches in draft scouting and would almost always get a Day 3 pick or undrafted free-agent signing that was purely about what he could do with a player. That led to names such as Kenny Moore II and Zaire Franklin, who rose from UDFA and seventh-round status to become strong special-teamers and then Pro Bowl defenders. The Rams are such a draft-and-develop franchise in their effort to maintain a low-paid defense, and if the process can add a boost to the special teams, that\u2019d be a major win.<\/p>\n

… Ventrone was a coach the Colts leaned on situationally. It\u2019s a trait he learned from Bill Belichick during his time in New England, applied as a special-teamer in cold-weather climates and then adjusted as a coordinator for a dome team. He took on a much bigger load when the Colts brought in interim coach Jeff Saturday from a broadcasting role. Despite Cleveland\u2019s struggles, game management wasn\u2019t one of them. And it\u2019s something McVay needs to get better at.<\/p>\n

… But I\u2019ve always found Ventrone to be a different force when he isn\u2019t as stressed about his kicking game, and that\u2019s where re-signing Harrison Mevis should be a priority. It\u2019ll mean a larger focus on special teams on Day 3 of the draft rather than these stash-and-wait players, but that\u2019s an approach the Rams need to embrace right now.<\/p>\n

Ventrone’s units have had a lot of success<\/a> in the past when he’s worked with a full deck. The idea, now, is that the Rams will give him the ability to use his eye for talent in the draft and free agency and add key pieces to change the special teams from the worst in the NFL<\/a> since 2020 into one that doesn’t cost the Rams games.<\/p>\n

Considering how much special teams affected the Rams in 2025, it’s a priority that needs to be focused on this offseason if the Rams want to get back to the NFC title game.<\/p>\n

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a>\"\"\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 4, 2026, 12:01 p.m. PT The Los Angeles Rams hired ex-Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts special teams…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":730777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2059],"tags":[95878,2005,7,2004,392,2381,6,95922,95923,95882,96699,98102,95924,95895,95906,95925,95884,95883,98101,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-730776","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indianapolis-colts","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-colts","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-indianapolis","12":"tag-indianapolis-colts","13":"tag-indianapoliscolts","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-sstssportsnflrams","16":"tag-sstsnrams","17":"tag-tagamerican-football","18":"tag-tagbill-belichick","19":"tag-tagkenny-moore-ii","20":"tag-taglos-angeles-rams","21":"tag-tagnfl-hub","22":"tag-tagoverall-positive","23":"tag-tagsean-mcvay","24":"tag-tagsports-coaching-training","25":"tag-tagsports-news","26":"tag-tagzaire-franklin","27":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116017158094654947","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=730776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/730777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=730776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=730776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=730776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}