Rams News: Sean McVay Explains Decision To Part Ways With Assistant Head Coach Aubrey Pleasant

The Los Angeles Rams recently announced their finalized coaching staff for 2026 with former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury among the new hires. One name that was noticeably missing from the coaching staff was Aubrey Pleasant.

Pleasant has been with the Rams for seven of the nine years since the franchise hired Sean McVay as their head coach in 2017. For the last two years, he has served as the Rams’ passing game coordinator and assistant head coach and he and McVay are very close dating back to their days in Washington and then when the latter got the job in L.A.

McVay recently spoke on the decision to part ways with Pleasant, simply saying that he felt it was in the best interest of both the Rams and him to part ways, via Stu Jackson of theRams.com:

Sean McVay on Aubrey Pleasant not returning to Rams coaching staff: “Just felt like it was going to be in the best interest of both parties to move on.” Said it wasn’t an easy decision.

— Stu Jackson (@StuJRams) March 3, 2026

These decisions are never easy to make for a coach, especially when it involves people who you’ve grown a close relationship with. But ultimately, McVay felt a change was needed as the Rams’ secondary was a sore spot for the team and Pleasant was someone on the staff in charge of that.

Pleasant has been busy this offseason and received multiple interviews for defensive coordinator positions with teams such as the Las Vegas Raiders, Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Chargers. However, he was ultimately passed up for each of those jobs and now will need to figure out the next stop in his coaching career.

There is no doubt that Pleasant will find a new home, but for a Rams team looking to get over the hump and back to the Super Bowl, some changes had to be made and McVay felt as if this was a necessary move for this team to reach that ultimate goal.

Rams among teams keeping an eye out on potential Maxx Crosby trade

The Rams will also be looking to improve their roster this offseason and one star defender who could be available via trade is Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby. And the Rams are reportedly one of the teams keeping tabs on whether or not he becomes available.