Los Angeles Rams passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase is one of the hottest head coaching candidate names left on the circuit.
He won’t be able to do in-person interviews until after the NFC championship game, but the 35-year-old has garnered a lot of interest from teams and is already considered a favorite to land the Cleveland Browns’ top job.
Scheelhaase is up for another head coaching gig, too: The Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s already been linked to Pittsburgh as a “wildcard” candidate, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac reported Scheelhaase had “an impressive interview” with the Steelers already.
“I’m not going to say he’s the top guy because some of these candidates still have to interview in person with AR2 [Steelers owner Art Rooney II], and he’s the one who will make the call,” Dulac wrote. “But I will say Scheelhaase was an impressive interview, which fits with what other NFL people think of him.”
Apart from the Browns and Steelers, Scheelhaase also reportedly interviewed with the Las Vegas Raiders and Baltimore Ravens. Other Rams assistants like defensive coordinator Chris Shula and offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur have also interviewed with prospective teams, although some of them have hired new coaches already.
Scheelhaase is an intriguing name for teams for a lot of reasons. He’s young, played quarterback at college, has experience in the collegiate ranks as an offensive assistant at Illinois and Iowa State and worked under Rams head coach Sean McVay.
Rams assistants have been a hot head-coaching commodities since McVay joined the team in 2017. Matt LaFleur, Raheem Morris, Zac Taylor, Kevin O’Connell and Brandon Staley left the Rams to become head coaches in previous years. Liam Coen was with McVay before he took a job as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator, which helped lead him to his current role as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Even ex-Rams tight ends coach Nick Caley and ex-Rams pass game coordinator/quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson earned offensive coordinator positions following their time in L.A.
The Steelers are one of the most respected franchises in the NFL. So the fact they’re this interested in Scheelhaase speaks volumes both to his ability as a coach and McVay’s ability as a mentor.
