From it’s middle America beginnings to current tenure under the bright lights of Hollywood, Nate Scheelhaase’s career path rise has been meteoric. This February past, he was named as Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator (OC), the fifth such in Sean McVay’s 10-year reign as L.A. head coach. It’s a title that has proven to be a direct pipe line to NFL head coaching positions.
All four of McVay’s previous OC’s, as well as former quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor, have parlayed the Rams job into head coach roles. Even in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately NFL coaching landscape, all are still on the job. Taylor went to the Cincinnati Bengals in 2019. After a one-year OC stop in Tennessee, Matt La Fleur took over the Green Bay Packers. Just days after the Rams won Super Bowl LVI, Kevin O’Connell was named to lead the Vikings. In two stints with the Rams, Liam Coen coached receivers and quarterbacks before becoming OC and hooking up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2024. And just a few month’s ago, Matt LaFleur was installed with the Arizona Cardinals.
Scheelhaase has quickly climbed up the coaching ranks. even with only two years of NFL coaching experience, he’s already been courted by multiple NFL teams. He reportedly interviewed for five head coaching jobs this offseason and was a finalist with the Cleveland Browns. In addition, at the 2026 NFL owners meetings held May 18-20, Scheelhaase was one of 16 coaches included in the May accelerator program,
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As reported by ESPN, this program was formed by the league in 2022 to raise diversity in leadership and was re-worked in 2026 to include non-minority candidates.
The program shifted focus from high-potential candidates to senior-level executives and coaches more aligned with head coach and general manager readiness. The May accelerator is intended to focus on advancing talent from underrepresented groups,” the NFL wrote in a March memo addressed to all 32 teams, “while remaining open to qualified senior-level candidates of all backgrounds.”
Who is Nate Scheelhaase?
Although Scheelhaase doesn’t have a long resume in the pro’s, he’s been directing offenses for nearly 20 years. It all began at Rockhurst High School, a private Jesuit and all-boys institution where he won 10 varsity letters in football, basketball, and track. He was a Gatorade Player of the Year in Missouri and also the Thomas A. Simone Award as the most outstanding football player in the Kansas City Metro area.
A pass/run threat, Scheelhasse was recruited by many top-tier schools and chose Illinois. After a 2019 redshirt, he took over starting QB duties in 2020. The Illinois years were up and down, he worked under three different head coaches, as well as four offensive coordinators. Even though the Illini record was only 20-30 in his tenure, He accumulated 10,674 yards of total offense, still an Illinois record.
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After his playing days were over, Illinois offered him an entry into the coaching profession, but Scheelhaase was contemplating a youth ministry career and passed on it. It was again offered a year later and this go-round, he accepted a job as assistant director of football operations for the 2015 Illini season. A coaching opening right before the season began gave him an early promotion and dual-duties, as running backs coach. After three seasons with Illinois, the final two under former Rams defensive coordinator Lovie Smith, Scheelhaase was on the move.
Iowa State was his second stop in 2018 and Scheelhaase climbed the offensive ladder in a six-year tenure. Starting as running backs coach, he also wore hats as run game coordinator and wide receivers coach. It all culminated in 2023 as he took the reins as both offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. After having a hand in grooming a number of future professional players at Iowa State, running backs David Montgomery and Breece Hall, quarterback Brock Purdy, and wide receivers Xavier Hutchinson, Jaylin Noel, and Jayden Higgins, the Rams came calling— it wasn’t a fishing trip.
Jaime Pollard, Iowa State Athletic Director, told Sports Illustrated,
“I remember Coach Campbell, after meeting him for the first time, called me and said: ‘This guy’s the real deal. He’s going to have a bright future,’ and I think it really was born on, he just has a very mature presence about him that’s very sincere…”
“My understanding was the Rams had him targeted. I mean, I don’t think it was any secret around college sports that Nate was really good, was a rising star,.. he walks into a room and—some guys walk into the room and they’re salesmen. Nate can just walk into the room and he’s kind of just got that glow, that twinkle in his eye. He can let his actions do all his talking, and some people just have that and he’s got it…”
“I didn’t want him to tell me what I wanted to hear, I wanted to hear what he really thought, and you could just tell he had put a lot of time and thought into who fits the culture of what Nate would want to be leading. And I think that’s an art. It’s not a science. A lot of people go, ‘Oh, go hire this person, hire that person, hire that person.’ But if all the pieces don’t fit together culturally, you’re not going to achieve at the highest level. And so I think he was mature enough to understand that.”
Scheelhaase called plays in the Rams 2025 preseason game with the Chargers.
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Bright lights, big city
The Rams brought him west in 2024 as an offensive assistant and passing game specialist. With only the one pro season under his belt, Scheelhaase was rapidly earning a reputation. Both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars considered him for offensive coordinator. Rams head coach Sean McVay offered him a promotion to passing game coordinator for 2025 and was able to keep Scheelhaase in the fold. After all the 2026 post-season flirtations, he now becomes the Rams OC at the tender age of 35. While the job doesn’t come along with play calling responsibilities, he’s staying grounded and appreciative of his role and its high-profile nature, planning and implementing one of the NFL’s most multiple and effective offenses.
“It’s rare to be able to move up in the profession as far as responsibilities go and do that in one place,” Scheelhaase said in a June 8 post-OTA presser. “So, to continue to learn alongside Sean, alongside the staff and to continue to work with these players. It was cool and again, the transition as far as getting our players back and what that then looks like. It’s a lot of the same as adding value to what we’re trying to do every day, trying to help in any way possible. Certainly, roles and responsibilities look a little bit different, but same mentality.”
“So, I felt like every day, I was putting my nose down, going to work, listening to the coaches coach, listening to how things were taught, trying to be as disciplined as I could with my note-taking and reviewing and studying. To be able to find a way to then add value at some point. “It took a lot of learning, not only here with what we did but just the landscape of the league in general and being able to transition to that second year and feel like I had at least a good foundation that was set. To be able to dive into some spaces that I felt like I could provide value and even learn and grow in different ways. Being here, it is a great place to just learn to ask questions, to hear things taught in a way that you feel like really makes an impact for our players and certainly for what we’re trying to do as an offense, defense and special teams. Hearing Sean and how he’s done offense for as long as he’s done it, it’s a pretty cool thing.”
What to expect?
There is ample evidence to expect the Rams to employ an expanded number of two and three tight end sets and with them comes an uptick in the run and short/mid pass game. Scheelhaase is not going to have a major impact on that decision, but interestingly enough, in his only year as a play caller (Iowa State 2023), the Cyclones used a fair amount of two tight end sets, a short/mid pass attack, and had a to-the-number 50/50 mix of run and pass.
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Watching how he handles WR#3 will be worth watching. The way the Rams have stocked the roster hints at a tight end being in the mix as an outside option. Yet, amongst the future pro’s he groomed, Scheelhaase also did solid work developing and implementing lesser-known prospects into contributing college players. Fans will see if he plans to involve WR#3 into the offense on a regular basis.
Scheelhaase is already well-respected and is eager to climb the NFL coaching ladder. With any Rams success this year, it’s almost a given he’ll be a 2027 NFL head coach. With any luck, he can lead an already stellar Rams offense over the hump and take a Super Bowl ring with him.
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