THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – It didn't much time for new Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur to get introduced to two of the players he would be working with.
Not long after arriving in L.A., LaFleur told Voice of the Rams J.B. Long on the Rams Revealed Podcast last week that head coach Sean McVay put him, quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Cooper Kupp in a group text to get that relationship started.
"Sean reached out with myself and Coop and Stafford on a text, and I look forward to as we get settled in – just got in it feels like 72 hours ago – kind of get our feet settled a little bit," LaFleur said. "Got my family here, gonna send them back to (New) Jersey because the kids gotta go back to school for a little bit and get back into a normal routine. And then really hit the ground running getting to know, not just Matthew and Coop, but all these guys. I want to reach out to all these guys and get to know them."
For LaFleur, the onboarding process is happening quickly both on and off the field.
While he was getting introduced to Stafford and Kupp, his wife and two children last week were getting introduced to the Los Angeles area through house hunting and looking at schools after the family flying into Los Angeles from New Jersey on Friday, Feb. 6.
Additionally, this week is when LaFleur was slated with join McVay and the rest of the coaching staff discussing the roster for the 2023 season this week.
Rams general manager Les Snead referred to the approach to that roster his offseason as a "remodel." Asked if he asked McVay about what he was stepping into and what the team was trying to accomplish, LaFleur said "you have some of those questions," but it wasn't a big deal to him given the Rams' previous success and those he'll be working with inside the organization.
"No matter what the roster was going to be, and there's always going to be changes in a roster, no matter what kind of season it's going to be, it wasn't a big deal," LaFleur said. "I know that, again, we're with the right people that are going to make this thing work."
As for the year ahead, LaFleur said "the goal is score points and win football games," but what things look like schematically will be an ongoing process. This week is about evaluating the roster, what their personnel can do, and what they need add.
"Sean has evolved, like all great coaches do every single year, and tried to stay ahead of the curve, and that's what we're going to do," LaFleur said. "We're not going to just obviously look at our roster, what we did in San Francisco or in New York and L.A. What does the 2023 Rams look like? We got a great idea, but we're going to put our heads together, and it's going to be a lot of work, and it's going to be fun putting this thing together."
