The Los Angeles Rams have announced their Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellows for Training Camp leading up to the 2024 season. The fellowship is a continuation of the team's efforts to strengthen the NFL's diverse talent and provides experience to accomplished coaches from different backgrounds. This is the second consecutive year the Rams have mentored coaching fellows during Training Camp and Organized Team Activities (OTAs).
This year's Training Camp fellowship began on Wednesday, July 24th and will continue through the end of Training Camp on Saturday, August 3rd.
The fellowship is named after the late Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach, who first introduced the concept to the NFL in 1987 when he brought a group of minority coaches to the San Francisco 49ers' training camp. The fellowship is designed as a vocational tool to increase the number of full-time NFL minority coaches in the league while exposing fellows to the methods and philosophies of an NFL coaching staff. The program's objectives are to provide talented coaches opportunities to observe, participate and gain NFL coaching experience.
Below is a list of the Rams' 2024 Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellows for Training Camp:
Damion Square- Defensive Line
Jamil Douglas- Offensive Line
Satyen Bhakta- Outside Linebackers
Deion Harris- Inside Linebackers
Former NFL player, JAMIL DOUGLAS will assist the offensive line during his fellowship with the Rams. He spent two seasons with the Miami Dolphins (2015-16), two seasons with the Tennessee Titans (2019-20), and one season with the Washington Commanders (2021). Douglas played in 50 career regular season games (11 starts) as well as four postseason contests during his NFL career. He was selected in the fourth round (114th overall) by the Dolphins in the 2015 NFL Draft. Douglas also was a coaching fellow for the Rams during OTAs earlier this year.
DAMION SQUARE will assist with the defensive line throughout training camp. Square played eight seasons in the NFL and spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles (2013), the Los Angeles Chargers (2015-20), the Las Vegas Raiders (2021) and Cincinnati Bengals (2021). He appeared in 100 career regular season games and recorded 129 tackles (73 solo), 7.0 sacks, two fumble recoveries, 11 tackles for loss, and nine passes defended. Square also saw action in five playoff contests during his time with the Eagles, Chargers and Bengals and notched seven tackles (five solo). Square played collegiately at Alabama.
Cornell University's Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator SATYEN BHAKTA will support the outside linebackers during his fellowship with the Rams. Bhakta has served in his role with Cornell since 2013 and has been a Bill Walsh Minority NFL Coaching Fellow for the Eagles, Raiders, Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs. He also has served as an assistant coach at Colorado School of Mines (2011-12), Susquehanna University (2009-10), and Temple University (2006-08), where he played collegiately (2001-04).
DEION HARRIS will work with the inside linebackers during Training Camp and currently serves as the linebackers coach for the UFL's DC Defenders. In 2023, he spent time as the quality control coach and assistant defensive line coach for the Defenders. Prior to his professional coaching career, Harris was a player and graduate assistant at Virginia State University. As a player at VSU (2016-19), Harris recorded 38 tackles (27 solo), 10.5 tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks and one fumble recovery.
