Los Angeles Rams made changes that many felt were long overdue – and this was a first for Sean McVay. Him and Rams special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn fired on Saturday, moving on after two-plus seasons. McVeigh for the first time fired the coach during the season.
While Blackburn's group seemed to turn things around after a terrible first half of the season, the same special teams issues that plagued the Rams returned to the forefront during their loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night.
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Two terrible punts by Ethan Evans, one of which was returned for a touchdown, and a 48-yard miss by Harrison Mevis played a major role in the Rams' fourth-quarter collapse, and it appeared McVay had seen enough.
As for who will step into Blackburn's role, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. assistant special teams coach Ben Kotwica will take his place. Kotwica is the only special teams coach listed on the Rams' website, so they have no other choice.
Kotwica, 51, is an experienced coach in his first year with the Rams. He probably didn't expect to be thrust into a leadership position during his first year in Los Angeles, but will now be tasked with improving a struggling special teams unit that directly cost the Rams two of their four wins.
He has 17 years of NFL experience, most recently serving as BroncosSpecial Teams Coordinator for the past two years. The Broncos were ranked seventh in 2023 under Kotwitz and fourth in 2024 under Bill Huber, according to Rick Gosselin's annual special teams rankings.
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The Rams have found themselves near the bottom of the league too often since Jon Fassel's departure, and Los Angeles has especially struggled to find consistent play at forward after Matt Gay's departure.
Kotwica's first time as a special teams head coach was with the Jets in 2013, after only one year in the job. He crossed paths with McVay in Washington as a special teams coach from 2014-18, but he had stops at four different programs, including Army in 2021 as director of player development, before meeting McVay again this year.
He was the Falcons' special teams coordinator in 2019-20 and an assistant special teams coach for the Vikings in 2022 before joining the Broncos in 2023.
Last season under Kotwitz, the Broncos ranked in the top 10 in punt average, field goal percentage, net yards per punt and opponent punt completion average.
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According to his biography on the Rams website.he spent eight years in the US Army after graduating from West Point.
His military career includes deployments to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Korea and Iraq. Promoted to second lieutenant in the Army Aviation Branch, Kotwica was selected to pilot the AH-64 Apache Longbow, the world's premier attack helicopter. From 1998-2001, he was a platoon commander in the 82nd Airborne Division's attack helicopter support platoon, where he was responsible for the health and welfare of 20 soldiers.
The Rams will be looking for a full-time special teams coordinator this offseason, but if Kotwica impresses in the final two weeks and into the playoffs, his job could be up for grabs.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Chase Blackburn fired: Who is the new Rams special teams coach?
