Los Angeles Rams assistant head coach Aubrey Pleasant is climbing the NFL coaching ladder

LOS ANGELES – During a phone conversation several years ago that was winding down, a surprising comment by Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay reignited the caller’s interest.

While discussing news reports about top NFL coordinators who had interviewed for head coaching openings recently, McVay opined that Rams cornerbacks coach Aubrey Pleasant was as qualified as any of them to lead a team. Although Pleasant was merely a position coach at the time, McVay insisted his out-of-the-blue assessment was based on what he observed daily, not blind loyalty.

Today, McVay is even more confident in his analysis.

No longer a Rams position coach, Pleasant begins his second season as the team’s assistant head coach. Officially, he oversees the defensive backfield and coordinates the Rams’ defense against the pass. To hear Rams coaches and players tell it, however, there’s so much more to Pleasant’s important role within an organization that begins yet another season under McVay with big expectations.

A committed teacher, Pleasant is renowned for establishing strong bonds with players, helping them maximize their potential. A detailed administrator, Pleasant is a sharp X’s-and-O’s man. A trusted colleague, he’s a person others in the organization turn to for guidance. And perhaps most importantly, Pleasant is a confidant of the Super Bowl-winning McVay, who’s among the league’s most successful and copied coaches. Add it all up, and Pleasant, at only 38, appears to possess the smarts, drive and personality needed to reach the top rung of the coaching latter.

Pleasant isn’t finished climbing, McVay believes.

“There are certain people that just have an emotional awareness. It’s an ability to communicate, to connect, to listen and to understand. He’s awesome with that,” McVay said. “He’s got the ability to connect with anybody on the team. He’s got this charisma and this presence, this magnetism, that people are drawn to him.

“But it’s accompanied with the appropriate humility, which makes people comfortable around him. He’s an ‘igniter.’ He’s one of those guys that elevates the spaces that he’s in. His pulse for the team – and not exclusive to defense or the defensive backs, but the whole team – is [outstanding]. It comes from his ability to develop authentic relationships.”

On another picturesque, sun-splashed Southern California afternoon last week, Pleasant was in typical form during Rams training camp on the campus of Loyola Marymount University. He’s known for leveraging relationships while bounding around practice fields, delivering targeted messages as his audiences change.

Whether alternating between being a hard-charging taskmaster or an empathetic “big brother,” Pleasant knows what buttons to push. No coach is better at reading the room, safety Kam Kinchens said.

“He really knows each individual player. He knows how he has to approach them to get the best out of them, and not all coaches are like that,” said Kinchens, who’s coming off a strong rookie season with the Rams. “Like with me, he knows I’ve always got something more, so he’s always doing things to unlock my true potential.

“Now, if you’re a guy who he’s coaching real hard, and you don’t understand that he’s just always trying to get the best out of you and won’t ever put you in harm’s way, things could go south real fast. He’s just so super-animated. Like he’s the one bringing the juice every single day. But once you understand, you understand it’s so good to have him here.”

Pleasant fits the mold of a person who was born to coach.

The son of a longtime high school football coach, Pleasant was a prep standout in his native Flint, Michigan, and he played safety at the University of Wisconsin. Following graduation, he went into coaching.

While honing his craft at the high school level and as a low-ranking college assistant, Pleasant realized that connecting with players “is everything,” he said. “In coaching, it really doesn’t matter what we know. It’s really about what we’re able to [teach players] and then have them go out and execute it.

“All players want to be coached hard and with good coaching, but none of ’em wanna be coached the same. It’s up to us as teachers to get a feel for each one of our learners, then figure out what’s the best way to reach them. I remember what it was like to be on the other side of that. So, I just want to be the coach I always wanted.”

As the then-Washington Redskins began their offseason program before the 2013-14 season, Pleasant embraced a new opportunity.

Hired as an offensive assistant under Washington head coach Mike Shanahan, Pleasant learned quickly that the team’s coaching staff was loaded. The group included five assistants who would go on to become NFL head coaches: Matt LaFleur (quarterbacks), Mike McDaniel (wide receivers), McVay (tight ends), Raheem Morris (defensive backs) and Kyle Shanahan (offensive coordinator). Being in the presence of so many gifted coaches with more NFL experience than he had, Pleasant knew what he needed to do.

“Just sit back, listen and learn as much as I possibly could,” he said. “There was some talent there, you could just see it, so that’s what I did. I’ll never forget the first practice. I see Sean go to his position, with the tight ends, and I see the way he’s carrying himself.

“The detail he displayed [coaching] and the zest that he coached with … it showed me a lot. Here’s a guy my age who was doing it at such a high caliber. I had just started coaching [in the NFL] and wanted to do that, so that was very empowering for me to see.”

In 2017, the Rams hired McVay, then 30, as their head coach, making him the youngest head coach in modern NFL history. Pleasant followed him to coach the team’s cornerbacks, a position he held for three seasons.

After stints with the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, Pleasant returned to the Rams in 2023 as their defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator. Before the 2024 season, McVay promoted him to assistant head coach.

Last season, McVay handed the reigns to Pleasant to lead the team in a preseason game. Again this preseason, McVay plans to cede head coaching duties to Pleasant on Aug. 16 as the Rams play host to the Los Angeles Chargers.

To no one’s surprise, Pleasant delivered in the lead job, McVay said.

“From handling the meetings with the officials, handling the media obligations, the [television] production meetings, he did all the things that are necessary,” McVay said. “It was really cool just to be able to watch from afar.

“How much guys wanted that for him is a tremendous credit to how much they love him and appreciate him. From the responses last year, you understood how much it meant for them to see him have that opportunity. In the locker room afterward, you can’t replicate the authentic enjoyment that guys had for him.”

Beginning his eighth season as the team’s head coach, McVay has already guided the Rams to six winning seasons, five playoff berths, three NFC West titles, two Super Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl championship.

In addition to being one of the game’s best head coaches, he’s also the league’s top kingmaker. Six of McVay’s former assistants have been hired to lead NFL teams, and five are head coaches this season: Liam Coen (Jacksonville Jaguars), LaFleur (Green Bay Packers), Morris (Atlanta Falcons), Kevin O’Connell (Minnesota Vikings) and Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals).

Clearly, McVay has an eye for head coaching prospects. When he taps one of his assistants for a larger role within the Rams’ team, the league takes notice.

Pleasant is squarely focused on his duties for the Rams, “and I’ve never been able to be successful in any regard thinking about what’s going to happen next,” he said. “When I take care of what I need to take care of, when my feet are planted, everything just unfolds and takes care of itself. For me, that’s just the trust that comes with the process.

“And also, quite honestly, I’m in a very good situation, and I absolutely love this place. When you have that type of loyalty both ways, it makes me be more patient. I can allow myself to focus and just keep working on all the things I want to work on to be a better coach. I can allow myself to be the best coach I can for the players, and less worried about the [coaching] carousel.”

Club owners seeking head coaches in the future would be wise to have Pleasant’s name on their lists, McVay said.

“He’s got all those qualities” to be a successful head coach, McVay said. “All the things that make him a great assistant coach will make him a great head coach.

“He understands the game from an all-22 perspective. And he’s got enough security to be able to delegate and empower his assistants, then fit in wherever is necessary. But absolutely, he could do it.”

Regarding Pleasant, the secret is out. Not surprisingly, when it comes to top-tier coaching talent, McVay was once again way ahead of the pack.