New St. Louis Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo continued his overhaul of the coaching staff, announcing Monday that Clayton Lopez (defensive staff), Andy Sugarman (offense quality control) and Derius Swinton (special teams quality control) have joined the team as assistants.
"All three demonstrated the qualities that we were looking for to mesh with the group we have in place," Spagnuolo said in a statement released by the team. "We hope to have them on board and working within the next few days."
Lopez spent the last three seasons with the Detroit Lions coaching defensive backs. He also coached defensive backs for the Oakland Raiders in 2004 and 2005 after five seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.
Sugarman last coached in the NFL in 2007, when he was an offensive assistant for the Atlanta Falcons. He also spent time with the Detroit Lions (2003-05) and San Francisco 49ers (1998-2002).
This is the first NFL job for Swinton, who was a graduate assistant at the University of Tennessee in 2007 and 2008.
