The former youth pastor leading one of the NFLs best offenses

When Nate Scheelhaase was promoted to offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams last winter, he stepped into one of the NFL’s most auspicious jobs, and for a Super Bowl contender, no less.Not bad for a former youth pastor.Fresh out of college, Scheelhaase moved to Louisville, Kentucky, in 2014 to work with teenagers at Southeast Christian Church, one of the largest megachurches in the U.S.During that time, he regularly stopped by a few dozen high schools to visit with students.

For two high schools’ football teams, he volunteered as a chaplain.The role entailed building trust, finding common ground and helping those he spoke with work for something bigger than themselves.“An impactful year,” said Scheelhaase, 35.It wasn’t the typical starting point for a career in coaching — because even though Scheelhaase had been a four-year starting quarterback at Illinois, he wasn’t initially interested in that career path at all.Without intending to, though, Scheelhaase honed skills while he was a youth pastor that he says helped him rise quickly within the coaching industry.“I would say that there’s a lot of carryover,” Scheelhaase said in an interview.

“From a ministry standpoint, just being around people from all different walks of life, different journeys, being able to meet them where they’re at — that’s also a football locker room.That’s a staff locker room.”Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase during training camp at Loyola Marymount University this summer.Ric Tapia / GettyThe growth of sports in the U.S.

is often a story of their crossover with faith.James Naismith, basketball’s inventor, is said to have believed he could better embody what it meant to be a Christian using sports than the pulpit.

Many of football’s conventions, including the huddle, numbered jerseys and padded goalposts, came from Amos Alonzo Stagg, who had gone to Yale to study divinity and began coaching to fulfill a vision of “muscular ...