Rams say goodbye to their Cal Lutheran era, say hello to camping at LMU

It was supposed to be a temporary home for the sheepa layover of at most a few years for the NFL team before moving to a new permanent facility at a location to be determined.

Nearly a decade, two Super Bowl appearances and a championship later, the Rams will be on the field for the final time at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks on Tuesday when they conclude their offseason program with a walk-through.

In August, after holding training camp at Loyola Marymount, the Rams will not return to what has essentially been a trailer park of 75 adjacent, renovated modular buildings in Ventura County. Instead, they will establish another temporary facility in Woodland Hills on the site that will one day house their permanent headquarters.

In a statement, Cal Lutheran said it was “pleased” to have been the Rams’ practice home and that students benefited from internships with the team, classes taught by Rams professionals and other school and community activities.

In 2018, a Cal Lutheran choir sang the national anthem before a “Monday Night Football” game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The choir dedicated their performance to former student Justin Meek, who died filming Borderline Bar and Grill that year.

“We thank the Rams for their support of the Cal Lutheran community and the relationships we have developed with them,” the school said.

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Rams President Kevin Demoff echoed Cal Lutheran about the relationship and highlighted the choir’s performance alongside first responders.

“Showing the world the resilience, strength and power of community,” Demoff said in a statement. “Thank you to the CLU community for making us feel at home and helping us make history.”

The Rams’ residency in Thousand Oaks began in 2016, when the franchise returned to Southern California after more than two decades in St. They erected a nondescript 53,000-square-foot facility and built two fields with a plan to stay for three or four years.

That timeline reflected projections of when construction of SoFi Stadium — and the Rams’ search for a separate site to build a permanent home for their football and business operations — would be completed.

The Rams played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during the 2019-20 season, however. Owner Stan Kroenke did not purchase the Woodland Hills property until 2022.

Meanwhile, in the multibillion-dollar business that is the NFL, the Rams have thrived despite their spartan facilities, which pale in comparison to those of most other teams.

“We have what we need here,” coach Sean McVay said in 2019.

In a 2024 player survey conducted by the NFL Players Assn., the Rams ranked 20th out of 32 teams in 11 categories that included, among others, restaurants, locker rooms and training facilities, as well as coaching and ownership.

“The team’s high ratings – the players give McVay very high ratings – ‘cover up’ the facilities’ lower ratings. Respondents also hold both their training staff and strength coaches in high regard,” the union said on its website.

However, forward Rob Havenstein, a 10th-year pro who has been with the team since returning to Los Angeles, said fancy facilities “equal to zero” on the football field.

“It’s all kind of a facade,” Havenstein said recently. “It’s the people that are in the building – the players, the coaches, the staff and the relationships you build.

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“We can do the same thing on a roof that leaks every time it rains and if it doesn’t leak. As soon as it starts to rain, buckets come out and, okay, you have some wet spots. You get around it.

“If nothing else, it gives you more resilience to get through your normal day.”

Under McVay, the Rams have made five playoff appearances in seven seasons. In 2018, they advanced to Super Bowl LIII. In 2021, they won Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium.

McVay joked last month in a television interview that he longed for a simple luxury: a window in his office.

Don’t be fooled, though: the manically focused McVay loves not having to deal with distractions at work, even pleasant ones.

While staff and football operations executives, including general manager Les Snead and vice president Tony Pastoors, will move to Woodland Hills, the business side will continue to work out of the offices in Agoura Hills. Eventually, the entire Rams football and business staff will work in Woodland Hills.

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The move to the San Fernando Valley is just one of the moves the Rams will make before opening the season on September 8th against the Detroit Lions in Detroit.

After holding a training camp at UC Irvine since 2016 — and staying at a luxury hotel in recent years — the Rams will report to Loyola Marymount in late July. They will again be housed in dormitories.

“I did it in college, I did it in the pros,” Havenstein said, “so it won’t be a big deal.”

Star receiver Cooper Kupp said he “loved” the setup in Irvine but doesn’t mind the change.

“It’s a new thing,” Kupp said. “New can sometimes be good.”

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This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.