LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Rams have hired yet another early-30s coach with an accomplished grandfather.

Chris Shula, the grandson of Hall of Fame coach Don Shula, is expected to join the Rams as a defensive assistant, a source confirmed to ESPN. Sporting News first reported his eventual hiring.

Shula spent the past two years as a defensive quality-control coach for the then-San Diego Chargers, who recently joined the Rams in Los Angeles. Prior to that, Shula coached linebackers at Ball State (2010) and defensive backs at Indiana (2011-13), then spent the 2014 season as the defensive coordinator at John Carroll University. The Rams' new head coach -- 31-year-old Sean McVay, whose grandfather, John, won five Super Bowls as a 49ers executive -- was one of Shula's college teammates at Miami (Ohio) from 2004 to '07.

Shula, also the son of former Bengals head coach Dave Shula, joins a Rams defense under the direction of longtime coordinator Wade Phillips. The Rams have previously agreed to terms with Greg Olson (quarterbacks coach), Joe Barry (linebackers), Bill Johnson (defensive line) and Aaron Kromer (offensive line), but aren't expected to formally announce their coaching staff until next week.