In McVay We Trust | Elan Berger
After his rookie season, Jared Goff was written off by many as a bust. The Rams went went 4-12 during that 2016 season, their first in Los Angeles, and head coach Jeff Fisher was fired after they went 4-9 through the first 13 games. In seven games, Goff threw for 1089 yards with a 5:7 touchdown to interception ratio. Goff, along with the rest of the Rams franchise, needed a spark. To provide that spark, the Rams hired 30 year old Sean McVay to become the youngest head coach in NFL history, and turn the franchise around.
As it has turned out, Sean McVay has gone beyond the wildest dreams of the Rams front office. In the quarterback whisperer’s first season at the helm, he led the team to an 11-5 record and NFC West championship. On top of that, Jared Goff threw for 3804 yards and 28 touchdowns in 15 games, a huge improvement from his rookie year.
McVay’s second season managed to be an improvement upon his incredible first, leading the Rams to 13-3, the second seed in the NFC, and coaching Goff to 4688 passing yards and 32 touchdowns. Almost as importantly, this year, McVay has shown us his slightly scary ability to recall every single play of his coaching career. After just two seasons as a head coach, McVay is undoubtedly one of the best coaches in the league, and has yet to play in the NFC Championship game.
In an NFL where offense is increasingly becoming more and more important, it seems as though every team in need of a head coach wants the next Sean McVay. Despite his belief that he is “too young to have a coaching tree,” one of McVay’s former assistants, Matt LaFleur, former Rams and Titans offensive coordinator, has already been hired to be the next head coach of the Green Bay Packers, and the Cincinnati Bengals have displayed their plans to hire current Rams quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor once the Ram’s playoff run comes to a close. LaFleur, who has only one year of play calling experience under his belt, only led the Titans offense to the 25th rank in the league, but has the confidence of the Packers brass. In addition, Taylor, who is even more inexperienced, having achieved his highest rank this year as the Ram’s QBs coach, is highly desired by the Bengals.
It’s obvious why every GM and owner want their next head coach to be a McVay-esque prodigy. McVay is the brightest young mind in the NFL, and at just 32 years old, the best years of his career are ahead of him. He was able to turn a team that was perennially 7-9 into one of the most formidable forces in the league, and created a Pro-Bowler out of a supposed bust in Jared Goff. Too young to have a coaching tree? Apparently not.