Rams head coach Sean McVay has lived such a full football life in Los Angeles that it’s hard to remember this is just his eighth year on the job. That range of experiences — not to mention all the success — helps make McVay one of the foremost authorities on coaching specifically, and the league generally.
Days before the Rams opened training camp, McVay sat down with Robert Mays, host of The Athletic Football Show, to dive into his and his team’s recent past, and what’s on the horizon this season.
The partial transcript below has been edited for clarity. The full interview is available now in The Athletic Football Show podcast feed.
Sean McVay: The first word that comes to mind, it was a blessing. You know, I don’t think that one story does it justice, because I think what makes Aaron great was the accumulation of consistent days. He never had an off-day. He was always on. He was always locked in. He always had a purpose. The thing that I love the most about the guy, you hear him talk and everybody’s like, ‘Well, he’s still playing at a First-Team All-Pro level, one of the best players in the world.’ And there’s no doubt about it. ‘Why are you stepping away from the game?’ And when you hear him articulate what he puts into it, he’s year-round. You know, this isn’t just an in-season job for him. This is a year-round job.
But he never changed. He was so consistent. And I mean that in the most positive way. And he was all about the right stuff, man. Like, he just wanted to win a championship so bad. He wanted to elevate people around him. And it was really cool to see last year the joy that he played with. He didn’t need to tell me, I knew it was his last year. When you’re connected with somebody, you watch him taking in moments and cherishing things and savoring things that are reflective of kind of knowing I’m observing somebody that’s taking it in because they know this is probably the last time I’m going to be doing something that’s meant a whole lot to and been a big part of my life. And so, I can’t say enough good things about that guy.
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On improving as a coach and play caller
Robert Mays: At one point, after you guys lost the Patriots in the Super Bowl, you said that you coached like an amateur against [Bill] Belichick. And I wanted to ask you about this because I feel like we just expect instantaneous results from head coaches and play callers. How do you get better as a play caller? What does that process look like?
McVay: Failure. I think you get better through failure, through experience. I think the really good coaches, I think they see the game live, they make adjustments, they’re able to be present. It was just a lot. It went really fast. We had a lot of success offensively, but I don’t know that we had been through enough experience to have to figure out the solves and know those solves in real time. We try to take a lot of pride as a coaching staff in providing solutions and giving players the best opportunity to succeed. And that wasn’t provided for our guys on the biggest stage. These games, you feel like there’s almost a calm and a stillness and a clarity in your decision-making. And that didn’t exist for me.
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On what Matthew Stafford opens up for the Rams offense
Mays: I remember we talked last year about the way the league was headed and the lack of explosives. There were a lot of off-schedule plays leading to those explosives. You don’t have an off-schedule quarterback, but you still have a quarterback who allows you to thrive in this new world. Why? What about his skill set specifically do you think aligns with how good offensive football or explosive offensive football has to be played?
McVay: Matthew gives us the ability to activate all parts of the field, which is a big deal. You know, not a lot of guys can make throws from inside the pocket where you’re sliding, you’re moving to your left, and then you’re throwing across your body on a 20-yard tight out route in coverage. So he can do that, and then we can change the spot with him. He’s more athletic, he’s been playing tennis. He’s like [Carlos] Álcaraz navigating the pocket. But, he’s more athletic than he’s given credit for, even though he’s not going to really run for a lot on some of these drop back plays. You can change the launch point with him where you’re making those rushers a little uncertain. It’s not going to be at that seven-and-a-half-yard depth right in that A-gap cylinder all the time. In terms of where he’s delivering the football and his ability to be able to change his arm slot and move and manipulate people when he does get imminent edge rush on some of those keepers. That allows us to be able to really threaten different parts of the field and put people in some run-pass conflicts. And so he gives us the opportunity in a different way to make some off-schedule plays, but activate all parts of the field. The best offenses make you defend the width and depth of the field. And he gives us the ability to do that.
Mays: I think one of the things that has crept up to me with guys who really change the game from that position, it’s about being able to access things that maybe aren’t the first read or the first option in the play, and that’s consistently what he’s able to give you. And I think that it’s kind of made me rethink what we need out of the position. You don’t need a guy who’s necessarily going to be running around making a lot of plays outside the pocket, but if you don’t have somebody who can access something outside of the basic structure of what you’re doing, you’re just going to be in a box that limits you a little bit too much against modern defense.
McVay: Yeah. And I think the thing about these really good quarterbacks, like our guy, their brain works so quickly where they’re beating you with their brain and their physical abilities. You see these defensive coaches doing such a good job of mixing up coverages and changing the math in a positive way. And whether you’re getting four or five out, the guys that can get through and exhaust all eligibles, those guys give you a chance. And Matthew certainly is one of those guys. You show me a great quarterback and a guy that’s played at a consistent, Pro Bowl-caliber level for a handful of years. I’ll show you a guy that when he’s getting an interior push or he’s getting edges, he’s got the feel to navigate the pocket. And he doesn’t necessarily need a perfect platform to be able to accurately deliver the football on time and in rhythm.
Mays: I think that one of my favorite things about watching you guys over the last seven years is there’s been a lot of intentionality behind the trajectory of where you’ve been on offense, but there’s also happy accidents, right? You didn’t know you’d be on 11 personnel team. But you had Cooper, you had Robert Woods. You get Cooks. That’s like, these are our best players. And it feels like getting Puka last year was one of those things. He’s a fifth-round pick. How would you ever be able to predict that your offense would become an expression in a lot of the ways of his skill set? When did you know that that was going to be possible?
McVay: Well, he exceeded my expectations. But I will say what I thought was really cool is we had a vision for him. Robert Woods was a huge catalyst for a lot of good things that, you know, in our offense, in terms of the physical presence, the versatility, extension of the run game, getting jet sweeps underneath, handoffs on some gap stuff, being able to run a versatile route tree, dig out support in the run game. We wanted to find somebody that could do that. Puka was the guy that we had a vision to become that. Did we think he’d come in and have 105 catches and almost 1500 yards? I’d say that would be exceeding my expectations. But there was a toughness. There was a vision for him. And then to the guy’s credit, man, he is a mentally, physically tough guy. He’s fearless. He brought a physicality to our offense. I thought he and Matthew had a great rapport. And so it was really cool to see that come to life. And we were not better without Cooper Kupp on the field. But Cooper Kupp missing the off season and a large portion of training camp enabled a rapport to establish between Matthew and Puka, and for him to get more reps and more plays called for him than would have otherwise occurred.
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On work-life balance as an NFL head coach
Mays: Do you think that you can be a great football coach who is also content and happy?
McVay: I do, because here’s the thing. Greatness requires sacrifices, no doubt about it. But I don’t believe for a second pursuing greatness needs to be miserable. I don’t. I think the goal, honestly, if you said, what’s the mission that we have as a team and as an organization? We want to create an atmosphere, an environment that is urgent and enjoyable, that inspires competitive greatness and inspires you to want to be at your best because of the people you’re around, because of the way that we move. The reason why I can confidently say that is last year was about as fulfilling a season as I’ve been a part of because of the journey. Because it started out with adversity and not because we finished 7-1 and got in the playoffs, but because I watched guys not flinch. I watched guys grow. I watched guys embody a growth mindset where they didn’t let circumstances dictate their responses. They knew they could control it and they grew as people.
Mays: The fact that you guys started 3-6, I’m sure in the moment it wasn’t the most fun thing. But there’s, I think, a point to be made that was probably the best thing that could have happened because it tested all of those things that you thought you wanted to have, and it puts you in a place where you really saw that team grow.
McVay: There’s no question. What I would say is this what I’m grateful for is those things were tested, and I’m grateful for having people around me that will tell me what I needed to hear, not what I wanted to hear. We were 3-6 and I think I was better, but I wasn’t as good as I wanted to be. And I had a great conversation with Cooper Kupp, and I love this guy. He’s such a special human being. And he challenged me at the bye to really understand the impact that I can have in a positive way. In a very eloquent way and a very direct way he basically said, ‘The cool thing, Sean, is you have the opportunity to be a hero or a hypocrite with every single day.’ And that is that stuck in my mind. It’s hero or hypocrite.
(Top photo: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)
