One key factor that has stuck in my mind as various special teams scenarios have played out
When former Rams ST units faltered (after Martz became head coach) ST coach Bobby April pleaded for more practice time with his unit. Some of the players chimed in, met with the head coach to plead their unit coach's case.
That didn't go over well with Martz.
His mantra seemed to be "Execute. or be executed!"
He gave ST's a few more begrudging reps, expected all problems that had been developing over the season to suddenly disappear, and then ignominiously dumped April.
April went on to win two NFL Special Teams Coach of the Year awards. Martz' tenures as a head coach continued to spiral downward - for reasons that were evident then.
Later, in Phoenix, another ST coach had the same complaint. Wizenhunt gave him more reps in practice, which meant rearranging schedules to accomodate players doing double-duty elsewhere.
I don't know where McVay is with all of this - but he tends to control more than delegate, and so I've wondered about this aspect of special teams performance for some time. Even with our best ST coach, Jim Fassel, there were obvious breakdowns in communication that resulted in Fassel being given the boot. I wish Blackburn all the best. Our ST coach tenures under McVay have been a turnstile.
I hope McVay has matured enough, become more of a well-rounded and deeper human being, which will lead to his being a better head coach. I hope he will delegate more, defer more, attempt to control less, grant more leeway to his coordinators.
From a management standpoint, this means taking the personal risk of trusting your subordinates more, giving them more leeway while setting clear and attainable goals and demanding accuntability to achieve or exceed them, defining high expectations, and granting them the freedom to excel. You continue to mentor and collaborate - which is different from controlling.
To use a handy football analogy: Here is the crossbar, here are the uprights. I want to see high you can clear the crossbar, and will give you all the support I possibly can.
Has McVay matured enough, is he ready to do this now, after his post-season meltdown just a few months ago? It's not a neatly wrapped and easy package to deliver to any organization - much less for a young coach, mature beyond his years as a football innovator but still growing into maturity as a manager.
How he handles ST's this season could be McVay's litmus test.
