Rams assistant says teams can’t just “hire the next Sean McVay”...

Rams assistant says teams can't just 'hire the next Sean McVay'

Cameron DaSilva5 hours ago

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

While Sean McVay was busy leading the Los Angeles Rams to the Super Bowl in January and February, teams with head-coaching vacancies were trying to find their own version of the 33-year-old coach. The Cardinals hired a guy they dubbed as McVay’s friend in Kliff Kingsbury, the Packers hired Matt LaFleur, McVay’s former offensive coordinator, and the Bengals took a flyer on 35-year-old Zac Taylor.

It seemed like everyone was trying to find “the next Sean McVay,” but that’s far easier said than done. Coaches who lead their teams to the Super Bowl and completely turn around a franchise don’t just grow on trees.

Rams assistant head coach and linebackers coach Joe Barry believes teams will learn just how unique McVay is and how difficult it is to find a guy like him. Here’s what Barry said, via Albert Breer of the MMQB:



“(We were at a) symposium in Philadelphia. I got sent to it by the Chargers, and it’s fun, you kind of grind and you meet during the day. But at night they have dinners for you and you get to socialize and meet people. I met Sean there. And at the time, shoot, man, he was a 26- or 27-year-old tight ends coach that the Redskins had sent. And that was the very first time I’d ever met him. The very first time I’d ever spent time any time with him. I knew within five minutes – this dude is unbelievable. And people always say, ‘What was it?’ It’s it. He has the it factor. Fast forward a couple years later, I left San Diego and got the coordinator job in Washington, and he was the offensive coordinator, then really, working with him, being around him every single day, and no disrespect to anyone who’s tried to find and hire the next Sean McVay, there is not another Sean McVay.”

McVay is more than just a bright offensive mind. He commands respect from players old and young, and knows how to connect with them on and off the field. That’s not to say other coaches don’t do the same, but McVay is special in the way he leads a locker room at the ripe age of 33.

Everyone seems to want the next McVay, but finding him is a tall, tall task.