Rams take leap of faith in Sean McVay hiringBy Alden Gonzalez
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www.espn.com]
LOS ANGELES -- As soon as the Los Angeles Rams announced his hiring, the predictable age comparisons followed ...
Sean McVay wasn't old enough to vote the last time the Rams had a winning season.
Sean McVay was 9 years old when the Rams left for St. Louis.
Sean McVay is younger than William Hayes, one of the Rams' starting defensive ends.
It was all in jest, but it all illustrated a point of the franchise-altering decision that was reached Thursday afternoon -- the Rams are taking an extraordinary leap of faith with what might be the most important hire in their history.
NFL's Youngest Coach
Sean McVay becomes the youngest NFL head coach in the Super Bowl era. Here is a list of the previous youngest and age when they coached their first games.
YRS-DAYS W-L
Lane Kiffin OAK 32-123 5-15
Raheem Morris TB 33-10 17-31
David Shula CIN 33-101 19-52
Josh McDaniels DEN 33-144 11-17
* McVay will be 31 years old by September
McVay is 30, a detail he cannot shake. He'll be 31 on Jan. 24. He'll be 31 years and 229 days old on Sept. 10, 2017, the day the Rams are scheduled to open their regular season, at which point McVay will become the youngest NFL head coach since a 27-year-old man named Art "Pappy" Lewis took over the Cleveland Rams in 1938.
The Rams don't care about any of that, nor should they. They began this process with a commitment to open-mindedness and demonstrated it with the choice they ultimately made. McVay has lineage, as grandson of successful 49ers executive John McVay. And he has experience, starting with a job coaching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' wide receivers in 2008, while Rams COO Kevin Demoff, the man who led this search, worked in the front office. The head coach then was Jon Gruden, who gave McVay his highest recommendation.
After a one-year stint in the now-defunct United Football League, McVay joined the Redskins, progressing from assistant head coach to offensive coordinator. In three years running the offense, Washington averaged 371.9 yards per game, fifth-most in the NFL. In the last two years of that stretch, Kirk Cousins emerged from the abyss, going from a fourth-round backup to Robert Griffin III to a man who posted the fourth-highest Total QBR in the NFL.
But can McVay lead a group, assemble a staff and ultimately steer this franchise -- a franchise with new competition in the market -- toward consistent winning?
Precedent isn't necessarily on his side.
The four youngest coaches in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) have gone a combined 52-115, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Lane Kiffin (32 years, 123 days old at the time of his first game) went 5-15 from 2007 to 2008 until the late Al Davis fired him, saying he was "embarrassed to watch" his Oakland Raiders play under Kiffin. Raheem Morris (33 years, 10 days) went 17-31 with the Buccaneers from 2009 to 2011, then was fired amid questions about ownership's commitment to winning. Dave Shula (33 years, 101 days) went 19-52 with the Cincinnati Bengals from 1992 to 1996 and was let go shortly after reaching 50 losses faster than anybody. Josh McDaniels (33 years, 144 days) went 11-17 in an ugly two-year stretch with the Denver Broncos from 2009 to 2010, which included bickering with star players and an infamous videotaping scandal.
What does this all mean for McVay?
Well, nothing.
The Rams are banking on his preparation, his intelligence and his leadership. John Madden, Mike Tomlin, Don Shula, Bill Cowher, Gruden and Davis all attained head-coaching success in their early- to mid-30s.
Who's to say McVay can't do the same?
