The gamble

[leoram]

Sean McVay is betting on himself and he better be every bit the genius we all hope he is. For three years he surrounded himself with the most experienced, accomplished coaches available to him. Our coach wisely took the humble approach and checked both his ego and penchant for micro-management to build a team of leaders who effectively won far more games than they lost...together.

Nevertheless, although he couldn’t publicly admit it, McVay is terrible at one thing. He sucks at hiding his emotions the moment someone helplessly makes mistakes he wouldn’t make himself. Ultimately, wins and losses are his responsibility and that is not lost on him. Deferring to someone else’s judgement is healthy as long as that judgement is sound. Bones had relative autonomy with the ST unit, but Sean could hide neither his surprise nor his displeasure with the failed fake in the last game. While he felt his failure to overcome the obstacles to offensive success in the Super Bowl and throughout 2019, it was a different feeling not being able to openly meddle with the defense against the Bucs, Ravens, and Cowboys. So he took a couple weeks to decide, and firmly took the reigns himself.

This, of course, is an enormous gamble. Coach will diplomatically continue to praise the exploits of every member of the organization and absorb every failure as his own. But as is the case in all things...actions speak louder than words. If the intent was to hand ultimate control of a unit to someone else, one would hire an alpha with a deep, obvious resume. If one implicitly trusts another to develop their current body of work, they will be retained at all costs. There is a different dynamic in store for the Rams in 2020. Instead of the head coach meting suggestions to his assistants and accepting their decisions, Sean McVay looks for all the world today as a coach that wants things done in the manner he approves. He has assumed far greater control of the entire scope of the game day operation. Preparation will always be a collaborative effort, but no plan will be set without the head coach’s personal stamp of approval.

This will make the next season extremely unpredictable, not only to us fans, but more importantly, to opposing teams. An assessment of the new coaches will reveal a premium of mental agility and flexibility. There will be a familiarity with the concepts of the past but a focus on the solutions for the future. There will be no doubt going forward of what Sean McVay wants from his team. It will be clear in what they actually do in the next decade.

 

[Faceplant]

Interesting take and a good post. It's certainly going to be interesting next season, but I think McVay has earned the right to mold this staff as he sees fit. Ultimately, his job depends on how it all works out.

 

[CanadaRam]

McVay was smart to assemble a very experienced staff 3 years ago when he was inexperienced as a HC.
Now that he has experience, he can mold the entire team into his vision.
To be a top HC he needs to do this.
He also realized that not having an OC this season was a mistake, and he corrected it for next year.
I don't think that a ST coach should have the authority to decide on a fake, without HC giving the OK.

 

[nighttrain]

Sean McVay is betting on himself and he better be every bit the genius we all hope he is.

 

[Ram65]

This, of course, is an enormous gamble.

Nice write up but, I don't see these moves as an enormous gamble.

I agree that McVay will be taking a more involved approach in the defense and special teams. It will be much easier to influence younger coaches that are still developing as apposed to long-time coaches like Wade and Bones that can be set in there ways. It's a smart move on his part. I see McVay taking a little more collaborative approach but, not a dictating approach to these two coaches. An example I see could McVay helping to fix repeated miscues by the secondary that we saw over and over in the past. I don't see him micromanaging his assistants but, helping fix problems.

 

[Selassie I]

All super successful HCs are involved in every aspect of the gameplan. All 3 phases... and really every single position. McSlay has been that way since he became our coach. His play calling does require more specific focus when we have the ball... but I have no doubt that he has been involved in every aspect of our team from the beginning.

He wasn't looking for Yes Men when he brought in Wade and the other coaches in year 1. He was trying to assemble the best possible team of coaches he could. No coach can do everything by themselves. Sure he was brand new to being numero uno, but he was responsible for creating a new winning culture on a team that had been jailed in a culture of losing for a very long time. He almost immediately changed all that.

A number of those guys have been snapped up by other teams now. I believe those guys were good at their jobs... but I also believe that they have McSlay to thank for their promotions in this league. They didn't get it by themselves.

The coaching staff is evolving. That's what all successful coaching staffs always have to do.

Some of the obvious mistakes we saw like the failed communication between Bones and McSlay on that fake punt attempt were disappointing. There's nothing wrong with McSlay demanding to know "What The Fuck Are You Doing" from Bones after that failed communication.

McSlay is going to lead this team... all the coaches included. The lessons learned from mistakes will make us stronger. I highly doubt you see them repeated. New ideas and new energy will be added to our mix... but the best part I think is that we have a HC that now has 3 yrs experience under his belt. This is all positive growth for our team in my eyes.

 

[Merlin]

I like the DC hire more than the OC hire personally. He sort of went with the easy hire of the "same system" guy in O'Connell who didn't exactly shine in his short sample size. But I get it, knowing the guy doesn't need to be taught intricacies of the scheme is helpful. And he wasn't the only guy after O'Connell so he must be a known talent in coaching circles.

Staley is undoubtedly good at what he does if he survived a change from Fox to a new regime in Chicago and then was brought with Fangio to Denver. It's interesting that he played QB too.

McVay has definitely put his stamp on this staff now and he's experienced enough to know what he wants. So I trust him and hope he nailed both these hires.

 

[Ram65]

All super successful HCs are involved in every aspect of the gameplan. All 3 phases... and really every single position. McSlay has been that way since he became our coach. His play calling does require more specific focus when we have the ball... but I have no doubt that he has been involved in every aspect of our team from the beginning.

I have wondered how much McVay was involved with Wade and the defense. I never saw him talking to Wade on the sidelines like he did with Bones. It seemed he gave Wade most of the responsibility. You know McVay knows defense. I remember a video of him talking with Talib giving him defensive calls as Talib was on a stationary bike IIRC. This is phase two of McVay's head coaching career where he steps up and spreads out his coaching influence.

 

[Flint]

McVay and Snead got extended last year, before they were up. Of course I don’t know if the assistants were negotiated with or not, but it seems like a sign that you’re not coming back if management waits for your contract to expire. Maybe it’s conspiracy theory stuff but that would lead me to believe that it has been in Mcvay’s head to overhaul his staff for a while, and while these guys reportedly had great interviews it’s only been 2 weeks since the season ended. It would surprise me if there wasn’t some back channel stuff going on considering these weren’t guys you hear talked about on sports talk radio.

 

[So Ram]

All super successful HCs are involved in every aspect of the gameplan. All 3 phases... and really every single position. McSlay has been that way since he became our coach. His play calling does require more specific focus when we have the ball... but I have no doubt that he has been involved in every aspect of our team from the beginning.

He wasn't looking for Yes Men when he brought in Wade and the other coaches in year 1. He was trying to assemble the best possible team of coaches he could. No coach can do everything by themselves. Sure he was brand new to being numero uno, but he was responsible for creating a new winning culture on a team that had been jailed in a culture of losing for a very long time. He almost immediately changed all that.

A number of those guys have been snapped up by other teams now. I believe those guys were good at their jobs... but I also believe that they have McSlay to thank for their promotions in this league. They didn't get it by themselves.

The coaching staff is evolving. That's what all successful coaching staffs always have to do.

Some of the obvious mistakes we saw like the failed communication between Bones and McSlay on that fake punt attempt were disappointing. There's nothing wrong with McSlay demanding to know "What The Fuck Are You Doing" from Bones after that failed communication.

McSlay is going to lead this team... all the coaches included. The lessons learned from mistakes will make us stronger. I highly doubt you see them repeated. New ideas and new energy will be added to our mix... but the best part I think is that we have a HC that now has 3 yrs experience under his belt. This is all positive growth for our team in my eyes.

my first question with Mcvay that I don’t know is his contract ??? He is the future of The Rams the next 5-10 years imo

second - Wade was part of Mcvay being hired. If not for Wade Mcvay probably would not be The Rams HC.

Three, Mcvay showed with the play against Arizona that he does delegate to his coaches and is not an ego freak.Also with Bones he was a Demoff hire. Mcvay did have say,but didn’t have concern about keeping The Rams HC he was replacing.

Growth is a good thing on both sides of the ball. The Kromers being on the staff shows family as well as Wes Phillips. I like the only coach left from Snisher is Andy Dickerson who he praised how good he did with the young O”Line through all the change & injury. The thing I like the most about Andy Dickerson is how he changed his life style for the better. He is looking & I’m sure feeling good about his life. He brings a good energy to The Rams & always has.

 

[leoram]

my first question with Mcvay that I don’t know is his contract ??? He is the future of The Rams the next 5-10 years imo

second - Wade was part of Mcvay being hired. If not for Wade Mcvay probably would not be The Rams HC.

Three, Mcvay showed with the play against Arizona that he does delegate to his coaches and is not an ego freak.Also with Bones he was a Demoff hire. Mcvay did have say,but didn’t have concern about keeping The Rams HC he was replacing.

Growth is a good thing on both sides of the ball. The Kromers being on the staff shows family as well as Wes Phillips. I like the only coach left from Snisher is Andy Dickerson who he praised how good he did with the young O”Line through all the change & injury. The thing I like the most about Andy Dickerson is how he changed his life style for the better. He is looking & I’m sure feeling good about his life. He brings a good energy to The Rams & always has.

while we are still waiting word on a new RB coach, I wonder what changes are in store for the defense. Wouldn’t Wes follow his father? With a new scheme, wouldn’t there naturally be some turnover? I believe there are more changes coming than is readily apparent today.

 

[So Ram]

while we are still waiting word on a new RB coach, I wonder what changes are in store for the defense. Wouldn’t Wes follow his father? With a new scheme, wouldn’t there naturally be some turnover? I believe there are more changes coming than is readily apparent today.

Wes helped Mcvay get Wade to sign with The Rams. It was a package deal. Mcvay &
Wes are solid.
The Rams just added a OC for a RB’s coach basically ??? This will be The Rams 4th OC in all of McVays 4 season with The Rams.
I have a feeling that the RB’s coach will come from in The Rams coaching staff.
Mcvay wants to build that kind of environment in the building.
The Rams hired a new OC, but my guess is it will be by Committee on game planning.Mcvay should have a little more say on D”?

-Special teams coach is also probably going to be hired from within ?? Those are just my thoughts.

 

[FarNorth]

Nice write up but, I don't see these moves as an enormous gamble.

I agree that McVay will be taking a more involved approach in the defense and special teams. It will be much easier to influence younger coaches that are still developing as apposed to long-time coaches like Wade and Bones that can be set in there ways. It's a smart move on his part. I see McVay taking a little more collaborative approach but, not a dictating approach to these two coaches. An example I see could McVay helping to fix repeated miscues by the secondary that we saw over and over in the past. I don't see him micromanaging his assistants but, helping fix problems.

Agree, think McVay has some specific approaches he wants see implemented more than he wants to run the whole show. We've all seen flaws in the D when it has broken down. Suspect McVay has definite ideas about what to do to avoid the same mistakes again, not just on defense but on offense too.

 

[jap]

Sean: "I am the Leprechaun that will lead us to that proverbial pot of gold at the other end of the rainbow!"