Sean McVay not bothered by age-based stereotypes
Former Rams coach Mike Martz played the “
get off my sod” card in comments to Thomas George regarding Rams coach Sean McVay. And McVay has no issue with it.
“Coach Martz is a guy that I have always had a huge amount of respect for with what he’s accomplished, especially with just being an offensive coach,” McVay told reporters on Tuesday. “You look at the production of offenses that he’s been a part of, so as a fan of coaching — I don’t know Coach Martz, I met him real quick at the Combine a handful of years ago. Like I said, I have a lot of respect for what he’s accomplished and I can’t say anything but good things about what he’s done and what kind of coach he is.”
McVay explained that he understands his age (31) opens him up to stereotypes based on age, and that he’s OK with it.
“[W]e know that it is a production-based business,” McVay said. “We’ve got a great challenge ahead of us, but what you feel good about is the coaches and the players that we’re going to go on this journey with, these are the types of guys that you want to do that with and you feel like you have a chance to accomplish some things together and work through some adversity that we will inevitably face.”
McVay added that remarks about his age aren’t frustrating.
“[E]ver since I was so fortunate enough — as soon as I got done playing in college, I got right on with the Buccaneers. So I’ve always been around the players age, just because of the broad range with the professional level of kind of the guys that you’re dealing with. The thing that’s been really good about it, that I felt like hasn’t been an issue is that these are professional athletes, there is a mutual respect that exists between coaches and players and ultimately, it’s about us trying to help them reach their highest potential, but it starts with developing and building those relationships like you hear us talk about all of the time. I think when you do that, when you care about these guys and then you have some things that can help them have success on the field, that’s where that respect ends up coming into play and I feel fortunate that I’ve been around some great people, great players that to this point — my coaching journey has been really such a blessing. I have been around a lot of great people and I can’t say enough about it.”
McVay was so committed to the high road that he pointed out Martz’s claim that the
remarks were taken out of contest.
“I certainly have an understanding and an awareness of how things can kind of get changed around and until I actually heard that directly — if he said that then everybody is entitled to their opinion and I can understand that and the bottom line is this — I’ve never been a head coach before, I haven’t won a game, I haven’t done anything,” McVay said. “So, it’s going to be a great challenge and we’re confident with the guys that we do have. I know that it’s going to be a great learning curve and I’m not going to pretend to have the answers to things that I don’t know. But what I am going to do is continue to look at myself critically and try to be the best head coach and leader that I can be for this team and this organization.”
George has issued a statement insisting that Martz’s comments were “
100 percent accurate” and not made while off the record.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/08/22/sean-mcvay-not-bothered-by-age-based-stereotypes/