LA Times Articles on today's press conference

[Merlin]

This press corps is energized like crazy:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-rams-mcvay-plaschke-20170113-story.html#nt=oft12aH-1la1

Sean McVay brings passion of youth to new job with Rams


The Rams introduced Sean McVay as their new coach. Bill Plaschke, Gary Klein and Lindsey Thiry react to his first news conference.

Bill PlaschkeContact Reporter
Several Rams officials were interviewing a coaching candidate at Spago this week when owner and celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck visited their table with a plea.

He wanted them to make the right hire. He wanted them to find the perfect guy.

He addressed his concerns to owner Stan Kroenke, executive vice president Kevin Demoff and former Rams star running back Marshall Faulk while completely ignoring the fourth member off the party, a barely bearded 30-year-old kid who was clearly either an intern or a nephew.

“Wolfgang kept asking, ‘Mr. Kroenke, have we found a coach?’’’ related Sean McVay. “I wanted to say, ‘Hey man, I’m right here!’’

He’s so young, it’s refreshing. It makes sense. His boyish aura actually fits in perfectly with a growing Rams team and a new Rams culture.

He talks fast. His sentences have sharp edges. His voice sounds like a quarterback’s cadence. His hand gestures look like he’s signaling plays. Yeah, that’s right, he is built in the mirror image of Jon Gruden, the former Super Bowl champion coach and current popular ESPN analyst, which is no accident because Gruden was the first head coach to hire McVay as an assistant out of Miami of Ohio.

“There was times when I close my eyes, you hear Jon Gruden,’’ Demoff said.

His animated presence is the opposite of the perpetually weary Jeff Fisher. His smart vision as the coordinator of the third-ranked Washington Redskins offense was the opposite of the Rams’ perpetually dreary attack.

“To me, the final check mark of age is not a factor here,’’ Demoff said. “This is really about Sean’s talents, his ability to lead and communicate.’’

He’s young, but so are most of the Rams and, most important, so is Jared Goff. The only important age distinction in this transaction is that the new head coach is about a decade older than the quarterback whose education is the biggest factor in the Rams’ future.

McVay might be a kid, but he’s old enough to make Goff listen, and widely respected enough to make the relationship work, and nothing else matters.

“It’s the most difficult position, the most important position,’’ McVay said of the quarterback spot. “I can’t wait … to get to work with him and start developing that relationship that’s going to be a key for us moving forward.’’

They’ve actually already started unofficially working together, as Goff watched a couple of hours of film with McVay as part of the interview process.

McVay said he was impressed: “Sitting down with Jared, you can feel his passion and the drive that he has to come back and respond in year two and be better.’’

Goff was also impressed: “We will have a totally different offense, different scheme, and a lot of different things go into place. It’s a new energy, it’s an exciting time.’’

Oh, and about that age thing…

“I think it’s definitely cool,’’ Goff said. “We are a young team, we are a young offense in particular, and having a guy like that who can relate to us a little better could be beneficial.’’

He’s young, but he’s not Hollywood. Last summer was the first time he has been to Los Angeles. “The traffic’s an absolute nightmare,’’ he said.

He’s young, but he’s not a beach bum, and when he tries to sound like one, he ends up sounding like a football coach, as he said, “I’d give surfing a stab.’’ A stab?

Sean McVay is all leatherhead, all the time, traditional enough to bring in renowned assistant Wade Phillips to run the defense, but also young enough to be one of football’s only coaches who would recognize two other celebrities who approached his table that night at Spago.

“Only in L.A. we’re actually sitting there and Josh Duhamel and Fergie walk up and wish Mr. Kroenke good luck,’’ McVay said.

Did they recognize McVay?

“Absolutely not,’’ he said with a grin. “It was probably like Wolfgang. Who is this guy?’’

Hey man, he’s the new Rams head coach. All kid-ding aside.

 

[Merlin]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-introduce-mcvay-20170113-story.html#nt=oft12aH-1gp2

New Rams Coach Sean McVay says he's been ready 'my whole life'


New Rams Coach Sean McVay talks about his vision for the team.

Gary KleinContact Reporter
His mother was not surprised by the phone call.

Sean McVay was on the line from Southern California, where he had gone through a series of final interviews before the Rams made him the youngest head coach in modern NFL history.

“I have the job,” McVay told his parents, who were at home in Atlanta.

“You ready for this?” Cindy McVay asked.

Washington Redskins’ offensive coordinator the last three seasons, might be millennial but he looked and sounded every bit the part of a veteran and seasoned head coach as he spoke passionately about his plans and took questions from reporters.

McVay wore a fashionably fitted blue suit, white shirt and gold tie and, at times, seemed to channel former NFL coach Jon Gruden, a longtime family friend who gave him his coaching start and endorsed him to the Rams.

“It’s an exciting time to be an L.A. Ram,” McVay said, “and we can’t wait to go to work, roll our sleeves up and figure out a way to consistently give this fan base and this great city of L.A. a winner and a team that they can be proud of week-in and week-out.”

The real test of McVay’s ability, of course, will come in the 2017 season, when he will be expected to turn around a franchise that has not had a winning season since 2003 or made the playoffs since 2004.

The Rams finished 4-12 this season with the NFL’s worst offense for the second year in a row.

McVay, who is bringing in veteran defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, did not sound deterred.

“I see a lot of key pieces that give us a chance to compete,” said McVay,who directed a Redskins offense that ranked third in the NFL this season.

Kevin Demoff, the Rams’ vice president of football operations, said the Rams had been looking for a coach who was a skilled communicator, an innovative tactician and an energetic presence. McVay’s age was not a negative, he said.

“There’s a difference between youth and maturity,” Demoff said. “Sean is very mature.”

Said General Manager Les Snead: “The youth and age help him relate to young guys. . . . It’s a young man’s business.”

McVay is the grandson of former NFL executive John McVay. He also pointed to Jon and Jay Gruden and Mike Shanahan as some of the coaches and people who helped him and influenced his coaching style.

And he said he is excited about working with quarterback Jared Goff, the No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft. Goff struggled through many of his seven starts and finished the season without a victory. McVay watched film with Goff as part of the interview process.

“You can feel his passion and the drive he has to come back and respond and be better,” McVay said.

Goff, 22, said he expected McVay to “bring out the best in me” and that it was “definitely cool” to play for a coach not that far removed from his age.

“We are a young team,” Goff said. “We are a young offense in particular, and having a guy like that who can maybe relate to us a little better could be beneficial.

“At the same time, I think his overall knowledge and leadership and the way he coaches are more important than that.”

In a phone interview, running back Todd Gurley said that he spoke by phone with McVay after he was hired. He also said he followed the development of Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins under McVay and that Redskins running back Keith Marshall, a former Georgia teammate, spoke highly of the Rams’ new coach.

“He said, ‘You’re going to love him,’ ” Gurley said.

After Jeff Fisher was fired in December, Demoff told reporters the Rams would not limit their search for a coach. They interviewed eight candidates — including New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels but not Atlanta offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan — before hiring McVay.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2008, when Jon Gruden was head coach and McVay was a first-year offensive assistant. Demoff said he texted Gruden in the middle of the interview and said “Holy crap! He is you!”

On Tuesday, on the eve of his second interview, McVay had dinner with Demoff, owner Stan Kroenke and Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk at Spago in Beverly Hills.

Immediately afterward, Demoff said Faulk told him, “That person can absolutely be your next head coach.”

The next morning, over breakfast, the Rams offered the job to McVay.

“As soon as I got that offer,” he said, “it didn’t take long to decide, ‘Hey, let’s go do this thing.’”

Then he called his parents, to tell them he was ready for the opportunity for which he had been preparing.

All of his life.

 

[Merlin]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-report-20170113-story.html#nt=oft01a-1la1

Rams report: Les Snead isn't going anywhere as the GM prepares to work with Coach Sean McVay


New Rams Coach Sean McVay talks about his vision for the team.

Lindsey Thiry and Gary Klein

Rams General Manager Les Snead took his seat on stage with Kevin Demoff, vice president of football operations, as Sean McVay was introduced as the team’s new coach Friday.

Snead’s future with the organization has been uncertain since former coach Jeff Fisherwas fired with three games remaining in his fifth season. Like Fisher, Snead received a contract extension before the season.

But Snead, 45, was involved in the coach search and interview process and said Friday that he would remain with the team.

“I’m more thrilled about the opportunity, especially to work with Sean, and am well aware of the magnitude of the opportunity and know the responsibility that comes with it,” Snead said.

Washington Redskins’ offensive coordinator the last three seasons, and Snead will work collaboratively on personnel decisions, Snead said.

Through the interview process, McVay said he was able to determine that he and Snead, among other front-office members, shared a similar vision for the organization and the type of players it would include.

“A Ram, for us, they’re going to be mentally and physically tough players that are smart and love to compete,” McVay said.

After spending nearly five seasons with Fisher, 58, Snead acknowledged that it would be an adjustment working with the 30-year-old McVay, the youngest coach in modern NFL history. He must evolve and adapt to a younger generation, he said.

McVay, who turns 31 on Jan. 24, is close in age to many Rams players. Defensive lineman William Hayes, 31, is the only player older.

“It seems like the millennials are taking over and a lot of them are our football players,” Snead said. “[They] learn differently, pay attention differently, are motivated differently.”

Experience factor

Part of what made McVay attractive to the Rams was his ability to bring in Wade Phillips as defensive coordinator.

Phillips, 69, has been an NFL head coach and was the Denver Broncos’ defensive coordinator the last two seasons. The Broncos’ dominating defense led them to a victory in Super Bowl 50 last year.

Phillips’ contract with the Broncos expired at the end of the season. His son, Wes, worked with McVay as tight ends coach for the Redskins.

“Wade was a guy, when you realized he would be available, was at the top of the list,” McVay said. “I think his resume of what he’s accomplished in the coaching profession speaks for itself.

“Being familiar with him, just from my relationship with Wes, there’s a certain comfort level that exists …. It’s exciting to get the opportunity to work with him and collaborate and figure out a way to create and establish that winning culture that we all want here.”

Having a seasoned coach such as Phillips, McVay said, will help him delegate and empower assistants.

“When you’re able to agree to terms with a coach like Wade Phillips, that does free you up,” he said. “When you’re head coach, you’re responsible for managing the team and building those relationships with everybody.

“But having great coaches in place can then allow you to be more selective in how you go about your everyday approach.”

Quick hits

John Fassel, the Rams’ special teams coordinator, is expected to be retained…. Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson and other former Rams players are welcome to be around the team, McVay said. He also said he had spoken with Dickerson. The former running back was publicly critical of the Rams last season and was embroiled in controversy with Fisher over Dickerson’s request for extra sideline passes. Dickerson refused to attend Rams games after the tempest became public and said he would not return as long as Fisher was the coach. The Rams fired Fisher on Dec. 12, and Dickerson attended the Rams final game against the Arizona Cardinals.

 

[Merlin]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-gurley-mcvvay-20170113-story.html#nt=oft07a-2gp1

Todd Gurley welcomes new Rams Coach Sean McVay with open arms


New Rams Coach Sean McVay talks about his vision for the team.

Gary KleinContact Reporter

Rams running back Todd Gurley had not heard the news.

Then he got a text from quarterback Jared Goff.

“You’re going to like him,” Goff wrote.

“What are you talking about?’’ Gurley responded.

NFL offensive rookie of the year rushed for only 885 yards and six touchdowns in 16 games, a struggle after gaining 1,106 yards and scoring 10 touchdowns the previous season.

So he welcomes McVay, who as the Washington Redskins’ offensive coordinator directed the NFL’s third-best offense this season.

Gurley said that he has followed the development of Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins and that Redskins running back Keith Marshall, a former Georgia teammate, also spoke highly of McVay.

“He said, ‘You’re going to love him,’ ” Gurley said.