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(Top photo of Sean McVay: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)
By Rich Hammond | The Athletic
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Ever wonder how pilots deal with turbulence? Subtle moves involving speed and elevation can make a difference. Nothing drastic, nothing rash. Stay calm and keep flying.
Such is life for an NFL coach. Rare is the smooth season. Injuries, off-field issues and player regression and poor play can present sudden bumps, and a coach must rely on his experience to get through them.
But what if that coach has never dealt with tough times? What if he’s Sean McVay, age 33 and less than three years into the job, and he’s never been faced with significant adversity? What if, in the span of 10 months, he’s gone from “genius” to “exposed” in the eyes of pundits who were absurdly breathless both times? What does he do with a team that once had Super Bowl aspirations but now is 6-5 and not in playoff position?
It’s clear that the rest of this Rams season is going to be a referendum on McVay, and if he approaches it the right way, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In many ways, McVay now is being presented with an opportunity, a chance to show that he’s the complete package as a head coach.
What’s on the checklist? Critical Rams fans frequently ding McVay for his play-calling and for too-slow in-game adjustments. There’s a way to fix that, by bringing in some help, but that can’t be addressed until after the season. For now, McVay can work on his messaging, and give this team what it needs to hear.
McVay has done an extraordinary job since Jan. 2017. He took over a 4-12 team, got the players to believe in him and each other, installed a modern offense, elevated Jared Goff and won a division title. Then the Rams got even better in 2018, won another NFC West title and reached the Super Bowl.
One season does not turn a coach into a failure. It’s just that this is different for McVay. He has passed every test to date, but he has never faced one like this. In many ways, it will be his most difficult, and it will be fascinating to watch. There’s nothing to say McVay can’t do it; it’s just that he’s never had to do it.
Also, a disclaimer: Outside of players and coaches, nobody knows what is actually said in the Rams’ locker room, during the week and after losses. The internal message could be completely different from the public message, but the public message is hitting the ears a little weird right now.
The Rams are spiraling. Yes, they’ve had injuries and something weird has been going on with Todd Gurley all season. But this team is far too talented to be 6-5 and, quite likely, a non-playoff team.
Yet after an embarrassing 45-6 loss to Baltimore on Monday night, most everyone with the Rams spoke in measured tones. Eric Weddle had some fire, but from McVay down, the rest of the team said all the normal things about watching the tape, getting better, sticking together and eliminating mistakes.
“You be honest with yourself about what we could do better,” veteran offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth said. “That’s coaches, players, everybody. The thing is, eventually, it’s one of those things where it’s not just players, it’s not just coaches — it’s all of us together, collectively. How do we get on the same page? How do we do things better? Is it the plan, is it the plays, is it the players? All those things have to be looked at with alligator skin. You’ve got to be tough about it and look internally and say, ‘Hey, how can each and every one one of us be better?’”
That’s very smart from Whitworth, but also very analytical and calm, and those sentiments echoed across the locker room. It didn’t sound like a team particularly worried or upset about its spot in the NFL standings, and that started with McVay. In speaking this week about the upcoming games and the struggle the Rams face, he actually used the phrase “take it one game at a time.”
No. This requires more. There’s a difference between anger and panic, and the Rams need some anger right now, and it needs to start with their head coach. Where is the urgency? Again, perhaps that messaging is being delivered behind closed doors, but players also take their cues from what a coach says publicly, and this is not the time for “I’m OK, you’re OK” stuff from McVay.
McVay’s clear strength, for the past 34 months, has been in building people up. He is, by nature, a positive, encouraging person. It doesn’t mean he can’t (and won’t) get after players, but it’s time to bring that attitude to the podium. Get guys on their toes. Don’t be afraid to talk about pride and job competition.
“Anybody that’s had any sort of success in sports,” McVay said this week, “you’ve seen them overcome some adversity, different forms and fashion. But what you have to do is, you have to move forward. Those times don’t last unless you allow them to. I can promise you we’re not going to allow that to continue to fester with us, and it’s going to be something that we look at as — that adversity is an opportunity for us to respond the right way.”
All true, all smart, but this has remained the messaging week after week, and things are not getting demonstratively better for the Rams. Then there are the micro issues. Even if McVay hit every correct note with his public tone, it wouldn’t change the fact that the Rams cannot consistently score.
Over 32 regular-season games in 2017 and 2018, no team scored more points than the Rams. Now they have fallen off the cliff, and rank 14th in the NFL with an average of 22.6 points per game. They have scored a total of 249 points, one more than this week’s opponent, the Arizona Cardinals, who have a rookie quarterback, a first-year head coach and far less talent across the board on offense.
Sean McVay has been the Rams’ offensive play-caller since his 2017 hiring. (Robert Hanashiro / USA TODAY Sports)
Some of this is out of McVay’s hands. While he works in concert with general manager Les Snead in personnel matters, McVay didn’t choose to overhaul the Rams’ offensive line. He certainly didn’t choose to deal with the murky Gurley situation, and McVay deserves plaudits there. McVay has been taking the public hits for not using Gurley more, even though he’s clearly trying to manage a sub-optimal situation.
There are, however, fair ways to critique McVay, and the red flags even started to rise late last season. Teams like Chicago and Philadelphia found ways to slow the Rams’ offense, yet McVay seemed slow-footed weeks later when New England enjoyed similar defensive success in the Super Bowl.
Coaching is never static. Critics who say McVay has been “figured out” are being ridiculous. The coaching game involves constant adjustments, readjustments, and adjustments to those readjustments. It never stops, and innovative coaches, like McVay, always have to deal with it.
Of course some of McVay’s stuff is going to get “figured out.” That’s going to happen for the rest of his career. When it does, he needs to, well, find new stuff, and there’s been a bit of an issue there, even during the season.
How about just this month? The Rams entered their bye week after victories over Atlanta and Cincinnati, teams that, at the time, had a combined record of 1-12. The Rams built some momentum but still needed to be much better, and it seemed reasonable to think that the bye week would be a perfect time for McVay to go into the lab and give the Rams’ offense some fresh material for their final eight games.
Instead, McVay gave players the entire week off from practice — which seemed reasonable, given their recent travel and a growing list of injuries — and the Rams’ offense has been completely flat since the bye. The team scored 12 points against Pittsburgh, 17 against Chicago and 6 against Baltimore.
The lack of in-game adjustments also has raised some eyebrows, which makes it fair to question whether it’s time for McVay to get some help, perhaps from an older, grizzled offensive coordinator.
McVay’s main task right now — setting the proper tone for the entire team amid its skid — is complicated by the fact that he also runs the offense. That’s a lot for one coach to take on, and since the end of the 2017 season, when Matt LaFleur left, McVay has not used an offensive coordinator, at least not in name. He now has Shane Waldron as pass-game coordinator and Aaron Kromer as run-game coordinator, but even those coaches have other responsibilities (quarterbacks and offensive linemen, respectively).
McVay gets help — former UCLA offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch also is on the staff — but maybe it’s time for something more. If McVay doesn’t want to hand over play-calling duties, he can perhaps at least bring in a veteran coach for some guidance. Minnesota brought in Gary Kubiak as a consultant after last season. Is there a chance that Jay Gruden, one of McVay’s mentors, might be interested in a role?
McVay’s most impressive move as Rams coach was his first big one. In hiring Wade Phillips as his defensive coordinator, McVay showed confidence, that he wasn’t afraid to bring in a high-profile assistant to run a big part of his time. It was the proper move and it got rewarded. McVay doesn’t need to hand over the entire offense now, and he shouldn’t, but he also shouldn’t shoulder the entire weight.
To be certain, McVay’s seat is not warm. The cabin air pressure is just fine. McVay had the Rams in the Super Bowl within this calendar year, and nobody within Rams headquarters can imagine a different, or better, leader for this team.
McVay is also only two weeks removed from one of his best coaching performances. Against Chicago, the Rams entered with a young, reshuffled offensive line and the outlook appeared gloomy. McVay went back to basics, shifted primarily to sets with two tight ends and ran the ball. It still wasn’t very aesthetically pleasing, but the Rams did enough to get the victory. In the postgame locker room, the Rams gathered around McVay and presented him with a game ball.
This isn’t a time to panic. McVay is fine but everyone, in any industry — coaches, players, accountants, truck drivers — always can stand to improve. That is being brought into sharper focus now for McVay because of the Rams’ struggles this season. McVay always likes to look on the bright side, so he should view this as a chance to prove that he can guide the Rams through tough times for the first time.
