Written by Jason La Confora at CBS Sports.com
Sean McVay has just finished a long and feisty joint practice with the Chargers in his first NFL training camp as the youngest head coach in NFL history, and his team is quietly working on a blockbuster trade for receiver Sammy Watkins during a fairly frenetic time, when he notices a kindred spirit nearby.
McVay, 31, just wrapped up his daily session with Southern California media and moments later he is engaged in an animated conversation with Bob Bradley, one of the most accomplished in managers in American soccer history who led the U.S. Men’s National Team to the 2010 World Cup and who just took over MLS expansion team LAFC.
McVay, never one to miss out on an opportunity to chat up another coach and glean whatever he can even from a brief and chance meeting, is always in pursuit of knowledge. He didn’t rise through the NFL assistant ranks to become Los Angeles Rams head coach this quickly by not listening closely, by not trying to absorb as much as he could from those successful men he’s worked under, by not taking advantage of opportunities that arose.
McVay has pedigree for greatness
While he hasn’t yet coached an NFL game, McVay has drawn quite a buzz already around the league. He’s something of a phenomenon, a force of coaching nature, who has an innate feel for people and an advance eye for offense. As execs from rival clubs have been around him a bit now, dating back to the spring owner’s meetings, he is making a strong impression — “I kinda wish he wasn’t in our division,” one exec recently told me, adding, “That guy is a gonna be a stud” — and he’s already won over the Rams’ key veterans. McVay can blend the old school philosophies of men like his grandfather, former top NFL exec John McVay, with theories at the vanguard of the modern passing game.
While the Rams are still ways away from contention, McVay might be the man to finally get them back there.
“What this opportunity provides is a great platform to be able to learn, and that’s the biggest thing,” McVay told me. “What I’ve been flattered and blessed and humbled about is that these other leaders that you can connect with are so willing to share. Even going back to some of the other coaches that you talk to at the owner’s meeting in the NFL, and being able to reach out to others. And meeting (NBA coach) Doc Rivers and some different guys like that who have had that platform and done it the right way for a long time. It’s still pretty unique.”
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