THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Sean McVay sat on a water cooler in his first real exposure to a national television audience.
It was “Thursday Night Football” from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Sept. 21, and the Los Angeles Rams‘ 31-year-old rookie head coach could often be seen there while his team played defense, furiously scanning his tablet like a school kid cramming for a pop quiz. NFL Network commentators kept referencing his unconventional style throughout the game, and McVay was made aware of the intrigue by the Rams’ public-relations staff shortly afterward.
“Man,” he thought, “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
The time when possessions change and defensive players take their turn is crucial for McVay.
He uses it to see if opposing defenses gave him the looks he anticipated, to gauge how his offensive linemen and running backs reacted to certain blitz packages, and to find out where the vulnerabilities lie in the secondary. Then he maps out the next offensive series, going through it all as quickly as possible so that his assistants have advance notice.
The longer the previous offensive drive, the longer the process takes.
McVay is operating under unique circumstances. He’s the youngest head coach in modern NFL history and he doubles as the Rams’ playcaller on offense. In other words, he has a lot going on. But he also has the luxury of relying on two of the best in the game in other areas. His special-teams coordinator, John Fassel, served as the Rams’ interim head coach for the final three games last season. His defensive coordinator, Wade Phillips, has been in the NFL for five decades and spent nine seasons as a full-time head coach.
“It’s not like you’re going to override anything that Wade’s going to call,” McVay said. “You want to make sure that you’re there if there’s a reference point, or if you want to have a discussion. But I’m not going to sit there and dictate some of the calls that Wade’s made when he’s done such a good job calling the game throughout the course of his career.”
One of Fassel’s first interactions with McVay was a meeting to go over how in-game decisions would be made.
They went through everything that day, with a detail that astounded Fassel. McVay told him that he wanted the Rams to be “situational masters,” and that included a very specific flow to how calls would be made, when challenges and timeouts would be taken, and whether penalties would be accepted or declined. They talked about going for two-point conversions and executing fake punts, and how the chain of command would work.
“I remember that first conversation I had with him, thinking, ‘This is important, and this is going to be big time for us, and this is going to be a big point of emphasis for him,'” said Fassel, the son of former New York Giants coach Jim Fassel. “He already had a bunch of ideas and terminology laid out, and it was a great project for me to try to follow through with what he wanted to do. I never really thought in depth about those types of things until I had a chance to sit down with him and talk about it.”
As the offensive coordinator, Matt LaFleur’s job on game day is to do everything he can to facilitate McVay’s playcalling. He sits in the booth, alongside assistant receivers coach Zac Taylor and assistant offensive line coach Andy Dickerson, “to get a bead on what the defense is presenting to our offense on a down-in and down-out basis, as well as try to have some foresight on what they could present to us,” LaFleur explained. “And then, if there are any holes that we see in that defense, we’re making those suggestions to try to attack whatever it is they’re trying to do to us.”
LaFleur said McVay “sees the game as well as anybody I’ve been around.”
Fassel stays near McVay during games, just in case he needs to jump in with an opinion or a quick decision, and he has come away impressed.
“His demeanor on the sideline, as far as situations, penalty acceptance or decline, timeout usage, all those types of things — I think he’s been great,” Fassel said. “I don’t know what other people think, but just being right there by him basically the whole game, he’s really in tune. I’m really proud of him.”
McVay hasn’t been sitting on water coolers lately, but that’s only because they haven’t been situated in the most convenient seating locations. He still spends a decent chunk of the time that follows offensive series in preparation for the next one. Nearly five weeks have passed since the entire country got a glimpse into McVay’s unorthodox in-game tactics, but the dynamics haven’t really changed.
With a 5-2 record, and all parts clicking, they don’t need to.
“What’s important for us is to make sure that we have a smooth game-day operation,” McVay said Tuesday. “I don’t think it necessarily has to be where I’m standing at the forefront, trying to show that you have to make all the decisions.”