The day is January 12, 2017, and the Los Angeles Rams front office has just made an announcement for the ages: The Rams have officially hired the youngest head coach in NFL history at only 30-years old, former Washington Offensive Coordinator Sean McVay.
Rams fans seemed stoked about the hire. Starved for creativity and production with the worst offense in the NFL coming out of 2016 as one of the worst offenses in modern history, they hired one of the brightest young minds in the league. They also helped him assemble an all-star staff, which starts with long-time, legendary Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips.
Why am I mentioning this? Well, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports has a detailed article about the Rams’ new head coach and includes a pretty telling quote from LT Andrew Whitworth:
“Nick Saban is one of those guys that epitomizes that, day-in and day-out being the same guy and having the same process,” Whitworth said. “Nick is very successful with that, and I think Sean is a lot like that, with who he is and the way he handles communication. It’s the same every day.
“Those kinds of people, they earn a lot of respect from a locker room because that’s one of the biggest things that guys want. You know as a player you want to be as consistent as possible, and you want coaching and everything else in the building to be consistent to where you know what to expect and you know what’s expected of you. That’s the best thing you can do, and that’s what Sean does.”
Whitworth also mentions that age isn’t a factor in any way:
When Sean speaks, age goes out the window because of how smart and in-depth with the game he really is.
These comparisons are lofty, but when you get the feeling someone is special, you know it’s unlike anything you’ve felt before. And for the Rams who’ve tried new coach after new coach looking for success for many years, it seems they may finally have landed the gem they’ve been striving for.