ATLANTA _ Sean McVay may be the youngest head coach ever to participate in a Super Bowl, but he's really an old soul when it comes to football.
Look back at McVay's biggest influences, and you'll see a silver-haired man who came to define coaching brilliance. Thirty years after Bill Walsh's victorious finale with the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIII, McVay will try to carry on the legacy of the Hall of Famer who helped revolutionize the NFL.
"I never really had a chance to meet Bill because of how young I was," McVay, 33, said, "but my grandfather has been so willing to share (stories), and all the books that (Walsh) has written where he gets into the way he philosophically looked at things."
John McVay was the 49ers' general manager for Walsh and later George Seifert, and Sean's grandfather won five Super Bowls with the 49ers after coaching the Giants from 1976-78. "Those are things that have definitely had a heavy influence on the core beliefs, values and characteristics that you want to try to utilize when you're in a position like this."
McVay lists his grandfather and coaches with whom he's worked _ including Jon and Jay Gruden and Mike Shanahan _ as his biggest direct influences. But it was Walsh who helped spawn those careers by leaving his imprint on the 49ers, creating a coaching tree that continues today. McVay is the latest branch of what has to be the greatest list of coaching descendants in professional sports history.
"Bill Walsh is arguably one of the best of all time, and we certainly had a lot of respect for what he meant to this game, and we definitely try to take some of those things for sure," McVay said. "The meticulous detail, the organization, the new-age approach that he really took to practice, how to maximize players' abilities."
Much of what McVay has gleaned comes from Walsh's books. "The Score Takes Care Of Itself" is "the one that has been the most beneficial in terms of being able to implement those things. I love that book. It's been a great one."
John McVay also sent Sean a copy of "Finding The Winning Edge," a 500-page-plus tome in which Walsh exhaustively details how almost every day _ in season and offseason _ should be spent. How players should practice, and how often. What they should eat. What to drink. How the assistant coaches should behave. How the administrative staff should interact. Walsh even devoted several pages to how the team's secretaries and receptionist should behave.
"Sean said he would read a few pages every night before he fell asleep," John McVay said. "He got through the book and learned a lot. Sean's an unusually bright guy."
Three decades after McVay watched Joe Montana lead a last-minute comeback win over the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII, McVay, 88, will be on hand to watch his grandson coach in his first Super Bowl.
"He is going to get a chance to be here, and that really means a lot to our family," Sean said. "This wouldn't have occurred without his influence on the league. It's such a small network, and I'm not naive (enough) to think I would get these opportunities if it wasn't for the legacy that my grandfather was able to establish."
McVay is half the age of the Patriots' Bill Belichick, who has the greatest resume of any coach in NFL history. But Belichick can appreciate McVay's career, partly because he comes from a unique football family. Despite the age difference, McVay and Belichick are kindred spirits.
"Sean comes from a football family and he's very passionate about football," Belichick said. "I have a lot of respect for Sean. I think he does things the right way. I think he has a great football mind, and he's been around football his entire life, which I was fortunate enough to do as well. I have a great relationship with his grandfather, and I have a ton of respect for what he did for the league."
Belichick faced Walsh throughout his tenure as the Giants' defensive coordinator under Bill Parcells in the 1980's, back when Giants-49ers was one of the best rivalries in NFL history. Parcells and Belichick often got the best of Walsh; their Giants beat his 49ers twice in the playoffs and were involved in several thrilling regular-season games.
Walsh created the renowned West Coast offense, still the NFL's predominant system. McVay utilizes several of its concepts and has added his own flourishes. Where Walsh liked using a series of short passes _ many of which turned into long gains _ McVay has added a more daring element.
"Sean does it a different way," Belichick said. "They run a lot of seven- and eight-man protections. The deep, play-action passes they call is definitely more than any other team we play."
It will be a battle of wits between two of the brightest coaches in the NFL _ the long-established savant and the young prodigy. What comes forth from those great minds most likely will determine who gets to hold the Vince Lombardi Trophy aloft.
