Sean McVay is one of the best coaches in the NFL. He’s not, however, the fondest of the scouting process.
That was the interesting tidbit about McVay that Rams GM Les Snead shared in an interview with former Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff. Snead was discussing the different roles and skills of the Rams’ key decision-makers, including himself, McVay and COO Kevin Demoff, and while McVay loves coaching, he doesn’t particularly enjoy grinding college tape and breaking down prospects the way some other coaches do.
Snead shared a little bit about what it’s like to watch college prospects with McVay, who can’t help but look at the concepts being run by the teams he’s watching.
“So what’s interesting, too, about Sean is he wants to coach and he really doesn’t love scouting,” Snead said. “He’s one of those where you sit down to watch college players, he is a couple plays in and he’s already into the nuances of either, ‘Look at this great … look what they’re doing. Look what they’re doing to this safety. They’re putting that safety in such a hard spot. I’d hate to be that safety’s dad because this is impossible.’ He’s already in the nuance of the tactical.”
That wasn’t meant to be a knock on McVay from Snead. He’s just pointing out the way McVay’s mind works when he’s watching players. He’s immediately drawn to the plays being run and ways he can implement those ideas into the Rams offense.
McVay is a self-admitted play-stealer, often taking concepts from other teams in the NFL and at the college level. It’s part of what makes him a great coach.
That, along with his leadership and humility, Snead says.
“Sean’s a 10 in terms of tactical, he’s a 10 in terms of leadership, but he’s a 10-plus in terms of humility for someone that’s as good as he is,” Snead said. “He got the job at such a young age and was easily willing to admit, ‘I wouldn’t have gotten this job if I hadn’t been lucky enough to study under Jon Gruden and Mike Shanahan and even Kyle Shanahan.’ And took that with him and would come in the building and go, ‘Don’t ask me about how we get from Point A to Point B. I’ve just been an offensive coordinator so I don’t know anything about traveling.’ He has this humility to go, ‘Hey, y’all go do what you do.’”
McVay has grown a lot as a coach in the six-plus years he’s been with the Rams, becoming much more than just an offensive play caller in a head coach’s position. He’s a true leader within the organization and has become more involved on defense since moving on from Wade Phillips after his first two seasons.
