Sean McVay was in a joking mood on Friday afternoon.
With the New England Patriots' hiring of Jerod Mayo, the replacement for longtime coach Bill Belichick, McVay relinquished his title as the NFL's youngest coach, one he held for seven years since being hired at age 30.
When told of this, McVay jokingly celebrated and pumped his fist, telling reporters that they could finally drop the narrative. Then, the Los Angeles Rams coach was asked if he felt like a pioneer to other youthful coaches in the league, to which he responded by lightheartedly ribbing team owner Stan Kroenke for hiring him at such a young age.
"There's a lot of other guys that, depending upon where you draw the line of what you consider youthful,” McVay said. “I was certainly really young. Thirty [years old] was young. It's crazy when you think back. Sometimes when I look at Mr. Kroenke, I say, 'What the hell were you thinking, man?'”
Seven years ago today, we hired Sean McVay as our head coach. pic.twitter.com/4JNVXLGWTO
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) January 12, 2024
A well-executed joke by McVay. In all seriousness, Kroenke did take a risk by entrusting the Rams to the 30-year-old McVay, who made the leap to the coach's chair after just three seasons as an offensive coordinator.
But McVay has made him look like a genius, as he's led the Rams to the playoffs in five of his seven seasons, reaching two Super Bowls and winning one.
The Patriots can only hope that the 37-year-old Mayo, who has big shoes to fill, can enjoy similar success to McVay.
