After a tumultuous offseason last year where he battled with retirement, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay has felt rejuvenated recently and full of confidence and excitement once more about the future of his team.
McVay recently told Rams play-by-play commentator JB Long and analyst D'Marco Farr that being around this 2024 Rams team has brought him back to feeling like his old self.
"You know what's cool? Being around this group, and especially even last year, it feels like it's Year 1 again. And I really mean that."
McVay has always been a high-energy, high-intensity coach but spent much of the two seasons after the Rams' Super Bowl debating retirement. After all, he's already been to two Super Bowls, winning one, has led some of the top offenses in the league, and has the most playoff wins in Rams history all before turning 38 years old. Being a recent parent, McVay genuinely fought with the desire to become a family man, and rumors of studios reaching out to lure him with millions to get him in the booth for games only added to that.
"There's a lot of cool things that have gone on with the people that I'm around, the coaches, but having that little guy, too, is a real easy reason to keep appropriate perspective and to make sure you're being the man and the model and what it looks like for him every day."
The 2022 season, where the Rams battled numerous injuries and fell apart right after their Super Bowl win, was a significant challenge for McVay.
"I feel like these last couple of years, there's really just been a real renewed purpose and perspective that reminds you what a blessing this is. You kind of had lost that a little bit in the midst of the journey, especially things going well and then obviously, the challenging year in '22."
2022 was the only year under McVay the Rams didn't post a winning record, going 5-12. With how bad the injuries were and the team's roster woes, it's a testament to McVay's ability as a coach that they even got to five wins that season.
Fresh off the heels of a rebound 10-7 2023 season, McVay is starting to feel like himself again. As one of the top innovators in the NFL, that should worry the rest of the NFL.
