McVay to stay (okay?) (hurray)

InvaderRam wrote:

i’m sure he’s reached out already, but he has to talk to former head coaches and figure out how to find a balance so he doesn’t keep draining himself like this. a hard ask for sure. maybe he has to delegate better. i don’t know. or maybe he eventually will have to take that sabbatical.

Good news. According to Jourdan, the Rams thought he’d likely take that break after the 2023 season, and that it wouldn’t have happened this soon. In so many words, it seems like they expected it and were prepared — for next year, not this year.

I agree with you about delegating plus reaching out to former head coaches. Hopefully he’s in the midst of all of that. Vermeil? Cowher? Dungy?

IMO — and I’m not kidding — he needs a life coach, or two, or three. Perhaps keep that private, both cuz it’s no one’s business, and it might not fit with the culture. But if I were making millions a year, and I had that kind of “burn the candle at both ends” personality, as Rodrigue describes it, I’d have a range of help. This would include Zen masters, a world-class chef, dieticians, trained psychologists who specialized in the Sports and Entertainment complex, etc. I’d likely focus on guided meditation and micro-dosing with psilocybin, with medical supervision. I believe that’s perfectly legal in Cali.

If he doesn’t get help outside the Rams, however, it seems likely he’s just going to go through this every year until he crashes and burns. Not good for him, obviously, or his family, or the Rams.

My two cents, anyway.

URL = Sean McVay tells Rams he’s staying as coach, sources say (espn.com)

LOS ANGELES — Sean McVay has informed members of the Los Angeles Rams organization that he will remain the team’s head coach, sources told ESPN’s Dianna Russini on Friday.

The decision comes days after McVay said in his end-of-season news conference that he would be taking the “appropriate time” to make a decision on his future to figure out “the best way to continue to move forward in the right way to be the best coach that you can possibly be.”

The Rams are coming off a 5-12 season, McVay’s worst losing campaign since he was hired in Los Angeles in 2017, as they dealt with a slew of injuries, including to starting quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receiver Cooper Kupp and defensive tackle Aaron Donald.

During the 2022 offseason, McVay signed a contract extension that runs through the 2026 season, matching the length of the deal signed by general manager Les Snead.

This isn’t the first time a possible McVay retirement has come up. In the week leading up to Super Bowl LVI last February, McVay answered a question by saying he “won’t make it” if he is coaching until he is 60 and talked about the things he wants to pursue outside of football.

“I know I love football and I’m so invested in this thing and I’m in the moment right now,” McVay said at the time. “But at some point too, if you said, ‘What do you want to be able to do?’ I want to be able to have a family, and I want to be able to spend time with them.”

After the Rams’ Super Bowl victory, McVay was asked whether he would return to Los Angeles in 2022. He responded, “We’ll see.” But less than two weeks after the Super Bowl, McVay told ESPN that he would not be pursuing any television opportunities and would return to coach the Rams.

McVay, who was the youngest head coach in modern NFL history when he was hired by the Rams in 2017 just before his 31st birthday, has led Los Angeles to a 67-41 record in six seasons, including playoffs. His Rams team have won three NFC West titles, two NFC championships and one Super Bowl.

After this season, McVay called his job a “beautiful challenge,” saying, “I wouldn’t change any part of this.”

“The ultimate thing is you want to make … sure that this joy, this zest, this ability to be able to do the things at the level that you know you’re capable of, how do you not let the challenges and the grind and the competitor in you … how do you not let that change the dynamic of who you want to be as a leader in those types of things? And that’s kind of where I’m at.”