wv wrote:

I’m wondering how the mcvay coaching tree did this year. I know the Bengals coach has done well, obviously. The vikings guy did well. How about the others? w v

from https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2022/12/14/23509950/sean-mcvay-coaching-tree-2023-hires

Ejiro Evero, Broncos Defensive Coordinator

Evero coached safeties on the Rams from 2017-2020, then took over defensive pass game coordinator duties in 2021. He was hired by Nathaniel Hackett (who worked for LaFleur) to be the Broncos defensive coordinator in 2022 and in spite of their horrid record, Denver is ranked second in points per drive allowed.

The 42-year-old Evero, a native of England, will surely be interviewed a number of times in January for open head coach positions. Evero got his start with an NFL team under Jon Gruden in 2007 (no surprise given the McVay connection) on the Buccaneers and Tampa Bay could be holding interviews soon if they decide to part with Todd Bowles after one season.

Wes Phillips, Vikings Offensive Coordinator

Phillips got his first NFL job with the Cowboys in 2007, moved onto Washington in 2014, and joined the Rams staff as tight ends coach in 2019. O’Connell brought Phillips with him to the Vikings as offensive coordinator this year and Minnesota is 10th in scoring and has a 10-3 record.

There will always be talk of “but nepotism” with anyone like Phillips, but McVay and Kyle Shanahan are doing pretty well for themselves and there was no shortage of criticism for Shanahan’s opportunities prior to finally breaking out with the Falcons in 2016. Phillips will be interviewed for head coaching positions soon.

Shane Waldron, Seahawks Offensive Coordinator

It’s hard to do better than telling people you’ve worked for Bill Belichick, Sean McVay, and Pete Carroll. Waldron served as an offensive assistant under McVay from 2017-2020 and he’s been Seattle’s offensive coordinator for the last two years. With Geno Smith having a breakout campaign, Waldron should be a popular name in NFL circles next month. His history in the NFC West could make for a compelling argument in Arizona, should they fire Kliff Kingsbury.

Joe Barry, Packers Defensive Coordinator

I couldn’t say that Barry has been all that successful in Green Bay, but we will have seen much more surprising head coaching hires if it turns out that the 52-year-old Barry gets a gig somewhere. The former Rams assistant head coach from 2017-2020 has lots of NFL experience and might find a role as a “bridge coach” somewhere.

***

from https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/sean-mcvay-coaching-tree/171u375hfi4ud1dspoy3krd7w3

Sean McVay coaching tree

Zac Taylor, Bengals
Record: 16-32-1

Taylor’s hiring raised lots of eyebrows, as he replaced the well-respected Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati. His less-than good record in his first two years (2-14, 4-11-1) had people doubting the “Next McVay” strategy, but he made good on the offensive talent he had in 2021, making it to the playoffs, and eventually, Super Bowl 56.

Taylor entered the season with questions over his job security, but the Bengals landing in the playoffs with a great season from “Smokin'” Joe Burrow means Taylor has bought himself some goodwill.

His in-game decision making has gotten better and at various points in 2021, the Bengals looked like they were the best team in the AFC. We’ll see what Taylor has in store in the playoffs and beyond.

Matt LaFleur, Packers
Record: 36-10

There’s something of a shared custody with LaFleur, as he also sits underneath the Shanahan coaching tree. LaFleur and McVay worked beside each other in Washington in the early 2010s under Mike Shanahan, and then reunited in Los Angeles in 2017 when LaFleur operated as McVay’s OC for a season.

The Packers head coach has gotten off to an absolutely dazzling start to his head coaching career, with three-straight 13-win seasons in Green Bay and NFC North division crowns to match. Aaron Rodgers or not, that’s pretty impressive stuff.

LaFleur’s first two forays into the playoffs ended with questionable decisions in the NFC Championship Game. We’ll see if the LaFleur-Rodgers tandem can make it 3-for-3 in NFC Championship Game appearances while the pair has been together — and maybe actually win one this time.

Brandon Staley, Chargers
Record: 9-8

Staley inherited a just-add-water playoff squad in 2021 — the water was added, but the playoff squad was not.

Staley’s already developed a reputation of being a hyper-analytical thinker, with questionable decisions dooming the Chargers at various points in 2021. What helps Staley’s case, though, is that Justin Herbert continued to build on an exceptional start to his career with a stupid good sophomore season.

You can chalk up a lot of game management stuff to rookie coaching growing pains, but 2022 is going to have to show a marked improvement for in-game feel for Staley and Co.

Kevin O’Connell

O’Connell is McVay’s current offensive coordinator who is expected to be named the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings after the conclusion of the Super Bowl. His coaching career started right at the NFL level, bypassing rising up through the college ranks. His first gig was as the quarterbacks coach in Cleveland in 2015 as part of a 3-13 Browns team that featured a QB room of Johnny Manziel in his final season, as well as Austin Davis and Josh McCown, all of whom started at least two games for the Browns.

In 2020, the Rams ranked 11th in total offense and 22nd in scoring offense before improving to ninth and seventh in those respective categories this year.

The team O’Connell is expected to take over — the Vikings — ranked 14th in scoring offense and 12th in total offense this past season

I had to double check this headline came from the official team account https://t.co/wP1PYCSRPl

— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) January 23, 2023

“We won the AFC championship last year. We’ve won 10 games in a row. We’re here. Whatever you want to make of it doesn’t matter.”

Zac Taylor tells @AlbertBreer that the Bengals know who they are, even if the rest of the world is still catching uphttps://t.co/LAWBoc2U3z

— The MMQB (@theMMQB) January 23, 2023

Zooey wrote:

The Rams do need another WR, seems to me. And another edge player, and secondary help.

Skow was showing some signs and Jefferson is a decent #3. I too think they have to figure out how to use Robinson, and that includes Stafford and Robinson getting in sync. I will never believe Atwell was worth a 2nd rounder but still, they are figuring out how to use him. But yes they could use another WR, a guy with enough to count as a real #2.

Yes they could use edge, secondary, and I would add OL. They have a lot of OL returning but the wise approach is to add more and then sort out what they have.

They have a lot of day 3 picks. The Snead/McV Rams have done well with those, actually–far better than any single previous Rams regime. But still you only get at best about 2 players a year for day 3 picks, and that’s if you’re good.

2024 however, they not only have a 1 and a 2, they also have multiple scenarios that could land them additional 3rd rounders. Oddly, the Rams are better in round 3 overall than in round 2.

The @Bengals were the more physical team on Sunday in Buffalo. They brought the hammer on this third down run. Chase sets the edge with a nice full slab, Carmen levels the linebacker and Mixon turns the corner for a long gain. It's well blocked and sums up their day in the snow. pic.twitter.com/vsjhZQdtQV

— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) January 23, 2023

Dallas Cowboys vs. San Fransisco 49ers | 2022 Divisional Round Game Highlights

…

January 20, 2002: In St. Louis, the Rams intercept Brett Favre six times and crush the Packers 45-17 in NFC Divisional Round.
pic.twitter.com/7DFCW2aITw

— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) January 21, 2023

Highlights: Bobby Wagner’s Top Plays Of 2022 | Intercepting Russell Wilson, Field Goal Block & More

.

Why Rams general manager Les Snead is saying remodel instead of rebuild

GARY KLEIN

https://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/story/2023-01-19/rams-general-manager-les-snead-remodel-not-rebuild

Les Snead celebrated his 52nd birthday Thursday, but the Rams general manager already had received an early present when coach Sean McVay last week informed team officials he would return next season.

So, Snead is moving ahead unencumbered as the Rams attempt to bounce back from their lost season.

A year after winning Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium, the Rams finished 5-12, the worst season-after performance by a champion in NFL history.

During a videoconference with reporters, Snead said, “We did not meet our standard” and several times described his 2023 mission as a “remodel” rather than a rebuild for a team that features highly-paid stars such as quarterback Matthew Stafford, receiver Cooper Kupp, defensive lineman Aaron Donald and cornerback Jalen Ramsey.

Snead, the Rams’ general manager since 2012, declined to specify which players could be re-signed, released or dangled as potential trade pieces for a team that will be without a first-round draft pick for the seventh year in row.

“All things are in play, he said.

Some takeaways from the media briefing:

Sigh of relief: For the second year in a row, McVay publicly pondered stepping away from coaching for a team that in 2017 made the then 30-year-old the youngest coach in modern NFL history.

Snead was not surprised.

“The guy’s been basically running an 800-meter sprint every week since he got our job,” Snead said, adding, “Over time, like at some point, you know a hamstring is going to get tight, a hamstring is going to get pulled and you’re not going to be able to do it.”

The Rams were prepared if McVay had opted to step away, Snead said.

“It was more we were talking conceptually about how to evolve our, let’s call it, daily, monthly, annual rhythms to make this a sustainable outfit,” Snead said.

Snead and the Rams can now rest easy … until the end of next season, when McVay almost certainly will revisit taking a break.

About that remodel: The Rams built their Super Bowl roster by trading multiple first-round picks for Ramsey and Stafford and second- and third-round picks for edge rusher Von Miller, who signed with the Buffalo Bills after last season.

And they did it while navigating huge dead money hits for the release of players such as running back Todd Gurley III and the trade that sent quarterback Jared Goff to the Detroit Lions for Stafford.

Now they are at a crossroads.

“We’re probably going to have to, let’s call it, not press the gas as much and pay a little bit of the debt that we’ve accumulated,” Snead said.

The Rams paid a price this season as players counted on to play key roles suffered injuries or underperformed.

The Rams still have a top-heavy roster but remain in need of top-tier offensive linemen, an edge rusher, an effective complement for Kupp and depth in the secondary.

Snead did not sound as if he were ready to tear apart the roster and start over.

“We’re very well aware that some of our core players, right, are in their primes and are getting closer to the twilight of their primes,” he said. “But that does not mean, right, when you’re a player like that in your prime that you’re still not very productive and can be very successful.”

Stars are aligned — for now: Stafford, Kupp and Donald, all of whom received extensions or a massive raise after the Super Bowl victory, did not play in the latter part of the 2021 season because of season-ending injuries.

Ramsey did not receive an extension but played in every game.

Right tackle Rob Havenstein signed an extension before the season, and veteran linebacker Bobby Wagner proved a worthwhile investment.

Can the Rams retain the entirety of their core?

Snead declined to say.

“Every year since we’ve been here,” he said, “there’s been moments where we’ve had to say goodbye to key contributors.”

On second thought: At a victory rally last February, Snead famously yelled to an adoring crowd, “F them picks. We’ll use them to go win more Super Bowls.”

Snead was referencing the multiple high-round picks the Rams traded to acquire star players.

“I will admit that any time you probably say something like that … you’re going to eat those words at some point in time,” Snead said Thursday, adding that he was having fun with a play off a popular meme. “If we truly believed in effing them picks in that sense of the word, we’d just give them to our division opponents …

“But we’ve definitely taken the draft serious. We think it’s really the heartbeat, right, of the franchise.”

Snead said he made a “subliminal slip” at the rally.

“I truly intended to say, ‘We effed these picks to win Los Angeles a Super Bowl championship,’” Snead said. “So, I always knew I was going to eat those words at some point.”

Feeling a draft: Because of their historically poor finish this season, the Rams would have owned the sixth pick in the April draft but that belongs to the Lions as part of the Goff-Stafford trade.

With compensation picks for the departure of free agents, Snead projects the Rams will have 10 picks.

But the Rams will not make their first pick until the second round. They also have a third-round pick but the majority fall in the sixth and seventh rounds.

Snead declined to say whether the Rams would give Ramsey an extension or trade him to acquire draft capital. But he is obviously looking forward to 2024 when the Rams finally will have a first-round pick.

“Getting back to having some first-rounders, getting back to having second- and third-rounders will be advantageous,” he said. “Where we’re at, probably from a roster standpoint, that will be healthy for us to add younger players, players on their rookie contracts that are going to become cogs. …

“We’re going to call this chapter 3 of the Sean McVay era.”