The Sean McVay coaching tree is very entertaining
By: Jake Rajala
The Los Angeles Rams illustrious head coach Sean McVay has been dubbed the next genius head coach since entering the head coaching ranks for the LA Rams in 2017. The 35-year-old coach that one-upped Kliff Kingsbury during the 2021 NFL draft has gone 55-25 in his short career.
The NFL world knows McVay is a mad scientist that just came out of graduate school (half-serious). But, do we know of the work and byproducts that are being represented under the Rams ring leader? I believe not. In this outlook, I’m going to outline the head coaches who have learned under McVay and even rank which McVay disciples have been the most impressive. Let’s begin.
- Matt LaFleur
The Green Bay Packers offensive guru with a more robust haircut isn’t just the best McVay apprentice, but one of the best head coaches in the entire league. Matt LaFleur may have issues with finding WR help for A-Rod and making risky decisions in pivotal postseason games, but he has been a pillar of consistency and dominance. LaFleur has a whopping 39-9 record, 41 overall victories, and he’s helped his aging QB win the MVP award in 2020.
McVay has led the Packers to the number one seed in back-to-back seasons. Nonetheless, the Pack needs to take advantage of the road going through the Frozen tundra — as the Packers HC knows well. In the postseason in 2021, LaFleur controversially opted to kick a field goal and not attempt to score a touchdown on 4th and goal with Aaron Rodgers. Will LaFleur roll the dice more in 2022? We will see.
McVay has had similar success to LaFleur with the likes of Jared Goff and he even has transformed Todd Gurley into an OPOY player. Is Cooper Kupp McVay’s next toy to bring a piece of hardware home? Kupp and Davante Adams are seen as the clear Top two wideouts in the league.
Here is an overview of how productive each WR was in 2021:
- Kupp: 145 receptions, 1,947 yards, and 16 touchdowns
- Adams: 123 receptions, 1,553 yards, and 11 touchdowns
- Zac Taylor
The Cincinnati Bengals HC and Bengals QB Joe Burrow just won the biggest game of their young careers in Week 17. In poetic fashion, Burrow smoked a locker room cigar after beating the Kansas City Chiefs and winning the AFC North.
Taylor brought his AFC North team from the bottom of the NFL to an AFC juggernaut in just a couple of seasons. Let’s not forget Ja’Marr Chase, who just ousted the most productive season from a rook WR. It’s safe to say he was the right pick over Penei Sewell.
The Bengals go on to win a monster contest against the Las Vegas Raiders in the wildcard round. Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase were exceptional yet again. More importantly, the Bengals defense was able to prevent the Raiders from scoring a game-tying touchdown on 4th and goal with 17 seconds left in the game.
If the Chiefs handle their business against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bengals will take a trip to Nashville to battle Derrick Henry and the Tennessee Titans.
- Brandon Staley
As you can see, the top 3 Sean McVay understudies are clearly more respectable than the likes of the Top 3 Belichick understudies (in the NFL). Brandon Staley has had a very positive 2021 season with the second-year QB Justin Herbert. The second year QB unleashed 5,014 passing yards and 38 passing touchdowns.
The Chargers were written off by countless outlets, but Brandon Staley and the company have been firing off on every cylinder. Staley is the third HC on this list and the third to have a winning record this season (9-8). The Chargers had a disappointing Week 18 as widely enunciated, but the Chargers outperformed their expectations last season. All three Sean McVay disciples have displayed fireworks for their respected offenses in the 2021-2022 season.
