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In the rivalry between Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan, McVay wins this round. But just barely.
Shanahan landed at No. 8 on the 2023 PFT list of NFL head coaches. McVay comes in at No. 7.
McVay's Super Bowl win in 2021 got him to seven. The way the Rams went about doing it — a multi-year effort of mortgaging the future — keeps McVay from finishing higher. With no first-round picks made during the entirety of McVay's tenure, there's no nucleus of home-grown talent in their prime or entering it.
Instead, a year after the most dramatic fall any Super Bowl champion has endured, the Rams seem like a collection of mismatched parts, some of whom perhaps the Rams would prefer to ditch. Rumors have persisted throughout the 2023 offseason that the Rams would have loved to unload via trade quarterback Matthew Stafford's bloated contract in order to avoid having nearly $60 million more becoming fully guaranteed in March. (As we've heard it, the Rams were hoping the Jets would be unable to land Aaron Rodgers, and would pivot to Stafford instead.)
The whispers of a willingness to deal Stafford came only two years after the Rams tucked an extra first-round pick into the Stafford trade package in order to unload the ill-advised contract McVay never should have given to Jared Goff.
The frenetic, random approach to roster construction and retention sticks squarely to McVay, who quietly runs the show. The organization is a reflection of his high-energy, no-net approach, burning the candle at both ends and in the middle while wondering why the wax might already be gone.
McVay seriously considered getting out after the 2022 season. If Amazon or another network had offered him a massive annual salary to call games, he likely would have pounced. Throw in the fact that the internal and external reaction to the appearance that he was trying to flee a sinking ship left him (as we heard it) rattled, and McVay had no real choice but to return.
These factors are relevant to his ranking because he's the only top-10 coach with such a tenuous feel regarding his future. His non-stop, limitless energy has a limit that he would have reached after 2022, if he could have found a way off the ride. Now, the rollercoaster is chugging up the hill with a potentially reluctant passenger who keeps telling himself he'll enjoy the highs and lows, even if there will likely be more lows than highs again in 2023.
Yes, McVay has the talent to merit his current placement. The question is whether he has the patience and will to settle in for the long haul. Maybe he does, at least until one of the major networks offers him $20 million or more per year to hold a microphone with a much looser grip than the one he uses when blowing into his whistle.
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Shanahan landed at No. 8 on the 2023 PFT list of NFL head coaches. McVay comes in at No. 7.
McVay's Super Bowl win in 2021 got him to seven. The way the Rams went about doing it — a multi-year effort of mortgaging the future — keeps McVay from finishing higher. With no first-round picks made during the entirety of McVay's tenure, there's no nucleus of home-grown talent in their prime or entering it.
Instead, a year after the most dramatic fall any Super Bowl champion has endured, the Rams seem like a collection of mismatched parts, some of whom perhaps the Rams would prefer to ditch. Rumors have persisted throughout the 2023 offseason that the Rams would have loved to unload via trade quarterback Matthew Stafford's bloated contract in order to avoid having nearly $60 million more becoming fully guaranteed in March. (As we've heard it, the Rams were hoping the Jets would be unable to land Aaron Rodgers, and would pivot to Stafford instead.)
The whispers of a willingness to deal Stafford came only two years after the Rams tucked an extra first-round pick into the Stafford trade package in order to unload the ill-advised contract McVay never should have given to Jared Goff.
The frenetic, random approach to roster construction and retention sticks squarely to McVay, who quietly runs the show. The organization is a reflection of his high-energy, no-net approach, burning the candle at both ends and in the middle while wondering why the wax might already be gone.
McVay seriously considered getting out after the 2022 season. If Amazon or another network had offered him a massive annual salary to call games, he likely would have pounced. Throw in the fact that the internal and external reaction to the appearance that he was trying to flee a sinking ship left him (as we heard it) rattled, and McVay had no real choice but to return.
These factors are relevant to his ranking because he's the only top-10 coach with such a tenuous feel regarding his future. His non-stop, limitless energy has a limit that he would have reached after 2022, if he could have found a way off the ride. Now, the rollercoaster is chugging up the hill with a potentially reluctant passenger who keeps telling himself he'll enjoy the highs and lows, even if there will likely be more lows than highs again in 2023.
Yes, McVay has the talent to merit his current placement. The question is whether he has the patience and will to settle in for the long haul. Maybe he does, at least until one of the major networks offers him $20 million or more per year to hold a microphone with a much looser grip than the one he uses when blowing into his whistle.
Continue reading...
