The Los Angeles Rams have been making headlines recently.
They are desperately trying to retool a team that they believe can win quickly.
One of the pieces that has been a fixture for the Rams since 2017 is 35 year old head coach Sean McVay.
McVay has been touted as a coaching phenom.
He was the youngest to ever be hired as an NFL head coach (30 years of age) in the modern era.
His grandfather John coached for the New York Giants and worked with the San Francisco 49ers.
The McVay family was close friends with Jon Gruden.
Sean McVay got his start at 22 years of age as a staffer with Gruden in Tampa Bay.
There has been a lot of fanfare about Sean McVay, but so far he is overrated.
Here are 3 reasons why.
1. Playoff Record
The Rams are 3-3 in the playoffs under McVay.
Yes, the team has made 6 appearances including a Super Bowl, but it is still disappointing.
To begin with, the Rams were on the receiving end of a non pass interference call against the New Orleans Saints in the 2018 NFC Championship that carried them into the Super Bowl.
This play directly led to the Sean Payton rule which allows coaches to challenge non-pass interference calls.
Of course, the refs’ errors are not on McVay, but his team rolled into the Super Bowl looking extremely unprepared.
McVay’s Rams appeared in the lowest scoring Super Bowl in history and lost by a score of 13-3.
2. Todd Gurley
In his short tenure as Rams’ head coach, McVay has been involved in player mismanagement.
Case number one is Rams RB Todd Gurley in 2018, the Super Bowl season.
Gurley was at his peak in 2018 rushing for 17 touchdowns on 1,251 yards.
He was selected to the Pro Bowl and named a 1st team All-Pro.
Yet he was missing in action for the majority of the Super Bowl game though admitting to being healthy.
Todd Gurley said he’s healthy…. pic.twitter.com/SN6NTVSLL0
— Kimberley A. Martin (@ByKimberleyA) February 4, 2019
He carried the ball 10 times for 35 yards in the Super Bowl.
The game was not lopsided, and in this particular season, the Patriots defense was perceived to be weaker against the run.
This will remain a head scratcher, but perhaps McVay told us all we need to know in his postgame Tweet.
Sean McVay: “I’m numb. I got out-coached”
— Vincent Bonsignore (@VinnyBonsignore) February 4, 2019
3. Jared Goff
The second example of player mismanagement is recent; it involves former quarterback Jared Goff.
Goff was the Rams’ first round draft pick in 2016 so he was already in the building when McVay arrived.
In 2020, just two years after the Super Bowl run, it became clear that McVay and the Rams soured on Goff.
Goff broke his thumb late in the season so backup John Wolford had an opportunity to start.
Even when Goff got healthy, Wolford continued to play until Wolford suffered an injury.
The Rams had no choice but to go back to Goff who led them to a playoff win over the Seattle Seahawks.
But the writing seemed to be on the wall one week later when the Rams lost to the Green Bay Packers.
McVay provided a short reply to questions about Goff’s future calling him “a Ram, at the moment.”
The Rams gave up on Goff and traded him and more draft picks away; they are notorious for giving up draft picks under McVay’s tenure.
Sean McVay realistically has decades remaining in his coaching career so these early career missteps could easily be erased by future successes.
NEXT: LA Rams Should Not Trade For Deshaun Watson (3 Reasons)
