LA Rams McVay on 2021 Super Bowl Run, OBJ, Matt Stafford & Bouncing Back from Last Year

FOLLOW THE PIVOT PODCAST: MERCH | https://pivotpodcast.com YOUTUBE | https://www.youtube.com/thepivotpodcast INSTAGRAM | https://instagram.com/thepivot TWITTER | https://twitter.com/thepivot TIKTOK | https://tiktok.com/@thepivot FACEBOOK | https://www.facebook.com/thepivotpodcast FOLLOW HAPPY DAD: https://www.instagram.com/happydad FIND HAPPY DAD: https://www.happydad.com/find NFL Training Camp tour continues onto the West Coast as we visit our South California friends sitting down with Rams Head Coach Sean McVay who is the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl and looking to get his team back in winning form after last year's 5-12 season. Transparently, McVay shares with Ryan, Channing and Fred on how the process has been from battling trials and tribulations as a young coach while climbing the ranks quickly and successfully, but with all the highs come some lows to accept, adjust and move forward from. Reflecting on the Super Bowl run and a roster full of talent for that 2021 team and how winning the Lombard is the pinnacle for that year but isn't the only measurement of success overall. McVay talks about how the Rams losing season last year grounded them and offered a reset to start the journey again. Being reminded of why he loves coaching, his purpose in the game and impact on the players and coaches is what keeps him motivated and going back to the daily grind. With more than 35 rookies on the roster this camp, McVay is excited about the energy and chance to mold these players into winning ways and learning from veterans on the team. Ryan asks about the special players on past rosters and in particular they talk about Odell Beckham Jr and what made him rare, both on and off the field. McVay shares some insight into OBJ and shares a differet side of him that most people don't realize. With QB Matthew Stafford working through injury to get back on the field, McVay understands the expectations that come with returning to the big game and wants his coaches and players all working for the same goal. Tap in every Tuesday at noon eastern for our premiere episode of the Pivot. Special Training Camp drops on Friday afternoons at 3:30 pm. We are your one-stop platform for all your sports and entertainment content. Stay tuned for updates on upcoming Pivot special episodes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:09Speaker 01

  I remember telling my boss, it'll be good for the brand when leads were slow. Yeah, it wasn't.

• 0:17Speaker 00

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• 0:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, the show looks awesome.

• 0:45Ryan Clark?

  Thank you.

• 0:45Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 0:46Ryan Clark?

  You guys are crushing. What's up, baby? Hey, Whitworth, go home. You're done. You're retired. You're retired, bro.

• 0:53Fred Taylor?

  What up, bro? Big dog. What's up, man? I was good.

• 0:56Channing Crowder?

  What up, bro? You good, baby? Nice to meet you. All love, bro. Nice to meet you. Love y'all. Appreciate you, man. Real talk, bro. Appreciate your support.

• 1:03Ryan Clark?

  Superstar. What's up, brother? How you doing, man? Good to see you, man. No look pass in the Super Bowl.

• 1:07Speaker 06

  Yes.

• 1:07Ryan Clark?

  Is that something you could plan or it happens in the moment?

• 1:10Speaker 06

  Happens in the moment. I caught the snap. Here it comes. And I go, this is a fucking play for this. Only thing I can do is try to put Von on a pivot.

• 1:16Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 1:17Speaker 06

  And so then I went left to keep 55 in the hole. And then was like, all right, I'm just working Von right now. And I'm just side eyeing him and I'm like.

• 1:24Ryan Clark?

  That was duck. That's crazy.

• 1:30Ryan Clark?

  How about that fight, though? Man. Crawford's a bad man. So we go into both locker rooms. Yeah. Before the fight. We walk into Crawford. You know, the last interaction we had with him on the show, he was fun. We laughed, we joked. Yeah. And it was way early, Coach. So we go in, man, we walk in smiling. Hey, bud, what's up, man? How you doing? Chan makes a joke about Omaha.

• 1:50Channing Crowder?

  Omaha or something.

• 1:52Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 1:52Speaker 07

  He was locked in.

• 1:55Channing Crowder?

  After I saw their first two interactions, I just say, "Good luck."

• 1:58Speaker 07

  Just let him go. Hey, that was a clinic. I mean, because I mean, I got a lot of respect for Spence, too.

• 2:05Ryan Clark?

  In a fight that we were preparing to see two of the best, I've never seen one be dominated like that.

• 2:11Speaker 07

  I haven't seen anybody go at Bud like that, though, you know, like, because, I mean, he was walking right into it. And I mean, to Arrow's credit, I mean, he kept going. I would have quit. I'm thinking, because there was a couple of times I thought that ref was going to stop it before then.

• 2:24Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 2:25Ryan Clark?

  Where we were sitting at, two guys in front of us who were crazy Bud fans, and so they kept turning around, screaming. And I even got to a point where I was like, "Okay, y'all, they need to stop it." Just because he was taking damage that wasn't going to help him in any way, wouldn't fight.

• 2:39Speaker 07

  Right.

• 2:39Ryan Clark?

  But he says he wants to do it again, though.

• 2:41Speaker 07

  That's, I didn't realize there was a rematch clause already.

• 2:44Channing Crowder?

  Yep.

• 2:45Speaker 07

  Yeah, that's, so you think it'll go down?

• 2:48Ryan Clark?

  I mean, I think the money will be there.

• 2:49Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 2:50Ryan Clark?

  I think the money will be there, and if he's going to fight at 1, they said, uh, Spence wants to do it at 154.

• 2:55Speaker 07

  I saw him say that in his post.

• 2:56Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, but if they, if they fight at 147, there's nobody there for either of them anymore, so you can see it, see it happen again. We'll be there, though, if it does. I'll go back.

• 3:05Channing Crowder?

  That money talks. They gonna do it again.

• 3:07Speaker 07

  I love it. Yeah.

• 3:08Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, but, but Coach, appreciate it, man. I'm excited.

• 3:10Speaker 07

  Shoot, this is a little different. I feel like we should have some wine and stuff like what Rahim had when you guys went, went over there. This is a little different scenery.

• 3:17Ryan Clark?

  There's some behind the scenes from Rahim's house that nobody can ever see.

• 3:22Speaker 07

  I can only imagine, man. You know, I know how that goes down.

• 3:25Ryan Clark?

  Hey, Coach.

• 3:26Channing Crowder?

  On the trampoline with the kids, and yeah, it got out of hand that day.

• 3:29Ryan Clark?

  Got out of hand, Coach. Coach, we celebrated like we were supposed to be at the parade.

• 3:34Speaker 07

  That was fun, man.

• 3:59Ryan Clark?

  Coach, welcome to the Pivot.

• 4:01Speaker 07

  Appreciate that. Big fans of the show, man.

• 4:03Ryan Clark?

  Thank you, man. We got Freddie T., Chan, I'm RC. Thank you guys so much for all your support. Like, man, you know, Coach, everybody wants to talk about how smart you are and the offensive genius. But what people don't talk about is you were actually a better high school player than Calvin Johnson.

• 4:19Speaker 07

  No, I was not a better high school player than Calvin. You know, I played against him too at North Springs, man. You know, when I, he was, I mean, shit, he looked the same size when he was a senior in high school. I'm like, who the hell is this dude right here, man? Bad man flying around everywhere, but, uh, no, Calvin Johnson, he was that dude. There was no mistaking who was a bigger recruit, who was a better player, all that kind of stuff. My dad was actually working for WSB TV at the time. And I think they had something affiliated with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I think he paid the writers to vote for his kid right there, something like that. Now Calvin's a good dude and we, we were, we won the state championship. And so I just happened to be on a team that was pretty damn good then.

• 4:59Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, Coach, you know, you get to this point and all the time, people see the glamour in the position. There's obviously so much pressure in doing it, but they pay y'all a certain amount of money to do that job. I want to talk about your first job, Coach. Well, it's actually, it's your second job. What was it, the Florida Tuskers?

• 5:18Speaker 07

  The Florida Tuskers.

• 5:19Ryan Clark?

  The UFL, Coach?

• 5:20Speaker 07

  You're damn right. That's right.

• 5:21Ryan Clark?

  Tell me, tell me a little bit about that experience, but you were 23 years old.

• 5:24Speaker 07

  You know, so it's, it's amazing. So I finished up playing college ball at Miami of Ohio. And really, you know, when I talk about the career trajectory, so much of this is, I'm so fortunate that my grandfather, who he passed last year, he set a legacy for our family where the reality is I got opportunities that other people wouldn't get. Now, that makes you want to work that much harder to do right by him and the legacy that he set for our family. But, so I got done playing at Miami of Ohio, got right in with the Bucks. And I basically was like a secretary. I was like the assistant to the quality control coaches. And so, funny story, so that's my first year in coaching. I came in midway through OTAs. I don't know what the hell is going on. And I'm just trying to soak up as much information and I, but I'm running errands for coaches, just.

• 6:09Speaker 07

  Trying to be valuable in any way possible. We end up going through the season. We were nine and three, end up finishing nine and seven. It coincided with the year that you and Mike T, you guys win the Super Bowl against Arizona in Tampa. Raheem gets the head job. And so, Raheem then decides, I'm gonna fire Sean McVay. So Raheem fires me after he gets promoted to be the head coach. But it really wasn't like that. It was, you know, he gets promoted and, you know, there were some different things where they wanted to be able to have people that were more, you know, Mark Domic, Raheem's kind of guys. And so that led to me going to the United Football League. And that was an unbelievable experience. You know, it was one of those deals where that's why you hope the USFL, the XFL goes because to get players other opportunities, to get coaches other opportunities. I know for me

• 6:52Speaker 07

  as a young cat, it was so big time. And I got a chance to work with a lot of guys that had had success in the NFL. But Brooks Bollinger was our quarterback. Jim Haslett was the head coach. Jay Gruden was the OC. And so Ike Hilliard was receiver coach there. And so got a chance to be around a lot of good guys. And I was coaching running backs, tight ends. I was a quality control on offense and defense, but there was four teams in the league. So we lived in Orlando and we played six games in the regular season. We go undefeated. We got one game that I'm breaking down the other, you know, once a week. And I'm thinking, shit, this coaching thing is pretty good right here, man. And that was a great experience. Like it, but what it was, Ryan, is it was awesome because there was actually like some defensive regulations. So as you're trying to really learn the game,

• 7:36Speaker 07

  it forces you to be able to get a chance to present. You know, how are you interacting in meeting settings and making sure it's collaborative where, all right, even just getting up on the board or being able to answer questions that guys that have been, you know, Jermaine Wiggins, I remember he used to joke, you know, he was playing, he's like, Coach, you need me to go buy you some beers? And I wasn't that far off from him actually having to do that. And so just getting a feel for, hey, how are you connecting with guys? How are you learning the game and how to make it as clear as possible and really help players ultimately reach their highest potential. But in a regulated setting where, you know, there's so many different things that can be presented, you know, when there's 22 moving parts. And I thought it was really beneficial for me to really learn the foundation of what I know about this game. But then also learn, all right, how do you teach?

• 8:19Speaker 07

  How do you do those things that, you know, it's about the interpersonal skills, I think, is where some of these coaches separate themselves. And that was a big time, you know, deal. And then I got a chance to go work for Mike and Kyle in Washington. And then we had our, you know, fun times. And I'll give you a quick story, though, about him that, you know, that meant the world to me. So Ryan finished up his career in Washington, and obviously, his legacy was already established with what he had done there and Pittsburgh, and the kind of competitor and things like that. And so, the first story is this, because we're putting the pads on for the first time. So I'm an OC, alright, I'm 27 years old, you know, calling plays, just trying to figure it out. And so, we're about midway through

• 9:00Speaker 07

  the first padded practice, okay? Well, I'm naturally a skill guy, so I'm throwing it. He says, "Hey, young fella, what the hell are you doing, man? It's the first day in pads, run the motherfucking ball right now, man." And I'm like, "Oh, shit, I better slow this thing down." It's track me. Oh, yeah. He's like, "Hey, slow it down, man." But he was like, but it was so true. And that always stuck with me. Let guys set their pads, different things like that. But this, to me, this story is what meant the world to me. So, you know, you're trying to figure it out. We had, we had a tough season. And I can remember, it was later on in the season, we had gone through a bunch of different quarterbacks were playing, we weren't getting the results that we wanted. And so naturally, you know, you just feel very responsible, and you want to do whatever you can to try to, you know,

• 9:45Speaker 07

  help guys have success. And so, you're in a, you know, a leadership role, in a coordinator level, for the first time. And, you know, all you really care about is earning the respect of, you know, the guys that you really value their opinion. That's the people that you work with day in and day out. And he certainly was one of those guys for me. And he came by my office later on in the season, and basically was just encouraging me to say, "Hey, stay up, stay positive, you're doing a great job. There's been a lot of challenges right now, but this will make you stronger and more resilient. Just keep coaching, keep learning." And coming from you, that meant a whole lot. And, and I do think a lot of the experiences that we had in Washington, you almost become more resilient, you know, because sometimes if, if things go so well, you know, you can almost, you know, take it

• 10:28Speaker 07

  for granted. And I think that's what happened in a lot of instances last year. But I've shared that with you before, man. But that meant, I mean, that, that had a huge influence on me and. Man, you know how I feel about you.

• 10:39Channing Crowder?

  My dog, for sure. And Coach, you always talk, you talk about like even Orion and your expediated process. Because everything you look at, the youngest coach to do this, the youngest coach to do that, the youngest head coach to do this. Why could you speed it up where for years, nobody in the past could speed this process up like you did?

• 10:57Speaker 07

  I think I got opportunities, you know, early on and then I think, you know, timing. When you think about it, you know, so, all right, how about, so my first year in Washington, I'm 24 years old, I'm going there as a quality control coach to assist the wideouts with Keenan McCardell. Tight ends coach, John Embry, gets the head job at Colorado. And so Mike Shanahan is good enough to him where he's saying, hey, you go get started on your recruiting process. So then that affords me the opportunity to say, all right, well, usually what you do, you say, who's the next guy available to take over that role? And I was kind of doing double duty where I was still doing quality control, become the tight end coach, and that's at 24 years old. And you say, all right, I look at it this, is this last month of the season is basically a month-long interview to say,

• 11:39Speaker 07

  hey, you know, you might be 24, but I've really tried to absorb all the knowledge from the different, you know, from Mike, from Kyle, from the other coaches on the staff. And hey, let's help these guys play better with Cooley's, Fred Davis's, let's establish a relationship, and things went well with that. The thing to me that really epitomizes like the luck of time in Channing is, so then you go a couple more years and we end up, you know, we, a lot of the guys in Washington, you know, they move on from Mike Shanahan and then Jay Gruden gets hired. Well, I was a part of that staff where we didn't do a good enough job and they decided to be able to make a change. But then the timing works out in a manner that's reflective of, they hired Jay Gruden and then I actually get promoted. And that was a weird deal because, you know, some of your best friends and you feel like,

• 12:24Speaker 07

  man, it's just a weird feeling where you're so excited about that op, but then you're saying, man, some of my other good buddies, you know, ended up having to move their families, they go to different places and I end up benefiting from this. So that was something that I don't think I necessarily deserved, but hey, Jay gets in there. We had established a trust from that UFL experience. And so you're saying, let's go attack this opportunity the right way. And then three years later, you know, when you get an opportunity to interview for, you know, the Rams job, interviewed for the Niners job, you know, it was almost like you're playing with house money. And I felt like, you know, I had just finished up my second year calling plays. It actually was crazy because we were playing the Giants when they had already clinched a playoff spot. And I felt like, you know, I could

• 13:07Speaker 07

  have done a much better job for our offense where we ended up having a chance to win and we get in. We ended up losing that game against the Giants. They ended up getting to 11 and 5. It allowed us to finish, you know, we ended up finishing 8, 7, and 1 because of that. And so then I go interview with the Rams and, um, you know, things worked out and I still look at Stan Kronke sometimes and I say, man, I'm grateful for you, but what the hell were you thinking, huh?

• 13:29Fred Taylor?

  Coach, that's crazy, but you've earned it. You've climbed the ranks, you know, did everything necessary. Got here, you took over, you guys built a hell of a roster. Lot of veterans, lot of all-pro, all-defensive guys and, uh, Aaron Donald.

• 13:43Speaker 07

  Sure.

• 13:44Fred Taylor?

  We had Kirk Gurley here, he was the offensive player of the year.

• 13:46Speaker 07

  That man.

• 13:47Fred Taylor?

  You had Jalen Ramsey, you know, Wagner, just a lot of great players.

• 13:50Speaker 07

  No doubt.

• 13:51Fred Taylor?

  And now those guys aren't here. You know, I think I saw something somewhere, um, you have 36 rookies on the roster, on a 90-man roster.

• 13:59Speaker 07

  Me and my wife, we're walking through the lobby and, you know, I'm saying, hey, meet my wife. She's like, oh my gosh, how many new guys do you guys have?

• 14:05Fred Taylor?

  Correct.

• 14:05Speaker 07

  It's unbelievable.

• 14:06Fred Taylor?

  That's unbelievable. More than third of the roster. Uh, but earlier you mentioned connecting with guys.

• 14:12Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 14:12Fred Taylor?

  You know, having to connect with the guys. How do you get those young guys to buy in? Cause they had, they don't know a fucking thing.

• 14:18Speaker 07

  No doubt. And, and you know what? I think those guys are excited about just the opportunity to compete. I think the most powerful thing, which you know Fred is, you know, when the veterans are modeling the way. And then I think in a lot of instances, the things that have helped us out, like when I'm reflecting on the job that, that I have. And I think, you know, great leadership, they inspire positive change. You know, it's like, hey, are you making players and are you making situations a part that you're a part of? Are you making them better? You either are or you aren't. And so getting to know these guys, making sure that you figure out how they learn, being able to say, hey, for these young defensive linemen, watch the way 99 goes about his business. Not exclusive to how he plays, but watch the demeanor he has in the meeting room. Watch the way that this guy's so intentional about taking care of his body, like recovery and all those types of things.

• 15:02Speaker 07

  You know, what does it look like the way that you lift and the way that you're able to say, "Hey, if I'm really competing to the best of my ability every single snap," you know, "you gotta train yourself to have these habits." But I think it's continuing to, you know, provide that clarity, you know, stand for something. You know, I think, you know, whether you're a player, whether you're a coach, you gotta have values and principles that guide the way that you move and your everyday rhythm and routine. And I think we want to be able to establish that while also letting guys be themselves. You know, like, I think one of the things that's been beneficial about what we've done here, Fred, is you get a lot of guys that are incredibly talented, and there's been some guys that have, you know, come through here that were supposedly challenging players to coach. And I never felt that way because they were always really, they were probably some of

• 15:46Speaker 07

  the smartest players, and they just wanted to know why.

• 15:48Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 15:48Speaker 07

  And I feel like if we're not able to provide the why, well, then that's on us. And so, I think it's just recommitting to those things. But the thing that I don't lose sight of is that while we did lose a lot of great players, we still have some great players that have been instrumental in our success. And really, they don't need to feel like the weight of the world to do more than what they're capable of because they naturally elevate people just by how they are. And really, I think it's about us getting back to, you know, cutting it loose and enjoying it. Once we were able to do what we did in '21, it was almost like the lies you tell yourself are, anything other than that is just total failure. And look, don't get me wrong, we're, everybody's trying to win a Super Bowl, but you don't just show up there again.

• 16:32Speaker 07

  I mean, when you say every year's a new year and you gotta really reset and reestablish a foundation and a philosophy and a commitment to understanding your guys and your coaching staff, like, you gotta believe it. And I'm a stubborn dude, and sometimes you gotta learn it the hard way. And I didn't like a whole lot about what went down last year. That wasn't fun at all. But I think it was really necessary to get back to being grounded, to reassess, and really to, you know, to remember why you love coaching in the first place.

• 17:00Fred Taylor?

  Being grateful for those moments.

• 17:01Speaker 07

  Yeah, and, you know, like Andrew Whitworth said this before, and I always think about it, he's like, "Let's not ever lose sight of this is a blessing, not a burden." And when you can do some really good stuff, you can, you know... The lies you tell yourself are, man, you know, then it becomes a little bit more about you and a little bit less about, man, helping these guys out and doing the things that are in alignment with that. And I think that's the stuff that's kept me full when I'm on the right place. And then when you get out of your way a little bit, which I can tell you guys, you know, and I've said it before and I'm not afraid to admit it, I did last year. Like, I wasn't the best version of myself for our team, for our coaches. Was there a lot of other things that we had to navigate through? Absolutely, but if I'm just talking about an after-action review and an accountability check on myself,

• 17:46Speaker 07

  I know I'm capable of being better for these guys and I know it's not gonna hurt our chances to get more results that we're hunting up than not. Right.

• 17:53Ryan Clark?

  When you have that talk with yourself, and I believe we all do, when we start to truly assess our performance. You know, it's easy to look outward and say, well, we can get better here, get better there. As the head coach, not only delegating, but pulling the strings on everything, a lot is on you.

• 18:09Speaker 07

  Sure.

• 18:09Ryan Clark?

  With that, we look at you as a young man. I know Channing was talking about the expedited process, but you did walk into your coach's office with a year of eligibility and say, "Hey, Coach, I'm gonna miss this and I'm gonna go take this meeting with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. See, can I get a job?" And so, you have been working at this for an extremely long time. The last two years, Coach, we've heard at least rumors.

• 18:31Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 18:32Ryan Clark?

  Right? You know, I work in the business, so it's, hey, man. I mean, I wanted to text you, but I'm like, no, I'm gonna let it be.

• 18:36Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 18:37Ryan Clark?

  But, you know, you hear those things. Being young, but also having been a part of the business so long, when you start assessing yourself and looking at what you've done, how often do you think of retirement or how seriously do you think of it?

• 18:53Speaker 07

  You know what? I think there was some things, like last year, you know, it was real only because I wanted to make sure that I could reset myself and get back to the coach that these players and the coaches and just the type of vibe that I wanted to have for them. And you gotta have a plan in place because... When you really lose yourself and I think the biggest thing is is like things had gone so well where if you're really saying okay you're fortunate and blessed enough you get a coaching job at the age of 30 then we're able to have you know great players like you had mentioned Fred in place where we were able to capitalize on some early momentum where things go well in 17 we go to a Super Bowl in 18 and lose had a tough you know a tough season but we go nine and seven and 19 and then you know there was a progressive build and then our guys were able

• 19:37Speaker 07

  to get it done in 21 and I was always you know so fortunate to be a part of all those things happened in five years where you're accelerating a lot of things that takes a lot of time and I don't know if there was the appreciation for all of that kind of stuff because it happened in a manner that you know went relatively quickly and and the lies you tell yourself are well once we're able to do that well then I'll be ready for something else and that's just not the truth at all is this something that down the road I'd be interested in of course but I think and I'm hopeful and I and I really think it's more about like hey I tell our guys I see better than I hear like I want to be able to say the same stuff that I'm saying to you guys

• 20:18Speaker 07

  right now in week eight I want to be able to know that when that storm inevitably hits this season and we're going through real adversity that that steadiness and being that leader that I want to be for these guys is in alignment with just modeling the way and so it's not something that I think is anywhere in the near future now but you got to do it and and and really if I had done it it really would have been more of just because you had some opportunities it really would have been running away from attacking the opportunity to address some adversity for the first time we went five and 12 I'm not going to run away from that there was a lot of reasons for that but if you say like can you do a better job within the framework of your role there's no doubt in my mind I can and we got some coaches that I feel really good about

• 21:01Speaker 07

  we got a lot of young guys like we've talked about but we still got some guys that we're getting back from injury and I'm excited to just go compete and see what happens but I think there was a reestablished purpose for the people that you really love and care about these players these coaches and when you have that you realize man I love coaching you know I'm having fun Again, and it's sad to admit that at some point, you know, it became more about you got to, you got to just be able to finish this. And look, we're all competitive, you know, you guys have all had your levels of success. There we're all elite competitors, and it doesn't mean I'm ever going to be like, oh, good job, guys. We didn't get the result. No, but it's about how do you really reset yourself and be able to have the appropriate perspective on the stuff that you can and can't control.

• 21:43Ryan Clark?

  Sometimes, though, you do have to check yourself.

• 21:45Speaker 07

  Totally.

• 21:45Ryan Clark?

  In playing 13 years, you know, you're trying to accomplish certain goals. You know, for me, being undrafted is like, hell, I just want to make the team. And then it was become a starter. And then it was, you know, and so it was all these goals, and you always had a reason to come back. And sometimes when you accomplish things that you've always set out to do, it's like, OK, what next? And what now? And you do have to have that conversation of, do I still want it as much as I used to?

• 22:12Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 22:12Ryan Clark?

  And I was talking to some players this offseason, and I told them, man, like, it changes. You know, like, the way you used to get out of bed at 22 or 23 to go coach in the UFL. Sometimes it's a little harder to get out of bed when the house is bigger, right? And now your wife is is there as well, sleeping in the bed. It looked different when she's still sleeping, and you've got to go to work. And so to check yourself, though, and realign, I think you'll you'll be better for it for sure. But you'll perform for those guys better as well.

• 22:40Speaker 07

  How did you guys do that? You know, like, what was the things that you guys did to be able to keep that hunger and be able to maintain that perspective as the things that were your goals changed?

• 22:51Ryan Clark?

  I competed with myself.

• 22:52Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 22:54Speaker 08

  Here's your report.

• 22:55Speaker 09

  Oh, thanks, Jane. I wish I could hire someone just like you.

• 22:58Speaker 08

  Try LinkedIn Hiring Pro. It's more than a job board. It's like the recruiter you always wished you had. Hiring Pro uses real time insights to match your role to LinkedIn's unique network of professionals and delivers a shortlist of best fit candidates. You'll spend less time sorting applicants and more time talking to the right people.

• 23:14Speaker 09

  Let's do it. You're irreplaceable, Jane, but another you would be great.

• 23:18Speaker 08

  Hire right the first time. Post your job for free on LinkedIn today at LinkedIn.com/quality.

• 23:24Fred Taylor?

  I think for me, it was hearing all the noise, what I couldn't do. You know, the whole fragile Fred thing, like Fred is, you know, he shouldn't be here, or you couldn't do that. But I also wanted a ring. You know, I also was chasing the ring. When Jacksonville released me, I went up to New England. I felt that was my opportunity. Then, a new situation, I had, I was reinvigorated. I had to get up there and prove to these guys I still got it.

• 23:49Speaker 07

  Right.

• 23:49Fred Taylor?

  You know, so that made me attack it more. But, like RC said, I competed with myself to put myself there.

• 23:55Channing Crowder?

  Even to that point where, Coach, you got in so early and had success. You got a ring already. Everybody says, we're talking about Charles Barkley, even Damian Lillard right now. He's trying to go to Miami. Like, people chase rings. You walked in and won a ring. Do you move the bar? Like, is it two rings now? Like, even like Belichick and Saban, when it's three. Well, now it has to be four. And now it has to be five. Like, y'all coaches, y'all's minds work so different. And you're so young, and you've already done what people thrive to do. Fred, with 13 years, thrived to do, and you already done. What motivates you? You just keep moving your own bar?

• 24:30Speaker 07

  I think what motivates you is being able to say, like, all right. Really, what fills you up is being a part of those teams where it's like, I don't want to let you down because of the job that I'm doing. You know, and that was like, when you've got guys, like, when Ryan Clark comes up to me when I'm a young OC, even though we're already out of the mix playoff-wise. It's like, you know what? I don't want to make, I don't want him to know anything other than I'm competing the best of my ability for us to be successful and for these guys to go out the way they wanted. I thought we had that in '21. And so, for me, I look at it as an opportunity. You know, people use the word rebuild, whatever. However you want to look at it, this is an opportunity to be able to reset ourselves, continue to reestablish, and let's go ahead and see what this build looks like. And it was supposed to be a build back in '17.

• 25:15Speaker 07

  And sometimes those houses can be built a little bit quicker. We'll see how quickly we can accelerate that thing, you know, and how many hands on deck. But I think it's more about, like, pouring into guys, realizing that, hey, like I said earlier, and I really do believe it, Channing, it's a blessing, not a burden. And it became more about, like, man, what does this look like for all the things we've done? You know, oh, this, I'm not winning games. And it's like, man, you're all out of whack. You know, you've always talked about we, not me. And now, you're not living. And the stuff that you're trying to preach to the team, even though, you know, people might not see it externally, you know how you feel. And I think in players, I mean, you guys know better than anybody, like, you can kind of put on a smile, but you know if a dude is real,

• 25:58Speaker 07

  or if a dude is not, and if he believes what he's saying up in front of the team, if there's a consistency that earns that trust, and so, that to me is what drives me, you know, I want to see, like, an easy thing too is, is like, when you got people that you really care about, like, it's easy for me, I've been so fortunate to get some of these opportunities, and you guys talked about it when he came on, but it's like, there's a part of it too, that, man, you want to do good because you know that when we do well, other people get ops that they deserve, whether it's our players, whether it's Raheem Morris, you know, that that guy, we all know how special he is, but when you got it because you're around people, that you're like, man, I don't want to let them down, and you also aren't naive to the fact that, hey, success as a team,

• 26:40Speaker 07

  means other people get opportunities that they're deserving of, that to me is what's really fulfilling, and you're damn right, we want to try to go get another one. But if that's the only thing, those are the things that got me a little bit out of whack, and that doesn't mean that we don't get up there with the expectations to go try to compete to win games every single day, but I think with the appropriate perspective, and then having a real thing that's about people other than yourself, that's when I've been at my best, like, when you look back on, man, I am young, I feel like I'm sometimes 80 years old, I'm 37 years old, you know, but there's been a lot of experiences in the six years in LA, that, hey, because of some of those accelerated ops, we've gone through a lot of different stuff, and you can draw on that,

• 27:22Speaker 07

  and I am grateful for last year's experience because I'm stubborn enough that sometimes you need to get humbled to be able to really reset yourself. I know I didn't learn as much after, you know, we were able to win in 21, than what I felt like I learned last year, and how much more intentional, and like, as a competitor, you're like, No, I'm not going, we're not going down like that. You know, I mean, it's not going down that way.

• 27:46Fred Taylor?

  The greatest thing about everything you said is opportunity. That was the theme in being here. Being able to see everything, getting closer to the moment, being able to compete. All those young guys, now let's see what they can do. We're in camp, put them out there, let's fucking go get it. You were quoted as saying, "We are going to attack these opportunities with some freaking balls."

• 28:06Speaker 07

  Yes.

• 28:06Fred Taylor?

  Question, balls as in what RC said, throw it all over the place?

• 28:15Speaker 07

  That's what we're talking about. And like, you know what's funny though? Like you talk about, you come out to our practice, you know, the great thing is really, we got an opportunity to even compete in OTA settings for the first time since 18. But these young cats, there's a youthful energy about our team. And that's a good thing, you know, you just got a little bounce in your step where you want to try to be able to move the way these young guys are moving. And what does that do? Well, that elevates some of these guys that have been doing it for a long time. And I think the amount of competition, like there's, there's more competition on our team than there's ever been since the first year in 2017. And I think that competition eliminates the complacency, but you know, like I, I've never been around a team, like it's a fine line, like we don't want to be slapdicking around, but I want guys to be fun, having fun. I want them to play free.

• 28:59Speaker 07

  I want them to be able to say, "Let's go cut it loose, let's pull the pin, let's not be afraid to fail." And it's like, if you're saying that, well then you better have that same sort of vibe as a coach as well, if you expect that out of your guys. And part of that is the confidence and being able to go for it, you know? I think there's a difference between, hey, playing not to lose and then being able to go attack opportunities to win games. And so, we want to be able to do that, we want to be able to, you know, apply competitive opportunities in practice where, you know, I think a lot of people look at the word stress in a bad way, Fred. Stress, man, you gotta have stress and then you gotta be able to rest for growth to occur. But like, stress is a positive thing. I've never gotten better from anything that came easy, or if you don't push yourself past

• 29:42Speaker 07

  those thresholds that, oh shit, this is uncomfortable. But like, I want guys challenging themselves to apply techniques. When Aubrey or Rahim or Tark... Talking about an off corner, playing a cushion race technique, being able to stay square, clear through the intermediate and then be able to clean it up at the top. You know, go for it. When we talk about being able to have a B-angle jump for a tackle versus an edge rusher, even to the man's side of the protection, and you do that, but you miss on an inside move. It's like, at least you know how to correct yourself. And so, that's the kind of shit that I'm seeing from our guys that I like. And there's a difference between reckless stuff and then, hey, going and saying, "I'm gonna try some stuff so that I can build my toolbox in a manner that's reflective of giving me the best off to go

• 30:24Speaker 07

  compete and let my nuts hang and not throw the ball all over the yard, but being able to run it a little bit too, huh?"

• 30:30Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, when we would go to camp, Troy and I would make up these rules for every day. We'd say, "Okay, we gonna play everything from five yards." And that was the half, middle of the field, hook, blitz, whatever we did. And then we'd know, "Okay, yeah, I can't get to the half."

• 30:43Speaker 07

  You guys were the first ones. Nobody's getting a pre-snap read on the Steelers defense, man. It's like, what the hell are Troy and Clark doing, man?

• 30:50Ryan Clark?

  You know, so like, that was, that was always what we tried to do. And so, pushing yourself in those sort of competitive settings, which I tell them all the time. Like, I loved camp. They hated camp. I loved it, because I felt like you compete- He hated camp.

• 31:04Channing Crowder?

  Hey, Coach, I was just trying to get a check, Coach.

• 31:05Speaker 07

  I can appreciate your honesty.

• 31:08Speaker 07

  You damn right, I hated it. He's like, "I'm not even gonna lie, man."

• 31:13Channing Crowder?

  I don't wanna hit this guard pulling around on the power. No, I don't wanna do it no more.

• 31:17Speaker 07

  Not for a thousand dollars a week?

• 31:18Channing Crowder?

  Come on, $772 a week? And I'm hitting this 290-pound guard? No, Coach, I hated it.

• 31:24Speaker 07

  I do know this, when you shot your shot, though, you were throwing it, though, man.

• 31:29Ryan Clark?

  Hey, Coach, you mentioned running, and it brings me to this. You guys had Todd Gurley, and Fred mentioned it early, and he was just an absolute monster. Offensive play of the year.

• 31:40Speaker 07

  He was so special.

• 31:41Ryan Clark?

  And then you win the Super Bowl with running back by committee. Fast forward to recently, and Sony Michelle, in a very young career, hangs it up. And you look at the landscape of the running back, we have one of the best that did it in our era. And you're seeing the Saquans, and the Joshes, and the Tony Powlers, and these guys can't get contract. Y'all gave Todd 45 guaranteed, a $60 million contract. When you look at that position from where you were that day and the value of that human on your team to where it is now, how can you put into perspective how the NFL and yourself individually sees that position?

• 32:22Speaker 07

  Yeah, I think to me, you know, you mentioned it, like, and really, especially when you look at the landscape of the league defensively, you better be able to efficiently run the football. Now, there's different ways that it can be illustrated when you look at, all right, you can talk about specific guys that now, these running quarterbacks where you're really playing plus one based on how, you know, most NFL defenses are predicated on playing, you know, 11 versus 10 because you're not having to account for the quarterback as a runner, but you look at it, it's not by mistake that we were as successful as we were with Todd leading the way. And that contract was reflective of exactly what we felt because without him, everything started with him, he was able to be the catalyst, and then Jared was obviously excellent in those years and the surrounding parts, but I think it's incredibly valuable.

• 33:04Speaker 07

  What I think is hard to really be able to get a gauge for is, okay, over the long term, how sustainable because of the pounding that these backs take. But you look at even as soon as the 49ers got McCaffrey, you know, the efficiency of their offense, and Kyle did a great job utilizing him, but he was outstanding. And Saquon, what he did, I mean, I don't think anybody would deny that. I don't know if there's a model in terms of saying, all right, well, how do we project this over the long haul for the sustainability? But I know that I think the world of those running backs that you're mentioning, I don't think any coach would disagree that those guys influenced the outcome of a game in a significant fashion. And so much of it too is comp based, right? Like, when you start talking about it, it's like, who's going to be able to make that first move?

• 33:49Speaker 07

  And because that's kind of been the narrative on that position. And I feel terrible because these guys are trying to figure out, hey, what more can I do to get, you know, the rewards that I'm deserving of? And usually it takes who's that first person to make that move? I know it's a totally different conversation, but, you know, a couple of years ago, it was insane to trade first round draft capital for established veteran players because, you know, you get a rookie slotted scale, you could have that fifth year you pick up, but now you're getting a big time player. But we decided, you know, or we were one of the first, it's not like we did it first, but we were one of the teams that felt like, okay. We don't know what this draft pick is, but we do know that there's a body of work established with some of these guys, whether you talk about the Jalen Ramses, the Brandon Cooks

• 34:33Speaker 07

  of the world, the Matthew Staffords, even when we traded for Von in the middle of the season, even though that was for a second-rounder, you know, those are guys that you're saying they end up really moving the needle and you don't have to do any really guesswork on that. And now, how many teams are doing that kind of stuff? And so, you know, I wish I had a better answer for those guys. I do know this, you know, when we've been at our best, it's because we've had running backs that have been doing a great job. Our Super Bowl year that you talked about, we were 7-1. We ended up losing three games in a row where, you know, didn't do a good enough job. We played three really good teams, and in the month of December, we leaned on Sony Michelle, who other than Jonathan Taylor in the month of December, was leading the league in the NFL and rushing

• 35:17Speaker 07

  through that month where he was averaging over 100 a game. We ended up winning a handful of games in a row, and leaning on him is why we were able to really just kind of reset ourselves. And so, at some point, now, I think what makes it challenging too is you get some guys that'll come out of nowhere and have great production, you know, but the guys, I mean, you know, the guys that do it over an elongated period of time, like Fred was able to do, and that's what we felt like Todd was doing, those guys get rewarded, but then there's always those cautionary tales where people get scared of, all right, you know, the pounding, all right, how long can they sustain this? How much can they be that focal point? And I feel bad about that for those guys, but it seems like that's kind of where it's at right now.

• 35:58Channing Crowder?

  I gotta ask you, Coach.

• 35:58Speaker 07

  Go ahead.

• 35:59Channing Crowder?

  How hard is it to just call a lead? Because I watch your offenses. You come out in this, and then you shift to that, then you reload to this, then you motion to that, and then you get him over here, and then you check in here. How hard is it for you to just say, "Hey, I'm gonna run my fullback and tailback through the week begat"?

• 36:16Speaker 07

  Well, you know what? I could just call, you know, I write ace, 93 week right there. We could, but...

• 36:25Speaker 07

  But, no, it is. You know, I'll tell you this, there's not, it's a hard, that's a hard block because you know what? One of the last times I did that, I called that in 2017 and we used kind of our move tight end. And freaking Deion Buchanan ended up giving him a concussion. He said, "Hey, screw that lead week play." So, so those offensive guys are thinking the same thing you had mentioned earlier, but it does put some conflict on people and I think there's different ways that we can start to really influence the way that your conflicting guys fits and stuff like that, but there are some times when it's like, you know, sometimes just get back to just moving people off the line of scrimmage, going downhill and I won't be the, I can admit I can get a little too smart for my own good, Shannon.

• 37:07Ryan Clark?

  I always wonder what that play sounds like though. We got, we got trips, right? We gonna go motion Y like, coach, because you know, defense is easy.

• 37:14Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 37:14Ryan Clark?

  You know what I mean, coach? We go Sam Fire Zone. Everybody knows what they're doing.

• 37:18Speaker 07

  Yep.

• 37:18Ryan Clark?

  But for you, there was all of these things that went into it. You were mentioning the players you guys were able to acquire. And that was part of that great run. You're standing on the sidelines, coach, before your Super Bowl win. And it's like, man, I got Matthew Stafford, godly, I got Cooper Cup and Odell Beckham Jr. And Jalen Ramsey and Aaron Donald, Von Miller. What's that feeling like for you, coach? When you know, as the dude who's cooking everything up, these are the groceries that Les went out and gave to me. What was that feeling like playing that game with those men?

• 37:55Speaker 07

  Gives you confidence. It's a player's game. You know, I, let's not kid ourselves. At the end of the day, when you've got great players, they make you a better coach. You know, when you think about some of those things in the game-winning drive, you know, I didn't call, you know, great plays all the time. Matthew made it a great play. Cooper made it a great play, you know, because those guys were able to make it work. Aaron Donald's getting the slide to his side on the fourth down and one. He hears the slide. He beats the slide side guard up the field and, and ends up, you know, doing a great job of closing out that game. And so when I think about it, so much of it is like, man, what a blessing for me to be around those kind of cats that are the ultimate closers. And they were able to do that and they won. wanted to do it for each other and so it's a comforting feeling but then there's also

• 38:38Speaker 07

  examples of guys that you see that do make plays out of nowhere because you're saying hey whether it's those guys you mentioned make them believe in things that hey I didn't necessarily think I could do it and then you know that confidence can be compounding and that's the kind of stuff that they have the influence and effect on the rest of their teammates and you're damn right it affects the coaches too.

• 38:56Ryan Clark?

  Yeah that's awesome because you mentioned closers in opening that game Odell Beckham Jr. coach was phenomenal.

• 39:03Speaker 07

  Yeah he was.

• 39:04Ryan Clark?

  And then he goes down he sits out the entire year what was your experience like with him finishing that season in 2021?

• 39:12Speaker 07

  I love that guy I mean you know when you when everybody wonders what he's like okay super smart and intelligent I mean and this guy has he's got a charisma he's got a presence he's got a swag but he came in with a real purpose you know I can remember and he's come out and said it now so I don't feel bad you know going you know talking about it a little bit I'll never forget so we ended up you know we get him you know he's figuring out a lot of teams are trying to get him because he in essence became a free agent the way the Cleveland situation worked out so we're trying to we got a lot of players talking to him trying to talk to him so he finally decides he's gonna come to the Rams well you take a physical well after he had done the ACL if your knee's feeling good as you're rehabbing and different things like that you're not getting another MRI to look at

• 39:56Speaker 07

  it to see if it's stable well part of the physical is the MRI and so the MRI reveals basically you don't have an ACL and so we gotta sit down you know our team Dr Neil Elitros tells me hey you know we gotta sit down and let Odell know about this you know we're sitting in my office and he's sitting exactly where you are Fred I'm here we got Dr Neil Elitros and Les and we basically said you know you don't have an ACL and but you do you know what you've done because it's like he's like I don't feel that's so weird because he was so strong with the rehab program with the muscles and the support that he's developed around that leg whether it's his quad you know his hamstring and some of those different things that he's like look we're going till the wheels fall.

• 40:38Speaker 08

  Here's your report.

• 40:39Speaker 02

  Oh thanks Jane I wish I could hire someone just like you.

• 40:42Speaker 08

  Try LinkedIn Hiring Pro. It's more than a job board. It's like the recruiter you always wished you had. Hiring Pro uses real time insights to match your role to LinkedIn's unique network of professionals and delivers a shortlist of best fit candidates. You'll spend less time sorting applicants and more time talking to the right people.

• 40:59Speaker 09

  Let's do it. You're irreplaceable, Jane, but another you would be great.

• 41:03Speaker 08

  Hire right the first time. Post your job for free on LinkedIn today at LinkedIn.com/quality.

• 41:08Speaker 07

  Off. And he sat there and said that. And what is so crazy to me is that this guy made a commitment that, hey, I got an opportunity to be able to go be a part of something special, to have a tremendous influence on it. And one of my favorite parts about that is when we signed him, we were seven and one, and we ended up, you know, losing three in a row, none of which had anything to do with him. We also lost a great player in Robert Woods in that same sort of stretch. But he was a guy that just stayed so steady. You know, there was no kind of, you know, like that to me, that moment in time when we went through, we went through a month without winning a game because we had a bye in between that. And whether it was him, Von, the leaders that we've talked about, he stayed steady.

• 41:48Speaker 07

  But his charisma, his presence, his ability to have a good feel for like, okay, you know what, we, we're a little tight, let me, let me, you know, loosen everybody up right here. Let me go ahead and before Sean walks in the team meeting room doing an impersonation of his ass and everybody's laughing about it, you know? But then when it's time to lock in, this guy knew, like, he had a great emotional intelligence in terms of like just feeling the temperature of a situation. And, you know, obviously incredible athlete, but what I don't think people know is what a great dude he is, how super smart and aware of everything he is. It's not by mistake that everybody's interested because there's just, he's got a magnetism about himself that you can't help but like. And, you know, I've kept in touch with him.

• 42:32Speaker 07

  I can't wait to watch him shine in Baltimore. But he was a key factor. And really, we had an idea that based on what we thought could have occurred going into that Super Bowl. That he was gonna get some opportunities and with the ops he had, he was two for two at that point. He was gonna continue to be the guy that we were really calling the game through. And he knew that too. You know, he just had that look in his eye. But you know, you talk about like, I always feel like the people that shine the brightest when the stage are as big as possible, like it's no moment is ever too big. He's the kinda guy that comes to mind. And I thought he played his best in those most important moments. Like, we talk about competitive greatness all the time. He's one of the epitomes of competitive greatness.

• 43:12Channing Crowder?

  That Rain Man shit. You did that Rain Man shit right there. Well, he was there and then it was fourth and four and then it was... Like, oh, that video, Coach. It's something to that, man. You have a better memory than we do. Like, cuz that shit's crazy.

• 43:25Speaker 07

  No, that shit is... Here's what I will say. This is the truth, right? If you really were going back through stuff, you're gonna remember it. Alright? But if you said like, alright, well, I'm going back through these plays. This isn't like I'm watching it once, "Ah, I got that." You know, I'll never go back through it. But, you know, we pay attention to the things we care about. You know, it's like, okay, hey, how did you get here from your house? Thank God for GPS. I can't, I'd get lost going back to my room from here right now. You know, so that's the kinda stuff where it's just like, man, where your attention is, is usually where you're able to kinda, you know, compartmentalize some stuff. And when you go back through it, I always tell our guys, repetition is the mother of learning. You repeatedly go back through stuff and now you're saying, alright, I remember that.

• 44:09Speaker 07

  And it's usually the tougher ones, or the mistakes, or the different things like that. You know, and then everybody loves the good ones. But, you know, those... Yeah. Yeah, we go back through it. It's not like a one and done type of thing.

• 44:20Ryan Clark?

  When I came here for the media training. Also too, Coach, you know...

• 44:23Speaker 07

  Yeah, that was awesome.

• 44:24Ryan Clark?

  You're the only team that's ever asked me to do it. That's my one and only media presentation.

• 44:31Speaker 07

  That's crazy.

• 44:32Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, so I got like videos of all these different things. And so, we got to a point, I was like, man, I don't want it to be boring. So I said, I'm gonna tell them, look, sometimes if you know you're good at something, you gotta just show off. Like, show off for the camera. And I played, Coach, like, going through all those plays. And he was like, RC, I wasn't showing up.

• 44:48Speaker 07

  Everybody's on there thinking, what a freaking dork, man.

• 44:53Speaker 07

  He went through it like that, dawg. That Rayman.

• 44:56Channing Crowder?

  Oki Thunderline unless the setback shifts into the I.

• 44:59Speaker 07

  What? Well now, hey, now it's just lead week, baby.

• 45:05Fred Taylor?

  Since we're talking about memory, I know last year it wasn't quite what you guys wanted to expect at five and 12, but you were not a bad team.

• 45:12Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 45:13Fred Taylor?

  You know, you lost a lot of your stars in Cooper, Aaron and Matthew. Just really going back, looking at everything, I can recall a few plays that got you guys out of the wild card hunt. You know, just a few, a few games there, I think you need three more wins. Vegas has you at six and a half wins, over/under. And that's, that doesn't matter about anything.

• 45:33Speaker 07

  Sure.

• 45:33Fred Taylor?

  But you got your dogs back.

• 45:34Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 45:35Fred Taylor?

  And those guys could have helped you win last year. How exciting is the feeling to have them out there in training camp?

• 45:40Speaker 07

  It's great, you know, because like we talked about, those guys elevate everybody. You just feel better when Aaron Donald is out on the grass and when he's taking the field and the 10 guys around him, they're like, man, I have no, that this guy's gonna do what he's supposed to do. You feel better when Matthew Stafford is under center and in the gun and he's feeling healthy and he's feeling good. When Cooper Cup's out there and the way that he influences coverage, you know, and I just think there's an element of too, you know, there were so many different guys with something to prove in 21 and then we had the injuries and different stuff like that. But I will say this, and I don't want it to go lost on, you know, the guys that were part of that. I am so appreciative of the way guys continued to compete, you know, towards the latter part of the season,

• 46:21Speaker 07

  especially guys that, shoot, we had some linemen coming in where, you know, they, I mean, literally, I didn't even, you know, hey, what's your name again, man? You know, they're starting on a Sunday, but, but, you know, and that's, that's one of my favorite parts. You know, you talk about an opportunity for a young cat, for us to have some things where we didn't see it the same way. We were able to sit down man to man and say, hey, listen, we care about enough, we care about each other enough to be able to keep it real. I know what you're capable of. I can take my responsibility in regards to where I could have been better for you. And those are the stories where it's like, man, let's use that to be able to catapult us into the next year the right way. Where he finishes up, but going through that and. You know, that, those were the things and watching the way that guys just continue to battle.

• 47:06Speaker 07

  And that's where, you know, like Jalen Ramsey, I'll always have respect for that guy because, you know, in the midst of last season, you know, he just continued to compete. Bobby Wagner, all those guys, like, I think one of the most powerful things. Model the way, man. Like, like, what does it look like? How were you moving? And those guys modeled the way, even though we weren't getting the results that, you know, we had been accustomed to getting over the last couple of years. But that, to me, is the separator in great people. It's like, I've heard Mike Shanahan say this over and over. Tough times don't last, tough people do. And I'm a big believer in that. And, you know, you don't grow unless you go through it. And, and I do think that it's gonna be... Last year, it was not fun, like we said. But I think it was a necessary part of the next chapter,

• 47:50Speaker 07

  the appreciation, the gratitude, but also, you know, the, the desire and, and the, the fire to be able to say, let's go start competing again with the right purpose.

• 47:59Ryan Clark?

  Coach, a lot of us grow up in football different ways.

• 48:02Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 48:03Ryan Clark?

  And in order to understand locker rooms and understand certain things that go on in organizations, teams, universities, you gotta have those experiences. But people, as much as they love you, they don't know, Coach, you're like, you're not the most successful NFL McVeigh.

• 48:19Speaker 07

  No doubt.

• 48:20Ryan Clark?

  You know, your grandfather...

• 48:21Speaker 07

  Very far from it.

• 48:22Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, your grandfather, who passed last year, and sorry, you know, about that, Coach.

• 48:26Speaker 07

  He lived a good life. He was, he was a good man.

• 48:28Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, you know, Coach, you know, John McVeigh, he's an executive with the 49ers, part of those, those five championships. And you mentioned just how much he meant to you. How much you learned from him. But also, I love the awareness of like, nah, like, I could get in different rooms because of who my grandfather is. When you think about his legacy, how proud are you to continue that?

• 48:50Speaker 07

  You know, I don't take that responsibility lightly. You know, and I think the one thing that's consistent is just the way that he was through it all. Because before, you know, he won five, he, he was a part of all five championships for the Niners. But he also was a coach, you know, so he was a high school coach, college coach. He was actually a coach of the Giants when they had the miracle at the Meadowlands, you know. ended up leading to him transitioning into personnel and different things like that. But man, he was just steady. He was consistent and I think like when you always knew what to expect of like somebody, you know, you're like, you can really appreciate that. Like I, I think consistency is the truest measurement of performance and this guy was as consistent as it gets. And he was just a good man. He, he respected people, you know, and he treated people the same.

• 49:34Speaker 07

  It wasn't like, all right, I'm gonna treat Bill Walsh great, but not necessarily these interns like the stories that I get from people that now are, um, you know, in positions in the NFL that they had experiences with him when they were younger guys coming up. Um, it's all the same. The way he treated me, the way that he moved, you know, he made situations better. He was a problem solver, didn't make things worse. Um, you know, just a great man, you know, and I think that's something that, you know, you can really appreciate and he was always figuring out how to make others better and so self-deprecating and also just, you know, self-deflecting where it didn't ever really want the credit. Um, but he was a really, it was cool. He would go into his funeral, Eddie DeBardeau came and we just had it as a family situation.

• 50:18Speaker 07

  And, you know, Eddie comes and, and just the, the stories and the way that people consistently talk about him and, you know, you can't fake that kind of stuff. And so that is where you're saying, man, like, let's make sure we honor those that set the legacy the right way. And, you know, we always talk about, you know, Eddie, how do you spell your last name? M C V A Y or M C V E Y? He says, you know, we spelled A Y. Let's always make sure we're doing the things that the A Y, the pop did, man. And that's John McVay senior and, uh, what a good man he was.

• 50:50Ryan Clark?

  I love that. Coach, coach, you know, we were talking, that's talking family, but you're only young in the game as a head coach, but, and I shoot, coach, you're just a young man, but you have a coaching tree already. And I thought about it when we were speaking about the San Francisco 49ers because you think Bill Walsh and all the coaches that came from that coaching tree. And now you hear things about Belichick or Andy Reid. Coach, you've been only head coach for six years, but you have a coaching tree, whether it's Stanley, O- O'Donnell, Taylor, you have all of these guys that have moved on. Hell, at one point, Arizona Cardinals said that Cliff Kingsbury was your friend. That was an actual statement in why they hired him.

• 51:34Ryan Clark?

  By the way, I'm your friend.

• 51:36Speaker 07

  Yeah, what the hell are you doing, artist?

• 51:37Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Bro, so, but when you think of that, man, and you've been able to see so many of your friends and fellow coaches go on to success in other places, even playing against Zach in the Super Bowl, how exciting is that for you?

• 51:52Speaker 07

  It's cool because all those guys got ops, like, you know, it's not just, it's not like we're dictating, all right, hey, telling those guys exactly what to do. Like, those guys were a part of why things went well. And so, I don't take that for granted. What I do appreciate is that, hey, they've put their own spin on the way that they're doing things, but I think there was a lot of consistency in terms of the values, the things that we believed in that allowed those guys to go have success. But similar, I was talking about, you know, with Raheem or any of these other great coaches that we have on our current staff, you know, in this league, if things go well, whether you're a player or a coach, usually that means you get opportunities, whether that's to get paid when your contract's coming up, whether that's to get rewarded in

• 52:33Speaker 07

  terms of, you know, getting extended, or whether that means coaches that are in coordinator roles getting a real op to be able to go compete for opportunities to be a head coach. And so, those guys have done a great job. It is fun, but that's because of our collective success. And all four of those guys that are head coaches, the consistent thing is when shit's been right here, it's been because we got the right people. And you're able to lean on them, and, you know, I'm grateful for that.

• 52:59Fred Taylor?

  Coach, since we're talking about family tree, talking about your grandfather, you're expecting a little man in October.

• 53:06Speaker 07

  Oh, man, crazy. Yeah.

• 53:06Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, it can be a lot of sleepless nights, but more time to create more crazy plays.

• 53:10Speaker 07

  That's exactly. Well, you know what's funny is, when, when we found out that we were having a little boy, I said, "God bless this guy if he's wired like his dad, man." But, no, my wife's doing good, and at the end of October, and, you know, I know, I know that's gonna be a blessing for us, and so, keep, keep praying that everything goes well in the midst of this journey, but it's gonna be great.

• 53:32Fred Taylor?

  You got a name yet?

• 53:33Speaker 07

  I think Jordan is what we're gonna name him. Jordan John, because he's actually, his original due date, as crazy as this is, it shows you God, man. He works in mysterious ways, so his original due date is October 31st. Well, that was the same day that my grandfather passed last year. And so, you know, it was weird, like, my wife, she said, you know, because, um, she was, you know, we went to the funeral or whatever, and she had like a dream, like, something along the lines of, you know, when one great life passes, it opens the opportunity up for another, you know, for another special life to be able to come into this world, and so, well, his middle name will be John to honor my grandpa, so, that'll be pretty cool.

• 54:09Channing Crowder?

  And Coach, I usually preface crazy questions when I tell people, "I love love."

• 54:14Speaker 07

  Oh, here we go.

• 54:15Channing Crowder?

  I love love, Coach, I love what you, I see you praise your wife all the time, but, being young, you're a good-looking dude, blue eyes and shit, you got some mousse in your hair.

• 54:23Speaker 07

  Appreciate that.

• 54:24Channing Crowder?

  You, you, we, we know what you're doing, Coach, you know what you're doing. And just, just, uh, take yourself off the market.

• 54:30Speaker 07

  Yeah. You wanna hear something, so, you know what's so funny? So, I met my wife, it was like six months before I get the job here, right? And they all, you know, all my buddies, they love my wife, whatever, so, but it was right at that time when you're figuring out, okay, hey, you've been dating six months, you know, this is, you gotta make a decision, you guys are gonna be serious, and she's gonna move out there with you, or you're gonna try to do the long-distance thing, and a couple of my buddies, you know, they're sitting there, they say, "Hey, look, man, we love Veronica, just give us one year, all right, just give us one year, let's have one fun time." I said, "Let me tell you something, that one year might mean one year for me as the Rams head coach, too." I know, man, I gotta put some boundaries on myself.

• 55:12Ryan Clark?

  Hey, Coach, we gonna get you out of here, Coach, but, man, thank you so much for everything. When you look back, though, on what probably seems like a long time to you, but it's a short time of success here with the Rams, and everything happening so quickly, what's the, the moment you point to where you realize, man, that y'all had something special?

• 55:32Speaker 07

  Well, I think there's multiple memories. I think it's more about the relationships that you keep and the memories that were created. You know, when we went to, you know, when we got married a year ago, the amount of guys that came back, even guys that had been retired. But it's those relationships that are built over the course of the time. And I think one of the things that I do think about a lot, RC, is that when we first started, you know, there was some stuff that you just didn't even know to worry about then because you're so green. And it's just like, man, let's just go cut it loose. Let's coach some ball, let's have some fun, let's have a zest about the way that we just move and bounce through things. And you can't ever go back and be the 30 and 31-year-old coach that you were, but you can be reminded of the things that allowed you to really enjoy the shit

• 56:16Speaker 07

  and really establish meaningful relationships that were really transformational, not just transactional. And that to me is, I want to make sure that I never lose perspective like I've done in certain moments. And it wasn't exclusive to last year. You know, there's, I, we hold ourselves to high standards, but I'm not going to apologize for that. But I do want to make sure that you are leading in a manner that's reflective of elevating people, you know, elevating situations you're a part of and really just, you know, modeling the way and leaving places better than when you first got there. And so, it's the relationships though. You know, I'm so grateful for this organization and things like that, but it's the people that make it, you know.

• 57:00Speaker 07

  And I think about any great experience I've had, you know, I don't necessarily think about like a team, but I think about the people that made up that team. And that to me is what's special and, you know, I don't ever want to lose sight of that where in some instances I can be honest and I have.

• 57:14Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, Coach, well, you replaced Lane Kiffin as the youngest head coach hired.

• 57:17Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 57:18Ryan Clark?

  You replaced Mike T. as the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl. Now you're kind of an old head and you got guys all over the league, but you seem to have your feet planted here in Los Angeles, man. That's the best place for you and it's the best place for them. Thank you so much.

• 57:32Speaker 07

  No, hey, appreciate you guys having me on, man. I've been a fan and it's awesome, man. You guys, you guys do a hell of a job.

• 57:38Ryan Clark?

  Appreciate it, Coach. And this was, I'm gonna be honest, this was actually not as fun as it was at Raheem's house after the parade.

• 57:44Speaker 07

  Hey, I believe that. I believe that. We're all in recovery mode right now. How cool is it though to see what this has become because of the job you guys have done?

• 57:54Channing Crowder?

  It's cool.

• 57:55Speaker 07

  Did you think that like, did you guys, was this part of the vision? Or did it even accelerate faster than you guys imagined?

• 58:01Fred Taylor?

  I don't, this wasn't part of the vision. We were just doing stuff.

• 58:04Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 58:05Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, and then it turned into, you know, RC coming on board, Alicia doing her thing, her connections, Channing and I moving together, and it just sort of elevated. Ryan made me better with everything, just looking at him, Channing the same thing. And we go places like, whoa. And it's funny.

• 58:24Speaker 07

  You guys have really started, I mean, like, how many people are really trying to mimic and emulate the stuff that you guys started a few years ago?

• 58:30Ryan Clark?

  Cause we were at the fight, we were at the fight though, and I was sitting down, and listen, man, I played ball 13 years, I was on, I've been on TV forever.

• 58:37Speaker 07

  Yeah, yeah.

• 58:38Ryan Clark?

  And I was like, I'm, I knew why I was sitting there, I was sitting there because of this.

• 58:41Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 58:42Ryan Clark?

  You know what I mean, like, that's why we had to see, that's how we knew both fighters. Like, we're in a room, coach, and it's, you know what I'm saying, it's Chris Brown, Chance, like, all these people, and they're talking to us, like, Chance comes up to him like, man, I love you on the show, you're so funny, and it was like, damn, like, it's that big, you know?

• 58:57Speaker 07

  No, but it is though, I mean, it's, and it's a good.

• 59:01Fred Taylor?

  People don't run up on you, like, talking about your career?

• 59:03Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 59:04Fred Taylor?

  They come up, Pivot, hey, the Pivot, it is crazy. And he can't go anywhere.

• 59:08Channing Crowder?

  He used to get to me when them kids come up and like, you're the TikTok guy. And I'm like, no, motherfucker, I played live.

• 59:16Speaker 07

  Google the highlights. But, but for real though, like, you guys started it, and I mean, like, you see how many different other guys are trying to emulate the thing that you guys started and?

• 59:28Ryan Clark?

  You know what I wanted to ask you?

• 59:29Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 59:30Ryan Clark?

  Did you really have to go to dinner with Marshall Faulk before you got the job? Cause it's kind of what Kevin Demoff was talking about.

• 59:35Speaker 07

  This is a true story, so here's what happened, right? So, basically, when I was interviewing for the Rams, you know, did the interview with Demoff and Les, and, you know, you know when you can tell things are going well, and it's like, okay, so then I go back out, and then, you know, Kevin was the one that was heading up the coaching search, and so, he's gonna call Stan Kronke and say, I got the guy. Oh, who is it? He's 30 years old, okay? So, you know, that, that's something that if you just look at the landscape of, they, they own other teams and things like that, and they had never really done that, and it'd be unprecedented. I mean, you know, to, to go that young and? You know, I'd only been a coordinator for two, you know, for three years, but calm plays for two years and stuff like that. And so Stan had the idea, he's like, "Look, I want

• 1:00:18Speaker 07

  to be able to meet him, but I also think I want to have a guy like Marshall Falk, man's man, you know, so smart in terms of the game. Will he be able to say and sign off like, 'Hey, even though he's a young dude, this guy can lead men.'" Because when they first called Marshall, he's like, "You need to go with a veteran coach, help get Jared Goff." He's like, "I don't know much about Sean." And so they valued his opinion so highly. He actually just did the, he spoke to our team this past year with the media stuff, but that is a true story. And, you know, we were just talking ball and just being normal.

• 1:00:53Ryan Clark?

  Did you feel like it was pressure at that dinner?

• 1:00:55Speaker 07

  No, because, you know, to me, like, in all seriousness, like, there was like a youthful arrogance, as Mike T. would say that I had, where it was like, "Hey, listen, man, this is what you fucking do. All right, if you don't shit yourself, you're the head coach of the Rams, what the fuck? Let's go, man." So, so we go out there and, and, and really like, I mean, we're just talking ball. And, and so I think the one thing that helped is like, I didn't feel like I was trying to, you know, impress, other than just like, like, I had such, I love this game so much that there's a respect for like, like, I'm fans of y'all because I've always loved this game. Like, I've played it, but when you're a coach, like, you're a fan of players and coaches. And so, you know, I had watched Marshall and I had reverence for him, but it wasn't like in a, a fanboy, it's just like, "Man, what you've done consistently."

• 1:01:40Speaker 07

  And, you know, it's like anything else. When you're interested in what somebody else is interested in, we just had a nice connection. We were both passionate about football. And, and the crazy thing, though, was, is so, I'm thinking to myself, the way I had seen this going is, the dinner's going really well, and so, Mr. Cronkite, I'm envisioning to be like, "So, hey, you gonna be the Rams' next coach? Let's fucking go." And I shake his hand and we all do that, right? And so, if you know Stan, he's like, real patient. And like, even if he knows he wants to make a decision, he's gonna kind of like sleep on it, right? So, we were staying, it's funny, we were at Spago and it's like right across the street from the Montage, which is down in Beverly Hills, whatever, so, they had put me up at the Montage and Stan had a place at the Montage at the time, so, I know the dinner goes well,

• 1:02:25Speaker 07

  well, Kevin leaves, Marshall leaves, and then me and Stan are kinda walking across the street, and he's like, alright, hey, really enjoyed it, well, when do you leave? And I'm thinking, well, ain't that your decision on when I leave, you know? And so, he just wanted to be able to sleep on it, but I go back to my room and I'm like, man, what the fuck, I thought I knocked that out, man, you know, I'm like, you're losing it, you know, what happened to ya? Stuff like that, and then they call me the next day, but he's just real patient, so, I always kill him, I'm like, man, you made me think like, something was wrong and I'm ready to go get another job, he's like, oh, Sean, I'm just a patient decision maker, you know?

• 1:03:02Ryan Clark?

  That's how you get that money.

• 1:03:03Speaker 07

  Yeah, no doubt, you know what? That's right, I said, no wonder I'm so impulsive and I do dumb shit all the time.

• 1:03:09Ryan Clark?

  Exactly.

• 1:03:10Speaker 07

  But, yes, that is true, that's a true story. Was that the only interview you had that year? No, well, so, what I did was, so I interviewed with the Rams, it went really well, that was the Wednesday after the season ended. Went back and, I could tell, like, I called my dad and I'm like, dad, I'm just telling you, like, you know, I'll be surprised, and like, you could, you know when you just get a feel for like, buying signals, and it's like, you guys know when, you know, when you just were in a rhythm and a routine plan and just had a good flow? And I could just tell, it's like, this is, I feel like I'm gonna, you know, get this job. So then I went and interviewed with the Niners, they actually flew me from Washington up to, they were interviewing most east coast guys, so I went and flew up, they flew me

• 1:03:53Speaker 07

  up to New York and I interviewed with them at the Four Seasons, in two totally different interviews, but, they, basically, I know they were bringing me in, cause I was kinda, you know, people didn't know who the hell I was, but, they're like, alright, if John McVay's grandson's getting interviewed, we probably should do it. Well, that interview, because I basically felt good about the Rams situation, went really well too. And, you know, I could feel that, you know, that went well. And basically, Jed York told me, "I'm either hiring you, Kyle Shanahan, or Josh McDaniels." You know, he's like, "Wow, you know, this is really impressive and that one went well." And the Rams, you know, ended up hearing how well that had gone. Kyle was still playing, so they couldn't meet with him again. You know, there was a chance, you know, I don't know if they had connected with Josh or not.

• 1:04:37Speaker 07

  The very next day, the Rams flew me back to go have dinner, and then I never left LA.

• 1:04:42Ryan Clark?

  That's slick though. That's slick. Yeah, that's slick.

• 1:04:45Speaker 07

  Competition drives the urgency, right?

• 1:04:49Ryan Clark?

  Had you not had that interview, you'd be like, "Oh, we can win."

• 1:04:51Speaker 07

  But it was crazy though. Like, I just think about going back to that, but it was like, "You have nothing to lose." Because, in all seriousness, it was like, you know, you talk about just, and you're not saying, well, in that setting, from just a go-in and interview perspective, I'm feeling like, well, what do we have to lose? If I go back, I'm getting an opportunity to go be a coordinator with really good players. I thought some of those guys were really coming into their own. And/or, you're getting an opportunity to go compete for a head coaching job. And so, I didn't even know any better to like, really think too much into it, other than like, "Hey, if you give me a real opt to compete, I'm gonna go attack it and, hey, I'm not afraid to say. I bet you we'll go win it."

• 1:05:28Ryan Clark?

  That's great, man. I was so happy, man.

• 1:05:31Speaker 07

  At that same dinner though, the guy that runs the restaurant, he's like a well-known chef, Wolfgang Puck. He comes up, you know, and he's thinking, you know, well, this has gotta be like the intern at dinner with Marshall Faulk and Stan Kroenke. So he's like, "Hey, who's, when are we gonna hire the new head coach? You know, when is the new coach?" And they're all looking at each other like, "Can we really say this guy might be it right now?"

• 1:05:55Ryan Clark?

  Oh, this is the young one.

• 1:05:56Speaker 07

  Hey, hey, this little kid that joined us and pulled up his high chair.

• 1:06:02Speaker 07

  But I know artists had to think, "What the hell's going on, man?"

• 1:06:05Speaker 10

  I was like, "Hey, you gotta meet with the Sam McVay room." I said, "Hey, Tim, he's 30 years old. What the fuck we doing?"

• 1:06:38Speaker 11

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