Q&A WITH LOS ANGELES RAMS HEAD COACH SEAN MCVAY
What would you like to see happen differently at the quarterback position in order to get back to the Super Bowl? I would say this, I think as a team going back, you kind of just bring it back to being in that Green Bay visitor's locker room after the game. What I think is so hard is that when you fall short or when you lose in the Divisional Round, or when we lost in the Super Bowl a couple of years ago. What you don't appreciate until you accumulate enough experience to really apply tangible evidence is how difficult it is – when you really say, ‘Hey, you start over.’ You don't just show up where you fell short the following year. It's so difficult to get yourself in a position to win your opener, to then follow that up by winning your second game, putting yourself in a position to win a division, potentially compete for a first-round bye, get into the playoffs, win in the playoffs. So, there are so many things that we just want to take it one day at a time, be totally and completely present. I think it's really all-encompassing to coaches, offense, defense, special teams – everybody can do their job at a little bit higher level. If we do that and we continue to just build and peak at the right times, you give yourself an opportunity to be relevant. Kind of like what I was saying earlier with the Bucs, they peaked at the right time. I think they showed that they can handle some adversity, I think a lot of people were probably counting them out after we had a game on Monday night, where we won, then they lose to the Chiefs the following week. But they had a late bye, they did a great job of rallying the troops and peaking at the right time. So, we're really just focused on what we can control right now and that'll be an ever-evolving process as we're gearing towards whoever we open with and trying to really start 1-0.
How will you look to add explosiveness to the offense outside of the quarterback position? I think it's guys that can make things happen with the ball in their hands. Certainly, I know we talked a lot about it throughout the season, plays down the field, I think there are different ways of creating explosiveness. It's a collaboration of, certainly, I have to do a good job of giving us opportunities and then the players are the ones that end up making it come to life. That's always going to be a big part of it. I think when you have to go 12, 15-play drives consistently, your margin for error is so small. The level of competition is just so great that you have to be able to find ways to continuously create explosiveness, give yourself a little bit of margin for error, that it's not always taking that many plays to produce points in this league. I think, any good offense, anyone that's at the upper echelon of the league, that's usually something that you can probably check the box on. I think that's something that we've definitely got to do a better job of starting with me next season.
What did you learn watching the Buccaneers win Super Bowl LV after beating them previously? I think what stands out about that is the resilience of that football team. I mean, you think about how they respond from a tough game on Sunday Night Football against the Saints, they had the loss against the Chiefs and they played their best football when it was necessary. I think that's a real credit to Coach Arians’ leadership. Obviously, Tom Brady has an amazing influence on that team, but I thought they peaked at the right time. They found a way to stay together, really find their identity at the right moments and then they played their best when their best was required. You look at that sequence at the end of the half against Green Bay, just finding ways to win football games, making crunch-time plays. I thought really just from a coaching perspective, they did an outstanding job of being able to adapt and adjust their philosophy. You saw some of the things that Coach Bowles did defensively that really minimized some of those great offenses that they played and it was really impressive. You see the impact that a guy that's won, that’s done it, that people can look to and say, ‘Hey, this is what it looks like.’ For him to win his seventh, nothing but respect for Tom Brady and you’re just kind of just sitting there in awe. At this point, I don't think you can say you’re surprised, but you just want to say, ‘Hats off to you for another job well done.’
How do you make sure the culture within the team stays the same after bringing in new coaches? I think it's always about connecting and really building and developing those relationships. Spending time together, being able to do football together, being able to get to know their families. Even when we got a chance to interview a couple of O-line coaches last week, being able to bring a couple of those coaches out, where we're going to dinner with them and some of the fellowship that occurs in those moments. That time is the most valuable thing and I think there's a consistent alignment of the values and the things that are important to us. It's your family, it's your football. It's being able to continue to challenge one another in a way that's reflective of a healthy, competitive atmosphere and environment amongst our coaches, where we're trying to help our players reach their highest potential. We're trying to do it with an urgent enjoyment and these guys reflect exactly what's been right about things here previously. I think they're even going to build it to make it even more special than it's been in years past.
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