Los Angeles Rams Coaches Star in NFL '40 Under 40' List

The theme is, "NFL 40 under 40: The top young coaches, execs, agents and other rising stars.'' And the Los Angeles Rams are rising.

The concept is entitled, "NFL 40 under 40: The top young coaches, execs, agents and other rising stars.'' And the Los Angeles Rams are rising.

It's a project undertaken by The Athletic, the outlet's third annual "NFL 40 under 40 list,'' for which the publication "solicits input and nominations across the league for this list, seeking to identify current power brokers as well as rising stars in their fields. This list includes head coaches, coordinators and play callers. It also includes general managers, scouts, salary cap gurus, analytics experts, digital content creators, broadcasters and people who work behind the scenes in the league office or with the NFL Players Association.''

And first and foremost, it lists ... Sean McVay.

The Rams are highly regarded in most areas; check out the NFL front-office rankings here. But this list is about both excellence and promise - and the Rams seem to be in good shape there, too.

The winners are alphabetically in their respective fields, but the praise for McVay seems to below up top. Writes the publication: 

Sean McVay, Rams | Age: 36

"Maybe we should just name this list after McVay, who’s making his third appearance on it and has created the blueprint for success for other under-40 coaches. The hallmarks of that plan? Have a clear offensive vision, a magnetic personality, endless energy, a deep connection with players and an eye for coaching talent.''

The report makes the "long-running joke that working for McVay is the quickest way to land a head coaching job.'' But as the list goes on, we see evidence that it's no joke, because the other Rams name on the list is ...

Eric Henderson, Rams D-line coach and run-game coordinator | Age: 39

"McVay’s staff is loaded with rising coaching stars, including 36-year-old first-year NFL offensive coordinator Liam Coen and assistant head coach/tight ends coach Thomas Brown, who earned a place on this list last year.

"Henderson is The Athletic’s choice for 2022. He might be under the radar publicly, but not among his NFL coaching peers, who voted him the John Teerlinck Defensive Line Coach of the Year last season.''

How does one really measure the quality of a coach, under 40 or otherwise? We've always thought the only true and most inarguable measure comes on the scoreboard. Henderson, part of a defense that recorded seven sacks in the Super Bowl win, like McVay succeeds on the scoreboard ... and on national lists.