Sean McVay Reveals Reason Behind Hiring of Game Management Coordinator
Despite his prowess in game planning and play calling, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay has acknowledged his past errors in clock management, notably during a critical playoff loss to the Detroit Lions.
In the loss to the Lions, the Rams faced clock management issues. Despite needing just a field goal to take the lead with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, penalties and strategic decisions limited their opportunities.
The Rams' timeouts were used early, leaving them unable to stop the clock effectively in the final minutes. This mismanagement allowed the Lions to run out the clock and secure the win, highlighting the need for improvement in game management strategies.
To address this, McVay has brought on John Streicher as the team's new game management coordinator. Streicher's role is aimed at preventing such timeout mismanagement incidents in the future, reflecting McVay's commitment to improvement.
“Not use my timeouts in the second half until I need to," McVay said laughing. "No, really, here's what I would say when I look at myself and really our team from just an after-action review, you say, ‘alright, where's the game going? Where are things that you can do to try to separate yourself and winning those margins?’"
McVay also believes that not having a game management coordinator was a key disadvantage and noted the impact that this position has brought to other teams.
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He also believes Streicher could bring an immense amount of value to the team on gamedays.
“This game management coordinator, there’s a select group of people who have really earned a great reputation around the league,” McVay said. "There’s an innate understanding of the rules and how to be able to use those to your advantage, clock management, some of the situational things that do end up coming up... I think he’s gonna be really valuable.”
Now with Streicher in tow, the Rams' new-look staff looks to improve on the issues that held the team back in 2023, as they aim to compete for the NFC West title in 2024.