Rams Ex Jimmy Lake Credits Growth To Sean McVay: 'Through The Ups And Downs!'

Former Los Angeles Rams assistant head coach Jimmy Lake may have spent just one year with the team, but his experience won't soon be forgotten.

Sometimes, a lesson from a friend goes a long way, just ask former Los Angeles Rams assistant coach Jimmy Lake.

When he came to L.A. last offseason, Lake had been fired as head coach of the Washington Huskies a year earlier after a plethora of issues on and off the field. By all accounts, it was a low point in Lake's long coaching career.

Enter the Rams and coach Sean McVay, who offered Lake a job as an assistant head coach for the 2023 season. Normally a defensive coach, Lake found himself working on offense for the first time ever. 

Nov 6, 2021; Seattle, Washington, USA; Washington Huskies head coach Jimmy Lake watches pregame warmups against the Oregon Ducks at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium / Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

The experience not only helped him grow as a coach but on a personal level as well. So much so that when Raheem Morris left to become head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, Lake was his first choice as defensive coordinator.

During his introductory press conference with the Falcons on Wednesday, Lake was asked what he learned coaching alongside McVay in 2023. In response, Lake opened up about what the Rams coach meant to him in just that one season.

“Such a growth experience for me, and if you had to boil it down to one thing, it was his leadership through the ups and downs of the season, and the way Sean handled that. We had an extremely young team. His leadership through the OTAs, through the offseason program, his leadership through our three-game losing streak never wavered. He stayed the same. 

"You lose three games going into the bye week. We could have easily went the other way, but then we ended up going 7-1 after the bye, and it was really because of Sean’s leadership and how he displayed that in front of the team. He never wavered.”

Considering the Rams had the second-youngest roster in the league this season with an average age of just 25.3, McVay may have pulled off his best coaching job yet. He also managed to rally a young team from a 3-6 start to winning seven of eight games to make a surprise playoff appearance.

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Watching McVay work his magic allowed Lake to gain a new perspective, one that he will surely carry with him to the next chapter of his coaching career and beyond.