Rams Tab Sean McVay to Be Head Coach

The Los Angeles Rams officially announced that they have hired former Washington Redskins offensive coordinator Sean McVay as head coach.

McVay, 30, will be the youngest head coach in the history of the NFL. He will turn 31 on January 24^th. The Rams decided on McVay before even interviewing Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who had been considered one of the favorites to land the job.

McVay’s Background

McVay broke into the NFL in 2008 as an assistant wide receivers coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was there that he met Kevin Demoff, who worked in the Bucs’ front office at the time. Demoff is now the COO of the Rams and spearheaded the team’s coaching search.

McVay joined the Redskins in 2010 as an assistant tight ends coach. He wasted little time in rising the ranks and was named offensive coordinator under Jay Gruden in 2014. In McVay’s three seasons running the Washington offense, the team ranked fifth in the league in total offense.

McVay Has A Lot of Work to Do

The Rams are hopeful that McVay’s offensive expertise can help rejuvenate an offense that was one of the NFL’s most impotent last season. The Rams finished just 4-12 this past year and fired head coach Jeff Fisher after 13 games.

Case Keenum began the season as the team’s quarterback, but was benched in favor of rookie Jared Goff after nine games. The team would go winless over the course of Goff’s seven starts. The Rams finished dead-last in the league in total yards and yards per game as well as 31^st in passing yards per game and rushing yards per game.

St. Louis was only able to muster 14 points per game and relied heavily on a young and talented defense. McVay will have a tall task ahead of him considering the Rams’ brass is desperate to turn the team around quickly and capture the attention of the Los Angeles market.

Competition in the L.A. Market

It did not take long for the city’s enthusiasm surrounding the Rams’ return to dwindle. The team sold out the Coliseum for their home opener against the Seattle Seahawks, but attendance evaporated by the time the regular season ended.

Los Angeles was crushed by the Arizona Cardinals by the score of 44-6 in their season closing game at home. The attendance was listed in excess of 80,000 that day, but it was evident that that figure was inflated quite a bit.

It has been a big day for NFL news in L.A., as the Chargers officially announced their intentions to relocate to Los Angeles starting next season, as well. The Chargers will play at the StubHub Center for each of the next two years.

Starting in 2019, the Rams and Chargers will share a brand new facility in Inglewood on the west side of the city.