Sean McVay talks about Senior Management Consultant Jedd Fisch

As we all know, the Super bowl is a media whirlwind in which coaches and players are asked questions about literally anything and everything.

Just recently, Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Sean McVay was asked about one of the coaches on his staff, Jedd Fisch. Fisch was hired in the offseason as a Senior Management Consultant, and as it was relatively unclear about what Fisch does on staff, McVay made light of his contributions:

At one point during his first season as a head coach in 2017, McVay called a self-inflicted clock management gaffe against Arizona “inexcusable.”

So McVay created a game management position — which he calls a “senior management consultant” — in Los Angeles last offseason, hiring former UCLA coordinator Jedd Fisch for the role. Fisch specializes in clock management during games

Looking back, it’s turned out to be a very wise decision because the difference in timeout usage (and even the use of the challenge flag) has been drastic. Although things were generally spectacular in McVay’s rookie year as a head coach in 2017, his timeout usage was not. Though, like the great leader he’s been referred to as, he knew his boundaries and limits, so he created a spot for a guy to come in and help:

“It was really a way of being so heavily involved in offense, streamlining a process for whether you’re challenging something, what do you do, when do you use those time outs,” he said. “And handling some of the situations that come up at the end of the half, at the end of the game. Specifically in those two-minute (scenarios) is when you really need to rely on somebody.

“I’m not smart enough to be able to process all of that. So to be able to have somebody to lean on has been great. Jedd has done an outstanding job, and that certainly isn’t exclusive to just that.”

McVay then added, laughing, “The time out usage, if somebody wants to follow up on that — that’s on me, not Jedd.”

Now it’s known why the timeout and challenge usage has been more effective in 2018 than it was in 2017, and it’s likely because McVay can confide in Fisch to do it accurately while focusing on his own responsibilities. Regardless, it’s incredible that an NFL head coach can actually get up on the stand and preclude that he’s “not smart enough” and subsequently take the wrap for the “bad timeout calls” when it was made clear that he isn’t responsible for timeout usage.

Sean McVay continues to be one of a kind, so good luck to any NFL teams hunting for their McVay.