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Never have we lived in a time with such incredible access to professional athletes and coaches. So much so that the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams has his own podcast and is sharing stories and philosophies with other coaches around the league, and we’re lucky enough to get to listen in on most of it.
The “Flying Coach” podcast is one that rotates around different voices, I’m pretty sure, but season two is heavily featuring Sean McVay with NFL Network’s Peter Schrager. Recently, McVay spoke with two other head coaches in the NFL, one of whom is among his best friends and was the Rams’ offensive coordinator in 2017, while the other is the new leader of the New York Jets.
In this episode, you can hear McVay talk to Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and Jets head coach Robert Saleh for over an hour. They discuss some of their worst decisions as playcallers, as well as their own personal philosophies on how to get the most out of their players and staff. I find it to be a must-listen for every fan who just wants to dissect how these guys got to where they are today.
At one point, McVay mentions that during his first-ever team meeting as head coach of the Rams, a “confident player in the secondary” stood out and impacted how he’d approach the rest of those meetings. I wonder: Who do you think that confident player was? The veteran defensive backs on the roster at the time included Trumaine Johnson, Lamarcus Joyner, E.J. Gaines, Maurice Alexander, Nickell Robey-Coleman, Troy Hill, Kayvon Webster, and Mark Barron, though he was moving in with the linebackers at the time.
Who do you think the confident defensive back was? What did you find to be the most interesting revelation in this episode?