2020 will define LA Rams head coach Sean McVay’s NFL legacy

What will LA Rams HC McVay’s legacy be? 2020 will define his place in the NFL

Was it the quality of LA Rams newly hired head coach Sean McVay which propelled the LA Rams into the Super Bowl in such a short time? Did he simply reach those heights thanks to the foundation left to him by former head coach Jeff Fisher?  Or was it simply the committee approach, all thanks to surrounding himself with an elite supporting cast of coordinators, coaches, and personnel professionals?

That is no longer the case for these Rams.  The cumulative effect upon the coaching staff is a group far different than the cast assembled for McVay in 2017.  The roster has changed significantly as well. So what is left?  Head coach Sean McVay and his indomitable will to succeed.  Is that enough?

Flocking together

If this was simply a matter of one guy taking on the likes of the NFL at large, this story would be over with the first sentence. But let’s examine what is really happening to the Rams this year. The reports about the Rams moving on from running back Todd Gurley surfaced in January 2020.  But those reports had far more information than a farewell to a consistent performer in the offensive backfield. That report laid the groundwork for the team, building around quarterback Jared Goff on offense, and around Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey.

To do this, the Rams youthful head coach needed help. Coordinators of a like-mind, whose willingness to dissect everything and rebuild it better than ever, soon arrived and began to get to work. This was not about designing the perfect system and then finding the elite talent to make it all work. This is about creating a system with enough flexibility to work with a broad range of talents.

More from Rams News

• Look for 49ers players to follow DeMeco Ryans to Texans
• Broncos mimic LA Rams, go All-In pairing Payton with Russell
• Championship Sunday shows me Rams need secondary help
• Can the LA Rams count on 17 games from QB Matthew Stafford?
• NFL salary cap skyrockets, but will it help LA Rams this offseason?

Belichick legacy, a sequel?

Any discussion about the modern NFL and legacies will automatically invite Bill Belichick into the story. Has Rams’ head coach Sean McVay earned that comparison yet? Not at all. But how could he as he enters just his fourth season as head coach of the LA Rams? Still, that’s the standard by which all legacies are measured in today’s NFL. And it is after analyzing the career of Bill Belichick that we can conclude that 2020 is the first litmus test for Sean McVay.

This season, the Rams must change how they win.  Who they have on the roster to win with has already changed.  Now the Rams face their first test. Have the Rams built success upon the talent once with the team, or did those players find success thanks to the help of the coaches and scheme?

Scheme over talent

The NFL has made it virtually impossible for talent alone to win consistently, let alone win the Super Bowl. As soon as a team finds success, veteran players want to be paid more. That means teams must surrender key players to other teams with more money to spend. Likewise, teams find themselves last in line when selecting new talent from the NFL Draft. That combination forces good teams to adjust their coaching styles regularly to optimize the talent on their current roster.

That is why the Rams changed coordinators. The talent on the team had matured. Players wanted to be paid, and the Rams simply ran out of dollars long before the shopping list ran out of players to spend money on.  Now the Rams must convert to a team whose very scheme creates NFL stars. Highly-paid veterans reward NFL teams with compensatory picks.  So now the Rams have transformed from a consumer of NFL talent to a producer of elite talent. That means the team must seek undervalued talent playing in the NFL and emerging from college and convert that talent into NFL production on the field.

2020 and beyond

The key to this transformation is 2020. If the LA Rams can return to the NFL playoffs in 2020, that will reframe their success into something beyond talented players. The narrative will change to that of McVay/Goff and Donald/Ramsey as key figures to the LA Rams’ success. But the expectations will remain. Legacies are defined by the ultimate NFL success, not by getting close.

McVay must now emerge from the shadow of Belichick, just as Belichick had to emerge from the shadow of Don Shula. That means he must have a keen eye, not only to player talent but to coaching talent as well. It means that the LA Rams must persevere during difficult times. Injuries must be overcome by innovations, underdog status must be overcome by motivation, superior talent must be over by superior preparation. Sean McVay must prove whether he has what it takes to remain relevant in the NFL, or simply remain a chapter in the history of the LA Rams.