LA Rams HC Sean McVay staff at less risk of COVID-19 impact

The LA Rams youth movement for HC Sean McVay and coordinators has the indirect benefit of the coaching staff at less risk of COVID-19 impact

Getting older can suck. But the alternative, not getting older, can suck even worse when you think about it. It’s an almost certain bet that the LA Rams were not thinking about the age of their coaching staff when they decided to hire on a new defensive coordinator and add an offensive coordinator this offseason.  In fact, the Rams were likely not even contemplating the fact that hiring DC Brandon Staley and OC Kevin O’Connell assembled the first NFL Millenial coaching staff.

But it has opened the team up to questions. Questions over the team being run by one of the youngest coaching staffs in the NFL. Questions over can three young coaches coexist, and for how long?  It even has the almost humorous effect of pondering whether or not Rams rookie defensive coordinator Staley will have stage fright when he calls defensive plays for the first time in the season opener.

COVID-19 and age

That’s all been covered in the past and is water over the dam.  But in 2020, age plays a part of the risks associated with COVID-19.  The older a person, the greater the risk of a severe health impact.  Just as NFL teams run the risk of players contracting the disease during the NFL season, the same risks apply to everyone on the coaching staff as well. The risks of contracting the disease do not change, but the risk of the severity increases with age.

Ultimately, NFL teams may be impacted by coaches contracting COVID-19 this season. When that happens, age can play a huge role in how quickly a head coach, or key coordinator, returns to the job.

Rams have a good succession plan

The LA Rams have a good succession plan in place. Not only do the Rams have a significant number of returning positional coaches from a year ago, but the team also has duplicated many roles and responsibilities among the coaches so that the team is essentially two-deep, even at the head coaching position.

There has never been a season quite like the 2020 NFL season, and likely never will be another.  This is a unique situation, one that has such a sweeping effect that the entire planet has been impacted. While the NFL works tirelessly to address the need to minimize the risks to the health and safety of players and staff, the reality is that these risks cannot be eliminated. Those risks not only describe testing positive for the disease but whether the person afflicted is asymptomatic or suffers from severe symptoms. In the most bizarre of situations, the LA Rams may have stumbled upon the best course through it all.