LA Rams News: ESPN recruited HC Sean McVay for MNF broadcast

LA Rams News: ESPN recruited head coach Sean McVay for Monday Night Football broadcast booth

It seems that ESPN made a determined run at recruiting LA Rams head coach Sean McVay to consider their broadcast team for Monday Night Football. If you recall, McVay joined the Super Bowl LIV pregame show and did a pretty good job in the opinion of many. He provided the color commentary, and he held his own in one of the most important football programs of the year.

I was no doubt that polished experience that lent his name to a shortlist for consideration to broadcast for ESPN, per Andrew Marchand of the New York Post. Per Merchand, McVay was one of the first persons talked to about the opportunity. Per Marchand:

"“SPN executives think McVay could be a standout in the booth, somewhat like Jon Gruden. McVay is just 34, has already been to a Super Bowl and is under contract, but a conversation was had.” – per Andrew Marchand, New York Post reporter"

ESPN finally chose Brian Griese, Steve Levy, and Louis Riddick to man the booth. Of course, once an invitation like this is made, it remains an open-ended offer for many years.

What was McVay looking at?

Well, we know that ESPN had a $140 million offer for analyst Tony Romo before he opted for the $180 million over ten years deal to become join the broadcast booth for CBS Sports. While McVay isn’t “there” yet, he likely could command over $10 million per year for a multi-year deal right up front.

Even with so much money on the table, it’s no surprise that McVay chose to stay with the LA Rams. As a young head coach, he has many years of NFL in him as a head coach. The Rams have truly invested heavily in McVay, The team just surrounded him with his hand-picked coordinators, all of whom subscribe to his style of leading a football team.

Unfinished business

And then there is the matter of unfinished business. After missing the ultimate success of professional football, the LA Rams finished a lackluster 9-7 in 2019.  Still better than expected with so many things going wrong. But a disappointment nonetheless. Now, it’s up to McVay and his coaching staff to get the LA Rams back on track.

The Rams did manage to compensate for so much bad luck by revising their offensive package and retooling their defensive secondary in mid-season.  While the Rams merely need to carry over the 2019 lessons into 2020, other teams are trying to brutally install new personnel and schemes via the crash course which is the 2020 NFL training camp. Even the LA Rams offensive line, the 31st-ranked group in 2019, returns nine starters from last season.

The Rams have a hill to climb this year. But don’t look for the team to lose McVay at the helm.  He’s a fixture for many years to come.  After all, the job isn’t done yet.