LA Rams extend ‘Coach’ Whitworth their open door policy

LA Rams now semi-retired offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth may not be on the roster of the LA Rams any longer. But that does not mean that you won’t see him on the Rams’ practice field. In fact, you can almost count on it.

Retiring for some people is a difficult transition to make. Before retirement, life comes at you like a nighttime road trip on the Interstate highway. After retirement, everything about your life slows down like a golf cart trekking up the fairway.

For Whitworth, the past 16 years have revolved around the NFL and training camp. His life, and all of his free time, has been scheduled around the LA Rams, and before that, the Cincinnati Bengals schedule. Now that he has all the time in the world for himself and his family, that pattern of showing up and spending copious amounts of time with his teammates and coaching staff is just a hard habit to break.

Maybe he will master that next season?

Coach Whitworth, at your service

For now, he is showing up, coaching his teammates, and being the best ‘former’ teammate possible.

Will he eventually take on the title of a bona-fife coach? He may already have done so, in an informal anointing by LA Rams head coach Sean McVay:

"“Coach Whitworth, whenever he decides to be, I mean, he’s one of those guys that he’s meant so much to us,” McVay said on June 7. “And so there’s an open door invitation. Whenever he wants to come out and be able to provide some of his expertise and understanding of what allowed him to play at such a high level for such a long period of time, that’s always a bonus for us.” – Sean McVay as quoted by Rams reporter Stu Jackson"

Per reports, Whitworth has attended the May 18 OTA, and Day 1 of the Rams’ minicamp practice this year. While not a fixture for the team’s training camp, Whitworth made his time productive by taking time out to speak with coaches work with younger players, and even catch up with former teammates like Rob Havenstein.

Will Whitworth eventually come onboard the LA Rams coaching staff?

I wouldn’t rule it out. After all, head coach Sean McVay is already referring to him as Coach Whitworth. It seems that all that is left to do to make him an official member of McVay’s staff is nothing more than a formality.