LA Rams: HC Sean McVay reconnects with former QB Jared Goff

It doesn’t seem like all that long ago when former LA Rams QB Jared Goff was the toast of the town. As the first overall pick of the LA Rams, Goff was seen as something of a savior. After all, the Rams had not had such an opportunity to immediately improve at the quarterback position since legendary quarterback Kurt Warner was calling signals and competing for a Super Bowl some 20 years prior.

Goff had the misfortune of beginning his career with former head coach Jeff Fisher. Fisher helped guide the team west from the city of St. Louis, Missouri to their current location of Los Angeles, California. Once here, and with the first selection of the 2016 NFL Draft in the Rams pocket, the quarterback with deep California ties seemed a logical pick to usher in a new era of Rams football in LA. The LA Rams were re-born, and the new chapter would be written by a young quarterback named Jared Goff.

Enter head coach Sean McVay, who in 2017 would become the youngest head coach in modern NFL history. McVay would take the reins of what had become an also-ran kind of team few noticed. At 30 years of age, he would be charged with turning around the Rams.

Rookie quarterback Jared Goff meanwhile had a rough go of it as he began his professional football career, going 0-7 after relieving veteran quarterback Case Keenum. It was made even tougher by the lack of innovation of Fisher and an offensive staff who lacked any vision for what was believed to be the future of the LA Rams.

McVay makes things happen

Under McVay, things would turn around quickly. In his first season as head coach of the Rams, the team would finish 11-5, and lose a Wild Card Game against the Atlanta Falcons. In 2018, he guided the team to a 13-3 record, three playoff victories, only to be denied a Cinderella Super Bowl victory by the New England Patriots, and their amazing defensive display.

That defense soon became the bane of Goff, who struggled to read defenses. The Rams offense tried to repattern itself to suit Goff’s strengths, but by the end of 2020, the patient and frequently buoyant McVay was visibly annoyed, and declared that the 2021 NFL season would be marked with competition at all positions, even the starting quarterback role.

It never came to that, as Goff was quickly traded in the off-seasonto the NFL equivalent of purgatory. The LA Rams would trade the former top pick to the Detroit Lions for veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford. As a result, in his first season with the LA Rams in 2021, McVay and Stafford would lead LA to a Super Bowl win, beating the up-and-coming Cincinnati Bengals 23-20.

McVay is quick to admit he didn’t “handle the trade properly”. On the Mike Silver Podcast, the Super Bowl winning coach spoke about a text message he received from Goff after the game.

That message after the fact finally got a chance to be said.

"“The further we get away, the more appreciation we’ll have for the great four years we did have together because it was a lot of really good times”."

Both Jared Goff and Sean McVay have a relationship that has come full-circle. Whatever hard feelings that once existed are in the past. Which is where they belong, as both focus on the future. It’s the NFL: Not For Long, for a reason.