Looks like LA Rams HC Sean McVay is in it for the long haul

For the past two seasons, the LA Rams and the fans of the team have been held at emotional ransom over the 'Will he or won't he retire?" saga of head coach Sean McVay. That has hit many fans at the very core of their support of the team that they love. How can fans commit to an NFL team, and save up precious currency for tickets and team merchandise, if the head coach does an annual dance while he makes up his mind whether or not he wants to coach the team for another season?

The truth is that while fans continue to support the team, Rams head coach Sean McVay 'gets it,' and his hesitation to return for the 2023 NFL was less about burnout and more about the need to take the foot off the accelerator and become a far more patient and strategic head coach.

Sometimes you can only go so far on a tank of gas. The LA Rams have been running the race to become the best in the NFL for five seasons, from 2017 through 2021. Over that time, the team has relied upon a masterful blend of elite veterans and talented youth. Not just to make plays on the football field, but to balance the ever-so delicate finances that the NFL payroll has become.

Rams are making a long overdue pitstop

In a recent Tweet from The Athletic's LA Rams correspondent, Jourdan Rodrigue, she quotes McVay when he discussed that aspect of his commitment to the LA Rams football team:

"You want to make sure you’re making a decision … for years to come. I’m committed to not having this become ‘a story’ every year. I don’t take that lightly.” - per Rams HC Sean McVay as quoted by The Athletic's Jourdan Rodrigue.

Initially, McVay's dilemma over whether to return to coach the Rams felt very much tied to the disaster that was the 2022 NFL season. And even now, it still feels like it is to an extent. But as the LA Rams strategy unfolds, we see that McVay's hesitation was not just about 2022. He had to agree to the terms of the Rams' strategy for the 2023 NFL season and beyond.

After all, this was the guy who arrived in 2017, and instantly converted the LA Rams into an 11-5 NFL Playoff team. He led the LA Rams to the Super Bowl in 2018. The LA Rams fast acting and arguably impulsive head coach was denied a SB win, so the team released the starting RB, traded one of the team's starting WRs, and the following season traded away the starting quarterback.