By now, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay is considered by many as one of the best offensive minds in the NFL. It’s why he’s had a top-10 scoring office in five of his eight years running the team with an 8-5 playoff record and a Super Bowl victory.
While there are plenty of other good offensive play-callers in the NFL, McVay remains one of the elite. The 33rd Team’s Dan Pizzuta ranked McVay as the second-best offensive play-caller heading into the 2025 season, behind only the San Francisco 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan.
“Like Shanahan, McVay has been a master of evolution and change. The Jared Goff offense looks nothing like the Matthew Stafford offense, and even the current Stafford offense doesn’t look like what it did when he was first acquired.
The Los Angeles Rams pivoted from their zone-heavy system to more gap running, which opened up more in the passing game, too. Los Angeles bounced around between the pistol offense that finished 2023, the empty offense that worked through 2021, and a more traditional dropback game.”
It should also be noted that the three of the six play-callers that come after both are branches from either Shanahan or McVay.
McVay’s adaptability has been his calling card. He’s created offenses tailored around two different quarterbacks while adding or subtracting talent around them as needed. His coached around adversity as well, including major injuries to offensive stalwarts like Stafford, Cooper Kupp, Todd Gurley and Puka Nacua. This is a big reason why he constantly makes “under 40 lists,” like this most recent one from The Athletic.
The Rams’ quick turnaround from the Super Bowl into a perennial contending doesn’t happen without McVay. And while it may not be the reason, faith in McVay could be another reason why the Rams are suddenly interested in moving on from Stafford and Kupp.
The 2025 season will be a big one for McVay to keep showing he knows what he’s doing from the sideline.