Correspondent in New York
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Sean McVay, the coach of the Los Angeles Rams, must have had ghosts in the second half of the Super Bowl played this Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. On the same stage three years ago, he found himself pummeled by Bill Belichickthe boss of the New England Patriots -then with Tom Brady as ‘quarterback’-, something like his antithesis.
Belichick was 66 years old, twice as old as McVay. He is a grumpy coach, looking like a sullen gas station attendant. And a genius at setting up his defenses. McVay was the NFL’s hip, revolutionary head coach with open-pit attacks. Smiling, complicit with his players, addicted to the gym, with perfect teeth and slicked-back hair.
The Patriots prevailed in that 2019 Super Bowl relentlessly: the Rams, the great offensive team, only managed three points. “He has surpassed me,” McVay acknowledged of Belichick.
This Sunday, in the early stages of the second half of the Super Bowl, history was about to repeat itself. After leading at halftime (13-10), the Bengals turned it around in the blink of an eye to move up 13-20. McVay and the Rams were unable to unclog their offense after their busiest receiver that night, Odell Beckham Jr., will be injured. In the final stretch, with just two minutes to respond with another comeback, McVay was able to change the script, put aside a running strategy that had not worked, put more rhythm into the game and allow his ‘quarterback’, Matthew Stafford , and his star catcher, Cooper Kupp, got a touchdown. The Rams won the second Super Bowl in their history.
The victory set a new record for precociousness for McVay, who at 36 became the youngest coach to win the Super Bowl. Beyond the record, the victory of the Rams supposes the vindication of a paradigm shift in the football league American. His irruption caused a rejuvenation of the coaching position in the NFL. It is the so-called ‘McVay effect’.
McVay became head coach of the Rams in 2017. He was still 30 years old, an age when coaches aspire to be little more than assistants or job-specific coaches. The Rams, who had just moved to Los Angeles (the franchise was in St. Louis for years), were betting on a kid in a world dominated by oldies entered in kilos.
In his first year he surprised by an offensive and imaginative game, and was named coach of the year. He made it to the Super Bowl in his second season. (the one he lost to Belichick) and now he has just been crowned. His success prompted many teams to hire young coaches. Many of them have been under his command: Brandon Staley (Los Angeles Chargers), Matt LaFleur (Green Bay Packers) and his rival this Sunday, Zack Taylor (Bengals), have been his assistants. His current offensive coordinator, Kevin O’Connel, sounds to lead the Minnesota Vikings. McVay is the youngest to win the NFL, but he is already considered a teacher.
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