Rams make Sean McVay the youngest head coach in NFL history

After a seven-year tenure in Washington, former offensive coordinator Sean McVay has received an opportunity to be the youngest head coach in NFL history with the Los Angeles Rams. At 30 years old, McVay’s resume spans both college and professional teams in just under a decade.

He’ll take over a Los Angeles team struggling for relevance after nearly five seasons of head coach Jeff Fisher’s “7-9 bullsh**.” Fisher was fired this fall after the franchise bottomed out at 4-12, leaving McVay an uphill battle on the West Coast. There’s plenty of talent to work with, however. All-Pros Robert Quinn and Aaron Donald anchor an explosive offense, while 2016’s No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff is ready to put a rocky rookie year in his rear view.

He’s expected to bring in a steady hand to run the defensive side of things in Los Angeles.

The first-time head coach has been around football his entire life. His grandfather John earned a spot in the San Francisco 49ers Hall of Fame in 2013 for his 23-year career with the organization. Filling a myriad of roles from vice president to director of football operations, he was responsible for bringing Joe Montana to San Francisco and oversaw five Super Bowl wins for the team.

Now Sean is looking to follow — albeit not laterally — in John’s footsteps. Instead of taking a seat in the front office, the latest McVay is looking to make his mark on the sideline. A former wide receiver for Miami (Ohio), he’s spent seven of his nine years as a coach with Washington and worked his way up from offensive assistant to tight ends coach and finally offensive coordinator.

He was handed the keys to the offense in 2014 and gradually improved the team throughout his post. McVay had some help in terms of talent, but was able to boast a top-10 offense despite burning through three quarterbacks. His work with the signal callers led to a franchise-record 66.5 completion percentage — a short-lived record that was broken just a year later.

With a steady quarterback in 2015, McVay was able to adjust his scheme to fit Kirk Cousins, leading to a record-setting season. Cousins went on to set franchise records for passing attempts (543), completions (379), passing yards (4,166), and 300-yard passing games (seven) in a single season.

Keeping with what he knows best, one of McVay’s most notable products was the emergence of tight end Jordan Reed. Having worked with Reed when he was the tight end coach, McVay coached the young player to rookie records in 2013 and incorporated the position group more heavily when he took over as the OC. In 2015, Reed snagged 87 receptions for 952 yards breaking franchise records by a tight end.

McVay’s penchant for the details is what makes him so liked by his players, and so respected despite his age. Having worked with notable tight ends like Fred Davis and Chris Cooley, he’s developed quite a reputation.

Cooley told The MMQB, “I remember, in the first week that he took over, I was finally being coached intricately on some of the things that go into the tight end position. He taught every tiny nuance.”

When McVay took the reins as tight ends coach in 2011, he was only 24 years old — four years younger than the 28-year-old Chris Cooley. It didn’t matter though, “the dude knew it better than anyone else,” according to Cooley. And this was just three years after getting his first taste of coaching with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.