Sean McVay becoming the first 30-year-old ever hired to coach an NFL team will come with the expected responsibility of calling plays. The new Rams coach will take on that task presumably since he made himself an attractive candidate by doing so in Washington.
“There is not a chance I would let anyone call the plays, at least at first,” McVay told Peter King of TheMMQB.com. “It’s something I really want to do and feel comfortable doing.”
King described the Redskins’ setup as McVay calling the plays but Jay Gruden having final say over the game plan. In Los Angeles, McVay will take on both responsibilities for an offense coming off a season during which it averaged just 262.7 yards per game — more than 40 fewer than every other team. The McVay-led Washington attack finished third at 403.4 per game.
Here’s more from the NFC coaching circuit.
- The Vikings hired UCLA offensive coordinator Kennedy Polamalu as their running backs coach, Alex Marvez of the Sporting News tweets. The 53-year-old uncle of Troy Polamalu, Kennedy served as OC for both USC and UCLA during this decade but previously worked as an NFL running backs instructor. He coached the Browns’ and Jaguars’ backs from 2004-09. Minnesota also interviewed running backs coaches Marcel Shipp and Skip Peete for this position, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). Caplan adds previous Vikings RBs coach Kevin Stefanski will likely transition to another coaching position with the team next season. A Vikings coach since 2006, Stefanski served as the team’s tight ends coach during the 2013 and ’14 seasons.
- Former Rams wide receivers coach Mike Groh is expected to interview with the Eagles to coach their wideouts, Tim McManus of ESPN.com reports. The 45-year-old Groh also served as Los Angeles’ passing-game coordinator. The son of former Jets coach Al Groh, Mike Groh spent the previous three seasons instructing the Bears’ wide receivers.
- Former 49ers special teams coach Derius Swinton is expected to log another interview this week, doing so with the Saints. After meeting with the Broncos, Swinton will likely meet with the Saints this week, Nick Underhill of The Advocate reports. Just 31, Swinton served as an assistant special teams coach for the Rams, Chiefs, Broncos and Bears from 2009-15 prior to taking over San Francisco’s specialty units.