Today, Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay is widely seen as one of the NFL's best.
It's not hard to see why that's the case with the resume McVay has built up. In six seasons as the Rams' coach, McVay has led the team to four playoff appearances, two NFC titles and a Super Bowl LVI championship. He has done all this and more in just his 30s, and his impact on the league is still being felt.
When the Rams hired McVay, though, many doubted the move. After all, McVay was just 30 years old at the time, making him the youngest coach in the Super Bowl era. As such, many had their concerns with the hire, including legendary Rams running back Marshall Faulk.
In a recent appearance on The Athletic's "The Playcallers" podcast, Rams COO Kevin Demoff told the tale of the team's first meetings with McVay. He recalled Faulk's harsh words for the Rams' brass, criticizing the team for even considering such a young candidate.
“Marshall was the perfect person because he was explaining to me why we had needed a veteran offensive mind to be the head coach,” Demoff said. “And he was happy to go to dinner with this 30-year-old, but he thought that was stupid, and that we were stupid."
However, Faulk's doubts didn't last long. By the end of the meeting, Faulk changed his tune dramatically, telling the Rams they can't afford to lose McVay.
“At dinner, the two of them got going and they hit it off immediately. They’re talking the whole time. I remember walking out and Marshall told Stan [Kroenke, Rams owner], he goes, ‘You let that guy leave tomorrow, you’ve made a huge mistake. That’s your guy.’”
In hindsight, Faulk's concerns were heavily overblown. Not only has McVay reached every expectation Rams fans had of him, but shattered them. At the time, though, Faulk was far from the only one who had doubts over the young coach.
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