[TomSlick]

Reading between the lines, I find it difficult to think McVay could leave his coaching gig. He just seems born to it. If he needs more work/life balance then he should delegate more to his platoon of offensive coaches, show up to work an hour later, leave an hour earlier. If that schedule works then show up 1.5 hours later in the morning and leave 1.5 hours earlier.

Seems like a family life and coaching are doable. One thing for sure, you'll never be able to get that coaching adrenaline rush from broadcasting.

[69RamFan]

https://theathletic.com/3153286/2022/02 ... ed_article

How Liam Coen found his way back to the Rams and Sean McVay

By Jeff Howe

Liam Coen only had one job in mind.

His ascension in the coaching ranks has been sharp. College and NFL teams had been clamoring to meet with the 36-year-old.

But if Coen was going to leave the University of Kentucky, where he just guided an offensive resurgence, it could only be for the Los Angeles Rams and head coach Sean McVay.

“This would be the only one I would be interested in leaving Kentucky for,” Coen told The Athletic.

And that’s how it happened. Coen originally worked for the Rams from 2018-20 as the assistant wide receivers and quarterbacks coach before he was hired last season as Kentucky’s offensive coordinator.

They reunited last week, as McVay tabbed Coen as his top offensive lieutenant. He replaced former Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell, who just took over as the Vikings head coach.

“I’m really excited about going back and learning,” Coen said. “You don’t just learn from Sean. You learn from every single coach in the building. At any given moment, you can walk into an office and learn something. I’m really excited to go back and learn.”

Coen has always been selective with his coaching opportunities. The Rhode Island native and UMass record-setting quarterback bounced around the New England coaching circuit for seven years before he joined the Rams in 2018, thanks to numerous recommendations from former passing game coordinator Shane Waldron.

During his first stint in Los Angeles, Coen turned down an offer to become Boston College’s offensive coordinator and was a finalist for the same position at Colorado State. And since Kentucky’s season ended, the University of Miami pursued Coen to be its offensive coordinator, but he wasn’t interested in leaving Lexington. He also turned down the Saints’ request for an interview as their offensive coordinator.

That’s because the Rams — and McVay, in particular — were always the goal. Coen expressed interest in returning to McVay after O’Connell and the Vikings came to an agreement in early February. They conducted a two-hour virtual interview last Sunday, and Coen was onboard by Wednesday.

“You’re talking football,” Coen said of the interview. “That’s what is awesome about Sean. It’s not an awkward dialogue of questions and answers. It’s just an open dialogue and conversation about football. It makes you feel very comfortable in those situations. It worked out really well in terms of having some open dialogue about football, about some of the things we did here at Kentucky and the things they were evolving to in L.A. with Matthew (Stafford).”

McVay’s coaching tree has practically sprouted into a forest, but Coen was the first to take McVay’s offense into the college game. It surely worked, as Kentucky averaged 32.3 points per game — 10.5 points higher than 2020 and the third-largest output in school history — doubled its win total (10) from a year earlier and finished the season with a national ranking for just the second time in 37 years.

Coen continued to lean on McVay from across the country. They spoke every week during the season, and Kentucky’s offensive staff broke down the Rams’ film after every game. A number of Kentucky’s players began rooting for the Rams because they studied them so frequently.

“There was a natural dialogue that existed because some of the things we were doing offensively were similar to what they were doing in a lot of ways,” Coen said. “We went through some of the things we were doing and adding, and vice versa. We watched a lot of their film throughout the week. Once the NFL film got into the Kentucky system, we’d watch it, break it down and show our players. There was a natural evolution of me coming here and having to do things a little bit differently in the college game.

“There was definitely a lot of growth, a lot of growth in my personal life over the past year and a lot of growth in terms of my experience, the things I was able to learn from Sean and from the other Rams coaches and players during my time there. I learned so much from Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, Jared Goff, (Andrew) Whitworth, (Tyler) Higbee. I learned so much from them that I was able to take as coaching points and teach the players. There’s natural growth that happens when you’re able to teach it personally, the firsthand experience and see what comes from it.”

Coen’s responsibilities will now shift a bit. He orchestrated the entire offense and called the plays from the sideline at Kentucky, but McVay has been the play-caller since taking over the Rams in 2017. It’s more of a collaborative effort in Los Angeles.

“We see things very similarly in a lot of ways in terms of the game of football and how we believe it should be played, some of those philosophical similarities,” Coen said.

Coen, who shared effusive praise for Kentucky’s program and head coach Mark Stoops, stayed in Lexington to help with the staff’s transition. He’ll move to L.A. in early March to get to work with the Super Bowl champions.

If the Rams continue to have success — their five consecutive winning seasons under McVay are a fair indicator — Coen might be the next McVay assistant to get a head-coaching job. Both of his prior offensive coordinators, Matt LaFleur (Packers) and O’Connell, were hired as head coaches. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was previously McVay’s quarterbacks coach. The track record is real, and they’ve had success with their subsequent teams.

Coen might have left for a year, but he stayed close with McVay and the Rams. He improved as a coach, gained confidence while calling the system and now has the long-coveted opportunity to help McVay run it.

“I truly, truly wanted to go learn again,” Coen said. “I had this year when I was able to put this system to paper and gain this experience. But everybody is going to evolve every year in the National Football League. To be able to go learn and be part of this organization again, that was the biggest thing.”

He should be excited, because he knows in 2023, he'll be getting interviews for a HC job....

[Lancer]

What is Kentucky's graduating class like this year?

[Elvis]

And now it's official.



There was speculation we might go after some of Stanford's O linemen in the draft when Rams hired Carberry so you never really know about these things...

[Elvis]

Brown gonna take over TEs and hire new RB coach:

[actionjack]

Brown gonna take over TEs and hire new RB coach:

Interesting, I wonder if this is McVays way to get Brown more experience in the passing game...

[Elvis]

Interesting, I wonder if this is McVays way to get Brown more experience in the passing game...

Definitely.

On the one hand you hate to see him leave something he's clearly very good at, coaching RBs. On the other, great to see him move up the ladder and hopefully get some opportunities down the road...

[actionjack]

Definitely.

On the one hand you hate to see him leave something he's clearly very good at, coaching RBs. On the other, great to see him move up the ladder and hopefully get some opportunities down the road...

Yep I like the fact that he is in charge of finding the RB coach as well. More responsibility.

[Elvis]

[Elvis]