RAMS MUST LAND BLOW FOR YOUTH
v SEAN McVAY is so young that he was born just two days before William ‘The Refrigerator’ Perry won the Super Bowl.
So young that he was only four days old when the world watched in horror as the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on take-off in Florida.
So young that as head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, it is his job tonight to out-think an opposition whose best player is eight years older than him.
So young that his opposite number on the Patriots sideline, Bill Belichick (below), is exactly twice his age.
Sean McVay, 33, is the new sensation of American football, a new Belichick in the making – and even young enough perhaps to one day break the records still being set by the Patriots’ chief.
As he prepared to do battle tonight here in Mercedes Benz Stadium at Super Bowl LIII, in his rapid-fire delivery McVay revealed the awe in which he holds arguably the greatest coach of all time.
McVay said: “When you hear him speak, the wealth of knowledge and experience that he’s pulling from is incredible. “His players believe in him. He has invested in building an authentic rapport and caring about the guys, and those are the same qualities that you would like to be described as having.
“But I am not even close to being mentioned in the same breath as coach Belichick and what he has done.”
What Belichick has done, of course, is lead the Patriots to a ninth Super Bowl in the 19 seasons since he became head coach in January 2000. They have won five of the previous eight.
McVay added: “A lot of times I’ve heard the phrase ‘more games are lost than they are won’ in the NFL but you never see the Patriots beat themselves.
“They handle situations. That consistent belief and expectation that ‘we’re going to find a way’ is a really powerful thing.
Belichick said: “Now it’s a one-game season. There’s nothing left to save it for. There’s only 150-160 plays left. We need for all of those to be our best.”
BILL BELICHICK
SEAN McVAY
66 Age 33 Nashville, Tenns Born Dayton, Ohio 5 Super Bowl wins 0
3 NFL Coach of Year 1
291 Wins (as coach) 26
134 Defeats (as coach) 9
68.5 Win % 74.3