The Inside Look At Sean McVay's Factory of Coaches

"You will never find an enemy on our sideline." That is the message of Sean McVay and it's impact knows no limit.

The Los Angeles Rams have had to watch the NFL pluck their coaches since the conclusion of Sean McVay's inaugural 2017 season. That reality faces the Rams in week one when the Houston Texans debut their new offense under first-year OC Nick Caley. Caley was the Rams' tight ends coach from 2023-2024. Caley also brought offensive assistant Jerry Schuplinski with him from Los Angeles to Houston.

"We have guys that are a lot of different places every single year that presents challenges." stated McVay on Monday when I asked him about game planning against a team with coaches who were in the building last season.

At this point, it's a foregone conclusion that an opponent probably has a coach in a position of significant influence who once coached under McVay. In nine years, McVay has watched six different assistants become head coaches and even more become coordinators. So how does he keep producing those coaches?

Messaging and opportunities.

Mike LaFleur

McVay has a close relationship with the LaFleurs having employed both Matt and Mike LaFleur as his offensive coordinators. Mike LaFleur, who got unfairly beaten up by the New York media during his time with the Jets, was hired by McVay to be his second-in-command for his offense despite having never worked with McVay before.

We really appreciate how much trust he has in all of us," stated LaFleur during training camp.

"It’s not just us coordinators, it's all the staff, and really the players and the organization. There’s a reason this place has been what it's been for nine years now. It starts with his leadership and ownership and [General Manager] Les [Snead], and [Vice President] Tony [Pastoors], and [President] [Kevin] Demoff. It's such a collaborative group. I feel very fortunate that he has that trust in us. It starts with his leadership, and it's been great.”

That's the messaging. McVay has continually given LaFleur play-calling opportunities throughout his three seasons in Los Angeles, preparing him to assist the Rams today and then having him ready to take a career leap whenever he receives his call.

Chris Shula

Shula was McVay's first internal hire for defensive coordinator and things did not look good early in 2024. McVay and Shula had a candid conversation, which led to Shula guiding his ship into an era of dominance to close out the season.

“It allows me to be myself. We had a big talk," stated Shula.

Jul 31, 2024; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula speaks to the media after training camp at Loyola Marymount University. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

"We were struggling going into the bye [week] last year and it was like, ‘Just be yourself. What'd you do at John Carroll [University]?’ When I was Defensive Coordinator my first year at John Carroll. ‘What exactly would you do?’ That resonated with me. I know he’s got my back. He's always believed in me. That’s a big feeling when you feel safety like that as a coach, when you're not out walking on eggshells if you make a call or do this defense or you make a mistake, it allows you to be a lot freer, and we want our players to play like that too.”

Now Shula is rising as one of the NFL's premier head coaching candidates.

Aubrey Pleasant

The Rams assistant head coach took the head coaching reins against the Chargers in preseason. I spoke to Pleasant and he made it clear, he welcomes what's next but he's happy where he is.

"I think it's just continue to grow daily," stated Pleasant. "I mean, Coach McVay has done a phenomenal job throughout these last year and a half of everything that he's been able to give me that I felt like I've been able to excel on, he finds a sneaky way to be able to give me more. These last couple days, I've been able to be with Coach McVay and Les Snead during the cut process. "That's an unbelievable experience that you can only imagine."

Jun 3, 2025; Woodland Hills, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams assistant head coach Aubrey Pleasant during organized team activities at Rams Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

"This place gave me my first opportunity to be a position coach, gave me my first opportunity to go out there and be a head coach and I just want to continue to just blossom where my feet are planted and let things kind of go where they need to be but I'm very, very happy, and I'm very loyal to this organization."

Liam Coen

Even Liam Coen, who was McVay's offensive coordinator during McVay's worst season as a head coach stated that he talks to his former boss and knows he can rely upon him now that he's a head coach for perspective.

Conference foes, the 2022 season, similar schemes and yet, they can isolate those things as simply things that do not impact the personal relationships between people.

The factory continues.

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