McVay 'Magic': Ex-Assistant Jedd Fisch Details Rams Coach's Best Trait
Head coach Sean McVay was in his second season during the Los Angeles Rams' Super Bowl appearance in 2018.
McVay was detailing the blueprint for the rest of the NFL as to what the modern-day NFL offense now looks like, driven by analytics and creativity starting with the quarterback position. For all the genius that led Los Angeles to its first Super Bowl appearance since "The Greatest Show On Turf," former Rams assistant offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch said that wasn't McVay's greatest quality.
"He's a great play-caller. He's got a great football mind, but what his magic is, how hard people want to work for him and how hard players want to play for him," Fisch said on "The Season with Peter Schrager" Thursday. "Unfortunately, I think that's the missing link a little bit when people talk about Sean. It's the other part that makes him elite. When I was working for him, that's how I felt."
Fisch had been the interim head coach at UCLA after Jim Mora was fired in 2017 when McVay called. When Chip Kelly arrived in 2018, he ran his own offense which eliminated the need for Fisch's services, despite having one year left on his contract with the Bruins.
The now-Arizona Wildcats head coach said he "took a risk" and turned down "great opportunities" so he didn't have to move his family across the country from their Manhattan Beach, California, home. That contributed to why he was so grateful when he and McVay connected and the then-second-year Rams head coach agreed to bring him aboard.
Fisch said he drove 53 miles from his home to the Rams' facility in Thousand Oaks, California, with one thing on his mind.
"I'm driving in every single day scared to death about letting Sean down," Fisch said. "For two years I was like, all I want to do is make sure at the end of the day Sean goes over and goes, 'Yeah, Jedd did a good job today.' That's the magic of Sean."
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