Exclusive Look at the Teacher and the Ultimate Student Cooper Kupp

WOODLAND HILLS, Ca. A little over nine years ago, both Eric Yarber and Cooper Kupp would find their way to the Los Angeles Rams. The year was 2017 and the Rams would make one of the boldest moves in football history, hiring Washington's offensive guru Sean McVay to be the franchise's next head coach.

McVay, then 30 years old, was little more than an NFL nepo-grandbaby who put together solid offenses in the nation's capital. One year later, McVay was the AP NFL Coach of the Year who was about to embark on his first NFC Championship.

In 2018, McVay's first NFC-winning season, the Rams' offense was flying. Sammy Watkins was out, and Brandin Cooks was in. Robert Woods was at home, now back in sunny Southern California, and this little-known third-round draft pick named Cooper Kupp was helping McVay reinvent offensive football.

The Secret to the Sauce

McVay's early offense relied upon his wide receivers to win their one on one matchups. His scheme was designed to use similar formations to create natural advantages based on how a defense responded to whatever personnel package he sent out on the field. Typically, it was 11 personnel or three wide receivers, one tight end, one running back.

Jan 13, 2025; Glendale, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) practices before the NFC wild card game against the Minnesota Vikings at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

The personnel created immediate mismatches in the slot due to the NFL not developing both the scheme and the hybrid types of players needed to defend McVay-type receivers like Kupp. To be a receiver in the Rams' offense, one must be able to not only win in the pass game but also win as a run blocker. It is the only way to successfully mirror run and pass.

To develop these specialized exterior weapons, McVay looked to the city he was moving to and hired UCLA's wide receivers coach Eric Yarber. Yarber, a longtime wide receiver developer who has crafted playmakers such as Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, was tasked with bringing McVay's vision to life in Los Angeles.

Good thing Yarber has his eyes on Kupp for years. In an exclusive interview with Rams On SI, Yarber spoke on his relationship with Kupp as Kupp is set to return to SoFi Stadium this week. Now a member of the Seattle Seahawks, Kupp is rounding out his career in the state it began in.

As a collegiate player, Kupp stayed in his home state, playing for FCS program Eastern Washington. Eastern Washington, a member of the Big Sky conference, shares their affiliation with Yarber's alma mater, Idaho.

Both men were similar in so many ways. FCS brethren, both were undervalued in their draft process, both men have a coach's mindset, and on the field, both men dominated. Yarber was named the Big Sky's MVP for the 1985 season, while Kupp was Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016.

In fact, Yarber was looking to recruit Kupp to UCLA.

"I remember seeing Cooper on film at UCLA and I told my receivers at UCLA that if this dude came available, somebody would lose their spot," stated Yarber. "Because we heard that he might have been trying to transfer, thinking about transferring. I said, transfer, somebody's gonna lose their spot. So I kind of knew about him in college."

And thus, when Kupp ran a 4.62 40 at the NFL Combine, Yarber stated the Rams were elated because the entire NFL, outside of Steve Smith Jr, had overlooked the talent Kupp had.

"I remember everybody was applauding in the Rams facility because we knew that other teams in the league wouldn't value that," Yarber stated on Kupp's 40 time. "We knew he was a better football player than his 40 indicated. we knew that he was faster than he looked, he was quicker than he looked, and he was stronger than he looked, and we just knew he was a heck of a football player, and then we would have a chance to get him."

The Rams did get him. With the 69th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams would select the man who would pen the next five years of the organization. They had their man, but for Yarber, the work had only begun.

The Foundation

However, talent doesn't accomplish greatness without hard work and for Yarber, he knew Kupp's talent as a pass catcher but in order to refine him into becoming the quintessential Rams wide receiver, it was time to reveal the harsh truth of the NFL.

Yarber stated he and Kupp know each other like the back of their hands, and for a no-nonsense guy like Yarber, he said to Kupp what he says to all his players. In the NFL, the cavalry is coming.

Yarber shared a story where he called out Kupp for hesitating on a blocking assignment. Knowing the necessity of run blocking in order to set up the passing attack, Yarber approached a young Kupp in the way he would want to be coached, and the results proved instantly.

"One time where, I think it was the Minnesota Vikings we were playing, and Cooper went in to block the safety, and he hesitated and the safety knocked him back, and I put the laser on Cooper, I said, 'Cooper, don't put this on film.' I said, 'go in there and get your nose bloody, all right, because if you put this on film, it's going to get it every week.' So the following week had the same opportunity. He goes in there, bam, and hits the safety and then next time he went to hit the safety flinched," stated Yarber. "Didn't go as hard."

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) throws a touchdown pass to tight end Davis Allen (87) while being hit by Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith (22) during their playoff game at State Farm Stadium on Jan. 13, 2025, in Glendale. | Joseph Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In Kupp's defense, the safety was Harrison "Hitman" Smith. Regardless of who the safety was after that, Kupp maintained the standards in the receiver room, emphasizing his work as a blocker, often suggesting ways to make himself more useful in that area.

It was that dynamic of honest conversation between men who wanted the best for the overall unit that powered the Rams to new heights offensively. However, a return to the Super Bowl continued to elude Sean McVay after losing in his first attempt, an attempt Kupp missed due to injury.

In what was the first iteration of what would become a revolving series of Matthew Stafford randomly running into football decision makers in vacation spots catered to the uber wealthy, an earnest conversation held between Stafford and McVay under the Mexican sunset set up Stafford's eventual move to LA, giving McVay the quarterback he needed to make the surgical throw in the clutch moments.

Nov 9, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay talks with Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) during the fourth quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

After a McVay-laced tequila-fueled rant led to the NFL's most defining trade of the decade, it was go time and for Yarber and Kupp, this would be the defining year for the teacher and his apprentice. Kupp was Yarber's crown jewel. The 2021 NFL Offensive Player of the Year and Triple Crown winner helped Stafford change the entire narrative on his career and guided McVay and company back to the big game, catching the game-winning pass in the Divisional Round against Tampa Bay and in the NFC Championship Game against San Francisco.

And thus, in what was his greatest moment as a Ram, it was Yarber he trusted to make the ultimate request. Kupp optimizes the behavior of a Rams wide receiver. Selfless, tactical, efficient. The concept is simple in theory: get the ball to where the defenders aren't, and Kupp was the king at finding that vacancy.

Super Bowl LVI

However, in Super Bowl LVI, with the Rams needing 79 yards to take a late fourth quarter lead, Kupp called game on his terms.

For the first time in his entire career, Kupp went to Yarber and said the words that would change the franchise forever.

"Get me the ball, I'll win it," Kupp stated to Yarber.

Yarber spoke on that memory.

"Cooper, in the whole time that we were together, in the five years together, he had never, ever asked for the football," Yarber reflected. "But on that last drive, he said, 'Yarbs, have coach get me the football,' he said, 'get me the football. I'll win it.' That was the first time he ever asked for the football, and he did what he said. He went in and he made every catch that drive and we won.

On the Rams' final offensive drive (outside of kneeling out the contest), the Rams went 15 plays downfield with McVay dialing up play after play for Kupp. Kupp answered the call as on eight targets, he recorded five catches for 46 yards and the game-winning score on his way to winning Super Bowl MVP.

On top of the catches, on the three other targets, Kupp induced penalties against Logan Wilson, Eli Apple, and Von Bell, with Bell's massive hit leaving Kupp on the ground for a moment before Kupp scored the winner three plays later.

Kupp's defining dominance occurred because he had the trust and the love in his position coach to ask for something he went out of his way to never do. He had the confidence in himself and his abilities to win the game. That's the magic of Yarber's program. He gets players to do what they need to do, even if they have to go about it in ways not typical of their behavior.

It's a code, a conscious commitment to be great in order to be a part of something greater than themselves, and for the Rams today, their work has Kupp's lasting fingerprints all over it.

"He set a standard in that receiver room that we model ourselves after right now, how you play for each other, how you're unselfish, you don't care how many balls you catch, but you're trying to help your teammate be a better person and better football player, and if you make your teammates dreams come true, yours will come true and he epitomized that," regarded Yarber on Kupp's lasting impact.

Truth is in action and truth is evident within the Rams facility. There are countless stories from this season alone of the receivers preaching unselfishness. Puka Nacua surrendered the first place in the receiver line for pass-catching reps in order to watch Davante Adams' work. Adams' teaching Nacua and subsequently, the room different approaches to releases.

Nacua himself has taken a larger role in the room, becoming the teacher that Kupp once was. Nacua often credits Kupp for the success in his career, especially in his record-breaking rookie campaign.

Nov 9, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (12) and Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams (17) celebrate after a touchdown during the first quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

It is in that spirit that Adams and Konata Mumpfield have formed a close bond with Adams essentially calling him his heir.

It is in that unselfishness that the Rams have been able to not just develop perfect players for the Rams' offensive system but top players who are good people.

McVay himself stated that the culture of the Rams is built on the quality of people they bring in and for Yarber, it is in that spirit that he trains up the next group of award-winning playmakers and when the clock hits zero on Sunday, for one brief moment, Yarber will get to show love to his finest product yet.

"I know Cooper probably won't speak to me very much," joked Yarber. "He's gonna have that eye of the tiger, but after the game, come up to him and tell him what I always tell him before the game when we were together, play fast, physical, and aggressive, make and finish plays. I love you Cooper, and go embrace and I'll leave."

Both men shall go their separate ways and as Yarber turns to the future, Kupp shall walk off the field, where he was once celebrated as a hero. With a plane to catch and another opponent on the horizon, the teacher and the Rams' greatest student shall depart until five weeks later, when the Rams travel up to Seattle.

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