Gruden Sheds Light on Cradle of Coaches That Produced McVay

Miami-Ohio has produced McVay family as well as some of most successfull football coaches ever.

Sean McVay poses with current Miami football players in front of his new statue. Los Angeles Rams head football coach Sean McVay became the 10th coach to have a statue in Miami University's prestigious Cradle of Coaches Plaza May 6, 2023. McVay was a former player at Miami and has been coaching in the NFL since 2009. He became the youngest head coach in NFL history to win a Super Bowl (36) when the Rams beat the Bengals in 2022. | James Weber/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Sean McVay will officially leave the land of 30-somethings this January, when he celebrates his 40th birthday. But no matter how long he coaches, his roots will always be in Ohio.

McVay, who will return to the state Aug. 23 when the Rams play their preseason finale at Cleveland, is a native of Dayton and lived in Southern Ohio until age 6. He returned to Ohio after high school to play at Miami, the one known for producing legendary football coaches, not the one known for sunshine and palm trees. In fact, the school located between Dayton and Cincinnati has earned the moniker Cradle of Coaches.

“How about world champion head coach Sean McVay? Miami, Ohio,” said Jon Gruden, another product of Ohio, as he opened a care package sent by current RedHawks head coach Chuck Martin.

“Paul Brown, Weeb Ewbank, Sid Gillman, John Harbaugh, Sean McVay. And then you get into the greatest college football coaches ever. How about Bo Schembechler at Michigan? How about Woody Hayes at Ohio State? How about Ara Parseghian at Notre Dame? I mean, it's unbelievable.”

Have you ever heard of the Cradle of Coaches?! It's found in Oxford, Ohio home to the Miami Redhawks!

This place is special to me for more reasons than I can count, and I LOVE these colors!

Thank you to Coach Martin and @MiamiOHFootball looking forward to your season! pic.twitter.com/Ud36biJqn6

— Jon Gruden (@BarstoolGruden) June 27, 2025

A wide receiver from 2005-07, McVay began his college playing career began soon after the Steelers drafted Miami quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. After 39 career receptions over three years, he graduated and immediately jumped into NFL coaching.

Hired by another coach from the state of Ohio, Gruden, McVay was an assistant wide receivers coach for the Buccaneers in 2008. Gruden was well aware of McVay’s coaching genes.

“And then when you think about the world champion San Francisco 49er dynasty,” Gruden said, “Montana, Rice, Roger Craig, John McVay was the general manager. Hell, his grandson is Sean McVay. All these McVays.”

All those McVays began with the patriarch, John, who also played at Miami as a lineman from 1950-52. Gruden, who played for the Dayton Flyers, became familiar with McVay’s legacy in college. The elder McVay was Dayton head coach from 1965-72.

Tim McVay, John’s son and Sean’s dad, graduated from Dayton’s Alter High School and played at Indiana in college. Two years ago, the family returned to Dayton to honor their late father, in a celebration of his life.

Sean McVay, who couldn’t attend, made sure everyone knew how much his last name meant to him in a video message at the event. But the school to the west, in Oxford, was the one that has provided a fertile foundation for so many successful football coaches.

And now that he’s almost 40, Sean McVay has his own coaching tree. It all started at Miami.

“This is where so many great football coaches have gone,” Gruden added. “Right now, head coach Chuck Martin, doing a hell of a job. He's been there since 2014 in the Mid-American Conference. There's a lot of great coaches that have come through here. You won't even believe they all came from Oxford, Ohio.

“I love this place. This is a special place.”

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