Los Angeles Rams Insider Podcast: Sean McVay on Matthew Stafford

In today's episode of the Los Angeles Rams Insider Podcast, we discuss Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford.

After the Rams finished their 2024 season, Sean McVay took time as well to praise the job defensive coordinator Shula did despite massive defensive changes. Read the transcript below.

Q: How did the coaches approach the young defensive line without former defensive lineman Aaron Donald this season?

McVay: “I think the first thing I would say is you have a system that we have to run and obviously we
hired [Defensive Coordinator] Chris [Shula] to be the defensive coordinator and put whatever
vision he thought was best in place. As we were working to kind of figure that out, you think you
know what it’s going to be without Aaron Donald but when it actually comes to fruition you're
saying, ‘Damn, this is a lot different,’ meaning this guy is even better than I thought. You thought
you valued him, but he's even better. You realized a lot of schemes that are activated that you
didn't even have to deal with before that people said, ‘I'm not doing this versus Aaron Donald.’
You're like, ‘Oh man, we have to defend a lot more.’ I thought the coolest thing that the defensive
staff did was an evolution of understanding that and really adjusting and adapting to our players,
to those guys that were playing on the interior parts of the D-line or the outside linebacker and
how that affected all three levels of the defense."

"I think you guys saw it evolve. I thought we became a more aggressive outfit. We had some more versatility. We weren't playing some of the similar front and run structures that maybe you guys had seen us do in previous years. Aaron will go down as arguably the greatest defensive player to ever live. I think what's really cool is our unit continued to grow together. What was really fun was seeing how happy he was to watch it all unfold. You see the excitement when he’’s at the Minnesota game and keeping in touch with him throughout the year."

"I think Chris Shula, [Defensive Line Coach/Run Game Coordinator] Giff Smith, [Assistant Defensive Line Coach] AC Carter and [Outside Linebackers Coach] Joe Coniglio deserve a ton of credit for the evolution of it. I think it was ongoing. I think it's going to be evolving and adapting as we navigate how we want to be as good as we can going into next year. If you said at the beginning of the year this is what I thought we'd end up being, I don't think you know. I think you have to be totally and completely present. I thought the flexibility and the ability to utilize all of our players was on display. It was a real credit to Chris and his staff."

"Ultimately, it's all about the players bringing it to life and those guys did a great job. It was a fun
group to root for. I think everybody felt that way.”

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