‘I Almost Quit’: Sean McVay Reveals He Nearly Left Rams After Dismal 5–12 Season in 2022

McVay credits his wife, Veronika, for convincing him to return to Los Angeles.

Sean McVay's Rams went 5–12 in 2026. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Just a year removed from leading the Rams to a Super Bowl LVI title, the franchise’s first in over two decades, Sean McVay nearly quit his job as head coach.

The championship hangover was all too real for Los Angeles in 2022. While dealing with injuries to three of their stars in quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receiver Cooper Kupp and defensive tackle Aaron Donald, the Rams—who finished the year with the third-most players on injured reserve—turned in a measly 5–12 record and missed the playoffs for just the second time since McVay took over in 2017.

Those struggles, which also included starting 11 different offensive line combinations through their first 11 games, nearly led the 40-year-old offensive guru to give up coaching, he recently admitted during an appearance on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast.

“I almost quit coaching,” McVay said, point-blank. “And you can use the narrative that I was gonna go to media or whatever. But the truth would have been, I was quitting. I couldn’t handle the losing. It was almost like a scarlet letter. I mean, there was moments ... I was like counting down the days for that season to be over. Like, what a fraud.”

McVay’s name has popped up frequently over the last several years as a candidate to make the jump from the sidelines to the television studio. According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, he could have already accepted a nine-figure contract to be a commentator—and is “in position” to eventually accept such an offer.

Sean McVay on wanting to quit after the 2022 season —and how a conversation with his wife forced him to have a tough conversation with himself

This interview is incredible and I hope you all check it out on @BussinWTB pic.twitter.com/tVwjCox79D

— Will Compton (@_willcompton) May 19, 2026

“I remember explaining the situation to my wife, Veronika,” McVay continued. “‘You know, maybe I’ll step away, its going to be a really tough upcoming season ... here are my options.’ Had some media stuff, and if I had done that, I would have conveniently hidden behind that. I would have been quitting.”

He would go on to say that a conversation he had with his wife that offseason led him to return to the Rams in 2023 and beyond.

“Basically, I was trying to rationalize and justify why I should do it ... “ McVay explained. “And this coincided with her being pregnant with our oldest, Jordan. And I remember I was explaining it and she just kind of looked at me, and it was very loving and supportive, but ... it really landed the punch. She was like, ‘You know, that never really sounded like the leader you wanted to be.’ And I was like ‘boom’. It hit me like a ton of bricks, and I also remember thinking to myself [that] the most important thing I’ve always wanted to do is be a father and be a husband, and I’ll never be able to look at my little boy when he grows up and goes through adversity and say, ‘Do as I say, not as I did.’ And that was when [I said] I’ll never be able to live with myself if I [do] this.“

In the three seasons since, McVay has led the Rams to three consecutive postseason appearances and a 12–5 record in 2025—a season that ended in heartbreaking fashion with an NFC championship game loss to the Seahawks in Seattle. Even still, he helped Stafford add another accolade to his legendary résumé with the quarterback's first MVP trophy in his storied career.

Even as they remain in win-now mode with Stafford back for at least another season, McVay and the Rams have another quarterback in the pipeline after selecting Ty Simpson out of Alabama with the No. 13 pick in last month's draft. They'll begin the 2026 season in Australia, taking on the 49ers from Melbourne Cricket Ground to kick off the NFL's International Series.

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