NFL coaches are the best of the best, and Sean McVay is certainly among the elite. Even as one of the youngest at just 39, he has plenty of wisdom to share. And perhaps nothing he’s said stands out more than his recent advice to up-and-coming coaches during a podcast.
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McVay has always been a natural motivator. His energy flows through the LA Rams roster each year with intensity and purpose. Anyone watching him work can tell he loves what he does and wants to win at all costs. That’s why he’s considered one of the league’s best.
When offering advice to coaches looking to improve, McVay shared some powerful insight worth writing down.
“Ask this question to yourself: Would you want to be coached by you? If you’re really doing it at a high level as a coach, what a powerful platform that is to have. Or to be a teammate in a leadership role. I think the best leaders… they impact and influence positive change while also knowing that they’re human too. Give yourself some grace in the midst of the journey,” McVay said on Pure Athlete.
It’s the type of question that makes anyone sit up and pay attention. It’s a perspective we don’t often consider: How are we perceived by others as leaders? Do people actually like being led by us? These are important questions that any coach, who is, by definition, a leader, needs to be able to answer honestly.
For McVay, it seems he’s proud and confident in his coaching style and knows his players respond well to his leadership. That likely comes from having asked himself the tough question early on and finding it helpful in shaping the kind of coach he wanted to be. But the reality is, many coaches may have too much pride to ever question themselves in that way.
For example, do you ever think Bill Belichick would ask himself that question? Probably not. He’s an old-school coach who seemingly uses tough love and strict rules to mold his players. But McVay’s approach is drastically different.
At the end of the day, though, both styles have proven effective. Belichick is the winningest head coach in Super Bowl history, while McVay has led the Rams to the playoffs in six of his eight seasons and won a Super Bowl in 2021. Still, in today’s NFL, it seems coaches have to be more attuned to player personalities and egos.
Maybe that’s why McVay is still coaching and Belichick isn’t. The tough love approach may have worn thin in the Patriots’ locker room. Meanwhile, the Rams have rarely, if ever, voiced complaints about McVay’s leadership. Perhaps that’s because he cares about how his players perceive him, while Belichick arguably never did.
