McVay's success comes as no surprise to his former HS coach
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Alan Chadwick never thought Sean McVay would end up coaching football.
The longtime Atlanta (Ga.) Marist School coach realized he had someone special in McVay, who had remarkable leadership qualities, a special gritty attitude and an intelligence about the sport rarely seen in a teenager. But Chadwick thought McVay would wind up in something else.
“I thought he was smarter than becoming a football coach,” Chadwick said.
“I’m so proud of what he’s done and accomplished. You knew he was special in so many different ways. I always suspected he’d be the CEO of a major corporation or something like that. It doesn’t surprise me that he’s done as well as he has or is as good as he is. It certainly surprised me it’s at this young age and this fast of a track he’s been on.”
Chadwick was, of course, kidding, since McVay lived and breathed football from the time he was about as big as one. The game was truly a part of the family.
McVay’s grandfather, John, coached at Dayton, was the coach of the New York Giants during the Miracle at the Meadowlands game and then he was the successful general manager of the San Francisco 49ers during the franchise's glory days. His father, Tim, played defensive back at Indiana.
In the Rivals.com database, McVay has a rather pedestrian profile - no picture, three stories written about him, no highlight video, a two-star ranking. Before McVay's Miami (Ohio) college career, where his grandfather also played, Chadwick knew he had someone special, not only as his star quarterback but in how he uniquely understood the game. How McVay processed everything so smoothly.
“He was the unquestioned leader of our team, no doubt,” Chadwick said. “His command of the huddle, his presence on the field, his toughness, his grittiness, his skill set, allowed him to have great confidence in himself. He just had a lot of great qualities as a player, in particular, as a leader. His sense of the game, his awareness, his understanding of it, was all extraordinary.
“You knew you had something special when you combined all those great traits that he had. His skill set plus his mental knowledge of the game, his awareness and his preparation. He was around it so much even at a young age, being around college football and professional football and of course his high school career. He knew everything about it and grew to love it and studied it and worked at it and had leadership books in his room at a very, very young age. Sophomore year in high school he’s reading leadership books, so he gained a lot of knowledge from a lot of different sources.”
A running quarterback in high school, Chadwick remembers the service academies wanted McVay to come and run the option offense. Georgia Tech showed interest but didn’t offer. McVay’s profile lists offers from Miami (Ohio), Duke, Navy and Tulane.
“His skill set was running the football,” Chadwick said. “As a quarterback, he threw it well for high school but certainly not good enough for college, so we knew he’d be recruited more of a slot receiver, which he was. He had offers from some of the academies and interest from Georgia Tech and different places. At the academies, they ran the football and ran the option but he didn’t want to go that route and I think there was a draw at Miami-Ohio with his granddad and all that played a role as well. I felt he still had a good chance to be a pretty good player based on his skill set and his competitive nature.”
And now in his second season as a head coach in the NFL, McVay has the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl to play the New England Patriots and the coach - Bill Belichick - that former coach Bill Parcells called “Doom.”
McVay’s climb up the coaching ladder has been precipitous. In 2008, he was the assistant wide receivers coach of Jon Gruden’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was then the same position coach of the Florida Tuskers in 2009. The Washington Redskins then hired him to be the assistant tight ends coach and then to coach that position. From 2014-16, he moved up to be the Redskins’ offensive coordinator.
And then the Rams hired him. McVay was 11-5 in his first season and now he has the Rams in the biggest game of all. Atlanta Marist School four-star safety Kyle Hamilton, who is signed to Notre Dame, and the entire school community is fully aware of McVay’s success - and they’ll be watching on Sunday.
“Everyone around the school has always raved about him since I was in 7th grade,” Hamilton said. “All the coaches, all the teachers, and all that were around when he was here talk about how good of a person he was on and off the field. The most common thing I have heard is just how he is a stand-up guy. I can really see that now by the way he carries himself.
“... When he first got the L.A. Rams head coaching job, that is really when the buzz around Marist started. It was mainly about him having that type of job, so all were proud to be at the place that he came from. To say Marist had a part of him getting to where he is now is something to be proud of. He knows everyone in the Marist community wants him to do well and is supporting him.”
That includes Chadwick.
“I’m eating this up,” he said. “I’m just absolutely ecstatic over his success and the attention he’s getting. With all that, he’s still the same old Sean to us and he’s still just a normal Joe and you would never suspect it in talking to him that he’s achieved this type of notoriety and success. He deflects a lot of the attention and the praise to his players, to his coaches, to the people who have been a part of his life. That’s unique in today’s time and age. You don’t see that much at all.
“... I’m going to have to have a couple beers getting ready for this game. I’m still holding out hope for a ticket but it doesn’t really make that much difference to me because I like to be by myself to watch his games so I can zero-in and concentrate a lot more. I’m going to be as nervous as all get out.”
Reminded that in his illustrious 30-plus year coaching career, Chadwick has won more than 84 percent of his games and in two seasons with the Rams McVay has won “just” 74 percent, the Atlanta Marist coach laughed hard when asked if McVay reached out for any advice on beating Belichick and the Patriots.
“I’d sweep out the locker room or do anything to be a part of his life at this point,” Chadwick said.
Who wouldn’t?
Southeast analyst Chad Simmons contributed to this report.