INDIANAPOLIS – Rams head coach Sean McVay held a video conference with local and national media on Wednesday, discussing new additions to the coaching staff, the team's approach to the NFL Scouting Combine, and more.
Here are some of the top takeaways from that virtual conversation:
Fully committed to coaching
McVay said there was "never a doubt" about his commitment to coaching the Rams.
While broadcasting is something he's had an interest in, he said he loves coaching and the Rams' players.
"More than anything, you really find a purpose when you're coaching and you're you're working with people and people that you love, and I think there was real purpose behind this team," McVay said. "There's a lot of passion and purpose. And I think those things, you know, continue to carry you on."
New deals for QB Matthew Stafford, DL Aaron Donald are "incredibly high priority"
In more ways than one, Stafford and Donald were two key figures in the Rams' Super Bowl LVI-winning season.
Yes, there were a lot of important players who had a hand in that success, but McVay said those two "are foundational pieces on each side of the ball." Accordingly, new deals for both is at the top of the offseason to-do list.
"They're basically both unanimously voted captains. They epitomize what's right about the Rams," McVay said. "And so I think the other thing that's special is these guys deserve and will be rewarded accordingly, but I think they also understand they want to work in coordination to try to help us be as competitive as we can."
Last two weeks have brought range of emotions, perspective
Within days of celebrating the Rams' Super Bowl victory atop a double-decker bus in a parade, McVay and his fiancé, Veronika, watched Veronika's home country of Ukraine get invaded by Russia.
McVay began his video conference Wednesday offering his thoughts and prayers to Ukraine and praising the country's leadership, and elaborated on the emotions and perspective from the last several days.
"She's really helped me have a better understanding of, there's always been that thread of of these things for the last handful of years," McVay said. "What a tough, resilient group of people that I've gotten to know from her family and different things like that. But I mean, you talk about an amazing perspective that they have – they're just so proud. Her dad stays up and her stepmom and her brother in the middle of the night to watch our games based on the time difference. He's so excited, they want to talk about us winning the Super Bowl, and then they're in the midst of all these things going on. And so they're just an incredible, graceful example of exactly what you want your family to be. And I'm so proud of them. But it gives you a real perspective. The things that I typically get upset about, or I think are real stressors, pale in comparison to what their experiences are in the moment that we're speaking right now. And in that perspective, as has definitely helped me have a better understanding of those things."
