It is a very long, but interesting read. Essentially their relationship worked well at first because the team around Jared was solid and there was a go between with the OC the first couple years on their relationships. In 2019 when Lafleur left McVay never hired an OC and worked with Goff more directly and that coupled with the O-Line struggling and Gurley dealing with injuries started their downfall. By 2020 the relationship was already on edge and eventually it reached a boiling point.
Basically said if you have the right support system in place for Goff he is a top 5 quarterback, but without he cannot carry a team. I think that is pretty accurate.
I think Campbell and Lynn letting Goff have input in the offense and what he likes is going to do wonders for his confidence. In reading this I think getting a true #1 and signing a guy like Mitchell Schwartz to really solidify this line go be huge for him.
I believe the same can be said for Stafford.
Just get a top notch running game and a defense who gets lots of TO’s.
I was thinking the exact same thing!
Yeah, but Stafford won’t pipe Sean’s girl
Reading through that article, I am more inclined to believe some earlier reports about McVay. Specifically, that he believes his system is excellent, and he just needs the ‘right guys’ to run it. He didn’t believe in Goff, so off he goes.
McVay made some generic apologies (“there were things I could have done better,” etc), but I think just one concrete one. He apologized for his “real-time communication,” which seems to translate to in-game conversations (or grillings) with Goff. To me, this represents a failure to understand your players. I have been a high school coach, and even I know that different players need different coaching. Some guys respond to being yelled at, others shut down. Some guys need to be told to ‘be an example for others’ while some need to be reminded to ‘not let their teammates down.’ Etcetera.
It just doesn’t seem like McVay was willing to do that. Which I see as a failure on his part.
Of course, Goff has his own issues. He has flaws in his game. However, he does seem more willing to admit his actual fault in play, and more willing to take true blame on himself. I am hoping this is a fresh start for him, and that we are able to put quality pieces around him to help him succeed.
If McVay is wrong, and he cannot adapt his systems, that team is screwed for quite a while once the wheels come off. Because a new coach and no high draft picks are not a great recipe for success.
I hope Stafford has some success (I appreciate his time here), but I do wonder how this will go if they don’t win a lot (and quickly). Stafford has been ‘The Man’ here a long time, and may be less willing to accept being yelled at by McVay. Time will tell…
Very good article. I hope Goff succeeds, but I just don’t know if his demeanor is what I’d look for in a QB. With Goff’s cool personality, someone else needs to be the alpha-dog on O - its not any of our lineman, I don’t think Swift is ready for it yet, Hock is too mild-mannered, and I doubt any of the WR’s we have now would command that kind of respect. I’m not sure about the top 3 WR’s in the draft, either. So, it seems like we won’t have a real leader – who people will bust their butt for on O. If its not your QB, its hard to find that for the O - while on D it could be just about anyone. Sure, MCDC fits the bill, but you also need players to reinforce it. This is the main reason I’d like us to go QB in the draft.
Weren’t there also comments about staffords leadership early in his career? Leadership a Question for Lions
Additionally, more recently this was brought up by Lang and Jansen. Not sure i see Goff’s situation different than early career stafford. Just imo
Fair points on leadership. Goff is a lead by example guy so he puts in the work and will direct the team on the field.
Is he likely to go after a guy for missing assignments like Brady? No, he doesn’t have that voice yet. Sounds like Stafford wasn’t really like that either.
I don’t feel that QBs need to be in your face type of guys.
I believe QBs handling things in a calm, classy matter is pretty important. I really don’t know any QBs that play today that are in your face type of guys. You are better off talking calmly or in private about things to players.
I’m kind of stunned by this article.
What emerges for me is how bad of a coach Sean McVay is. A poor communicator and apparently a poor adjuster of things when other teams figure out what had previously been successful. Not to mention the drop-offs in personnel. And yet it was all dumped on Goff as being at fault.
Goff isn’t a nobody; he’s a guy who went to the Pro Bowl multiple times. He’s a guy who won playoff games for you, and took you to the Super Bowl. If shit isn’t working, perhaps it’s the design and not the quarterback.
A couple of over-arching points I took from this write-up:
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Boy, if Goff is just supported here, and has his confidence boosted back up, and isn’t micro-managed, he might just flourish.
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If McVay treats Stafford the way he treated Goff when things don’t go well, things could go very bad in L.A. Stafford has had none of that at any point in his career, college or pro. I don’t think the Caldwell dialing back high-risk, turnover-prone Stafford is even close to equating to how McVay was with Goff.
3-5 years from now we will be reading similar headlines coming out of LA.
“Why the Stafford/McVay Combo Failed”
“Who’s to Blame? Stafford or McVay?”
“Stafford a Coach Killer or McVay a QB Killer?”
I am guessing it will be at the end of this season. I have the Rams pegged for 6-11.
Hope you’re right! I don’t care after 2022 how the Rams do but I’m hoping for them to have as close to 0 wins as possible over the next 2 seasons.
A coach’s ego can only be as big as the production of his players.
> “Yeah, he’s our quarterback, right now,” McVay said after the loss to the Packers.
*> *
> The following day, McVay would not guarantee Goff’s spot on the roster in 2021. A week later, Snead wouldn’t either.
*> *
> “Jared Goff is a Ram right now,” Snead said. “So, what’s the date? January 26.”
and then, Snead, on acquiring Stafford:
> “Put simply, chance to bet on going from good to great at that position,” Snead said.
While everybody can say they appreciate the candor and not lapsing into coach-speak, this strikes me as really unprofessional handling of Goff. And pretty disrespectful, given what he accomplished there in just a few short years as a young player.
The Rams seem to be everybody’s darlings, but I’m not impressed from what I’m reading here about their leadership. And that’s from an article that is clearly full of pro-Rams-position spin.
This article doesn’t seem to paint Goff or McVay in a great light. Goff seems to have some maturity issues and doesn’t seem to have worked as hard as Wolford. McVay also has maturity issues and couldn’t keep his emotions in check.
Goff always got great accolades on his work ethic. The last couple years some questions arose. Was that in all related to the growing rift with McVay? Goff no longer excited to be the first guy in the building like before?
I saw on some interview that he’s ready to work and offered to fly out all the lions WRs so they can start working together in LA as soon as the NFL protocols are set.