Sean McVay was the youngest coach ever hired by an NFL team. He was the youngest coach to take a team to the Super Bowl. Now, he can add one more accolade to his impressive resume.
The Rams beat the Bengals 23-20 on Sunday, claiming the franchise's second Super Bowl — first in Los Angeles — in front of its home crowd at SoFi Stadium in Super Bowl 56.
McVay joins select company with his team's win in the Super Bowl as only the third coach under 40 years old to win a Super Bowl title, joining Mike Tomlin with the Steelers and Jon Gruden with the Buccaneers.
Where does he rank among the youngest? Sporting News dives in. Youngest NFL coach to win a Super Bowl: next ....
McVay made history to become the youngest coach in league history to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. At 36 years and 20 days old, he just comes in ahead of the Steelers' Mike Tomlin, who was 36 years, 10 months and 17 days old when Pittsburgh beat the Cardinals 27-23 in Super Bowl 43.
Coach Team Age Super Bowl Sean McVay Rams 36 56 Mike Tomlin Steelers 36 43 Jon Gruden Buccaneers 39 37 John Madden Raiders 40 11 Joe Gibbs Washington 43 17 Chuck Noll Steelers 43 9 Don Shula Dolphins 43 7 Tom Flores Raiders 43 15
Had the Bengals won, Zac Taylor would have become the second-youngest head coach to win the Super Bowl, trailing only Tomlin. He is 38 years, nine months and three days old on the day of Super Bowl 56.
Both coaches already are making appearances on the list of the youngest coaches ever to appear in a Super Bowl, making this the youngest matchup of coaches in the game's history.
Coach Age Super Bowl Sean McVay 33 years, 11 days 53 Sean McVay 36 years, 22 days 56 Mike Tomlin 36 years, 10 months and 18 days 43 Bill Cowher 38 years, 8 months, 21 days 30 Zac Taylor 38 years, 9 months, 5 days 56
Coach Age Super Bowl Mike Tomlin 38 years, 10 months, 23 days 45 Don Shula 39 years, 9 days 3 Jon Gruden 39 years, 5 months, 10 days 37 Kyle Shanahan 40 years, 1 month, 20 days 54 John Rauch 40 years, 4 months, 26 days 2
McVay is already both the youngest and second-youngest coach to appear in a Super Bowl. Tomlin and Bill Cowher separate him and Taylor on the list of youngest coaches.
For comparison, the average age of a coach in the Super Bowl is 50.
Sean McVay coaching tree: The success found by McVay has already led to the young coach having his own coaching tree.
Sure, its branches do not quite extend to the length of Bill Belichick's or Andy Reid's, but for a coach who, if hired today, would still be among the youngest head coaches ever brought on to lead a team, it is an impressive feat.
There have been four former McVay assistants hired to be head coaches in the NFL: 1) Zac Taylor, Bengals 2) Matt LaFleur, Packers 3) Brandon Staley, Chargers 4) Kevin O'Connell, Vikings*
He has now coached against Taylor and he shares a stadium with Staley. LaFleur is coaching another perennial NFC power in the Packers. O'Connell's hiring has not been made official by Minnesota, but it has been widely reported that he is their choice.
LaFleur was one of the first assistant hired to a head coaching gig. He was McVay's offensive coordinator in 2017 before serving as OC in Tennessee in 2018 and taking over as the Packers head coach in 2019.
Taylor was hired at the same time as LaFleur, starting in Cincinnati in 2019 after serving as Los Angeles' assistant wide receivers coach in 2017 and quarterbacks coach in 2019. Taylor was on Los Angeles when the team lost to the Patriots in Super Bowl 53.
Staley was the defensive coordinator for the 2020 Rams before the Chargers brought him on board ahead of the 2021 NFL season. O'Connell has been Los Angeles' defensive coordinator since the start of the 2020 season, and now is poised to lead the team in Minnesota.
Youngest coaches hired in the NFL When they were hired, both McVay and Taylor ranked among the youngest head coaches ever signed by an NFL team. McVay currently holds the record, having beat the previous record of the Raiders' hiring Lane Kiffin by nearly a year.
Taylor is the 23rd-youngest coach hired by an NFL team.
Coach (Team) Age Sean McVay, Rams 30 years, 11 months Lane Kiffin, Raiders 31 years, 8 months Harland Svare, Rams 31 years, 11 months John Michelosen, Steelers 32 years, 2 months Raheem Morris, Buccaneers 32 years, 4 months
Coach (Team) Age David Shula, Bengals 32 years, 7 months Josh McDaniels, Broncos 32 years, 8 months John Madden, Raiders 32 years, 10 months Don Shula, Colts 33 years, 4 days
Coach (Team) Age Joe Collier, Bills 33 years, 7 months Bob Snyder, Rams 33 years, 11 month Jim Trimble, Eagles 34 years, 3 months Jon Gruden, Raiders 34 years, 5 months Bill Cowher, Steelers 34 years, 8 months, 13 days Al Davis, Raiders 33 years, 6 months
Coach (Team) Age Joe Kuharich, Cardinals 34 years, 8 months, 25 days Jack Christiansen, 49ers 34 years, 9 months, 10 days Norm Van Brocklin, Vikings 34 years, 10 months, 3 days Mike Tomlin, Steelers 34 years, 10 months, 7 days
Coach (Team) Age Joe Schmidt, Lions 34 years, 11 months, 23 days Eric Mangini, Jets 34 years, 11 months, 28 days Mike Shanahan, Raiders 35 years, 6 months Zac Taylor, Bengals 35 years, 8 months, 26 days
Both have helped start a trend for the direction the league is heading in. As of Feb. 13, here are the youngest head coaches heading into the 2022 season.
Coach Team Age Record Sean McVay Rams 36 55-26 *Kevin O'Connell Vikings 36 0-0 Zac Taylor Bengals 38 16-32-1 Mike McDaniel Dolphins 38 0-0 Brandon Staley Chargers 39 9-8
Coach Team Age Record Arthur Smith Falcons 39 7-10 Kevin Stefanski Browns 39 19-14 Nick Sirianni Eagles 40 9-8 Kyle Shanahan 49ers 42 39-42 Matt LaFleur Packers 42 39-10