The worst kept secret heading into Sunday's Super Bowl was that Aaron Donald wasn't the only Ram contemplating retirement in the event of a victory. Head coach Sean McVay was no guarantee to return and, days after LA's win, is still no guarantee to return.
Asked by the Los Angeles Times if he'll be back next season, McVay said, "We'll see."
“I’m just enjoying this moment right now," he continued. "I’m really happy to be a part of this. Happy for that.”
McVay then acknowledged winning Super Bowl LVI makes it easier to walk away from coaching.
McVay is in an interesting spot right now, to say the least. Five seasons in, he (along with Sean McDermott and Kyle Shanahan) is tied for the sixth longest-tenured NFL head coach, trailing only Bill Belichick, Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh, Pete Carroll and Andy Reid. Like each of the aforementioned five, McVay now has a Super Bowl. He's also -- still -- the youngest NFL head coach at 36 years old.
McVay is also getting married this summer, and everyone within the Rams organization agrees the pace he's sustained through five seasons in Los Angeles would be unsustainable with raising a family.
“Yeah, absolutely it is,” McVay said in 2020 when asked if burnout was among his concerns. “That’s something that I do need to be aware of because if you’re not careful – I just know the way that I’m going at it, you’re like, realistically, this isn’t the right way to do it, but you’re such a grinder and it’s kind of being able to step back, being still is going to be a key thing. And I am confident that we’ll be able to achieve a better balance and will lead to more sustainability moving forward.”
In a way, though, starting a family could help McVay remain in coaching, since it would force him to step away from the office.
“The other thing, too, is what I’ve really seen from a lot of my close friends, once you get into that point where, hey, I’m gonna get married next year, obviously want to be able to have kids. That perspective of, all right, now you’ve got a real reason to live when you’ve got a family, you’ve got something else,” he said. “I think that balance and that appreciation for those things where it’s not just all football will help toward a goal of just being able to sustain and be healthier overall.”
Does winning a Super Bowl grant McVay his own personal permission to step away from work -- physically and mentally -- and raise a family? Or is such a thing impossible for him? Does McVay's gas pedal only go straight to floor?
The other aspect of this is television. McVay essentially has a standing offer to join ESPN's Monday Night Football booth with a reported offer in the $10 million a year range. Does winning the Super Bowl allow him to try to become the Millennial John Madden?
Not even McVay likely knows the answers to those questions at this moment. We'll find out soon enough.