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Sean McVay coaching tree: Zac Taylor headlines list of Rams coach's disciples

jacob camenker, usa today
·6-min read

The best NFL coaches don't always end up with the greatest coaching trees. One of the most prominent examples is Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots legend whose assistants never seemed to pan out outside of Foxborough.

Then you get coaching trees like Sean McVay's, which has a chance to be one of the NFL's best in recent memory.

McVay, 38, was hired as the youngest coach in NFL history before the 2017 season. Since then, the Super Bowl 56 champion has churned out five NFL head coaches, and he should only produce more as he continues to be in charge of the Los Angeles Rams.

Four of McVay's underlings are currently leading NFL teams, while five have gone from working with him to running their own programs. Here's what to know about McVay's coaching tree and its notable branches.

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Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur on the sidelines during the first quarter against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Oct. 6, 2024.
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur on the sidelines during the first quarter against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Oct. 6, 2024.

Matt LaFleur

McVay was hired by the Rams in 2017 and brought LaFleur on board as his first offensive coordinator. LaFleur spent one year with McVay, with whom he had previously worked in Washington, before jumping ship to be the Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator, and that proved instrumental in LaFleur's development.

While McVay called the plays during his lone season with LaFleur, the Rams' top-scoring and top-10 yardage offense allowed LaFleur to draw plenty of attention. That led him to get an offensive coordinator job with the Titans, where he called plays, in 2018 before being hired by the Packers in 2019.

Since taking over for Mike McCarthy in Green Bay, LaFleur has been one of the NFL's most consistent coaches. The Packers have had just one losing season under his watch (8-9 in 2022) and have made the playoffs in four of his five full campaigns with the team.

LaFleur hasn't yet made a Super Bowl run, but his work helping Aaron Rodgers regain his MVP form after some down years with McCarthy was universally praised. LaFleur has also developed Jordan Love well and appears to have Green Bay entrenched as a perennial playoff contender. That gives him a case to be the most impressive branch of McVay's tree thus far.

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Zac Taylor

Taylor's overall record isn't impressive, but the Bengals coach has made it farther to date than any of McVay's assistants. Taylor took Cincinnati to the Super Bowl following the 2021 season, his third with the Bengals. The team lost to the Rams 24-21 in the big game but has since been a consistent force in the AFC.

Taylor has developed Joe Burrow into one of the best starting quarterbacks in the NFL while building an explosive offense around him. It helps that the Bengals invested in high draft picks like Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to create a robust passing game, but Taylor's creativity has certainly contributed to his team's success.

Taylor started his career slowly as a young coach, posting a mark of just 6-25-1 during his first two NFL seasons. Since then, he has led Cincinnati to three consecutive winning seasons and hopes to continue that streak in 2024.

Before joining the Bengals, Taylor spent two seasons with the Rams, one as an assistant wide receivers coach and one as the team's quarterbacks coach. He was never a coordinator at the NFL level before the Bengals decided to hire him.

Brandon Staley

Staley is the lone branch of McVay's coaching tree who hasn't worked out as a head coach thus far. While Staley posted a .500 record, the Chargers' defense ranked 20th or worse in both points and yards allowed during his three seasons in Los Angeles (2021-23). Comparatively, the Rams were No. 1 in both points and yards allowed during his lone season under McVay's tutelage.

Staley only coached with the Rams for the 2020 NFL season after being hired to replace Wade Phillips, who retired following the 2019 campaign. Before joining the Rams, Staley worked with the Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos for three years as an outside linebackers coach. Before that, Staley worked in the college ranks and is among the many NFL coaches who worked in some capacity at DIII powerhouse John Carroll.

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Kevin O'Connell

O'Connell had a two-year run as McVay's offensive coordinator from 2020-21 before the Vikings hired him to run the show in Minnesota. Immediately, O'Connell made an impact, leading the Vikings to a shocking 13-4 record despite the team boasting one of the league's worst defensive units.

Since then, the Vikings have posted a solid record but have markedly improved as a team. O'Connell hired Brian Flores as his defensive coordinator, a brilliant move that changed the franchise's future. So far in 2024, O'Connell has turned Sam Darnold into a quality NFL starter. He also had Kirk Cousins playing at an MVP level in 2023 before the veteran suffered a torn Achilles.

O'Connell doesn't turn 40 until May and has already established himself as one of the NFL's best young coaches. He doesn't yet have a playoff win to his name. Still, soon enough, the former third-round Patriots draft pick should be able to turn the Vikings into a legitimate NFC contender despite playing in the conference's toughest division.

Raheem Morris

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired Morris in 2009, he became the youngest coach in the NFL. Over a decade later, Morris joined McVay's staff after several coaching stops and rebuilt himself into a second-time NFL coaching candidate. Morris managed three average-by-number defensive units and did a great job utilizing the team's talent around Aaron Donald.

Morris had a record of just 17-31 in his three-year stint with the Buccaneers but has gotten off to a much faster start in Atlanta. The Falcons are 6-3 midway through the 2024 season, with Kirk Cousins playing quarterback as part of a strong offense.

Morris deserves credit for bringing Zac Robinson, a former Patriots draft pick and Rams assistant, over to run Atlanta's offense. That has allowed the Falcons to become the NFC South favorite. While the defense hasn't yet matched that unit, he and general manager Terry Fontenot haven't been afraid of making significant additions to the team. They have signed players like Matthew Judon and Justin Simmons to fill holes, so the pieces are there to have a competitive stop unit.

While Morris deserves credit for rebuilding his stock after his 2011 firing in Tampa Bay, his time on McVay's staff certainly helped him regain his shine as a coaching candidate.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sean McVay coaching tree: Zac Taylor, Matt LaFleur and more