Sean McVay tells the LA Rams that he will STAY as head coach

Sean McVay has told the LA Rams he will remain their head coach, the team announced on Friday. 

The youngest head coach in NFL history to win the Super Bowl has decided not to take a break from coaching after his Rams finished 5-12 in the worst season ever by a defending champion. 

The decision comes after McVay said he would be 'taking some time away' to consider his future following a disappointing season.

The season was McVay's worst since joining the Rams in 2017 and the coach insisted in his end-of-season press conference that he needed time to figure out 'the best way to continue to move forward in the right way to be the best coach that you can possibly be.'

However, the Rams' disastrous season could be attributed to their number of injury blows that included quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receiver Cooper Kupp and defensive tackle Aaron Donald and has seemingly not kept McVay away from a return. 

McVay, who turns 37 later this month, became the youngest head coach in modern NFL history six years ago Thursday. Everything about McVay's coaching career has been precocious, but he decided not to get an early start on retirement as well.

McVay is sticking with the Rams at their lowest point in his tenure after a year of what he described as heavy mental fatigue and stress. The Rams' innovative offensive mind has also spoken frequently about his desire to start a broadcasting career, although this break didn't appear to be about weighing a move to the booth.

McVay openly acknowledged a near-constant feeling of burnout near the end of the past few seasons, even while his coaching fortunes soared. He went 67-41 with the Rams, who racked up five winning seasons, four playoff berths, three NFC West titles, two Super Bowl appearances and one championship in his first half-decade in charge before everything crashed down in the past year. 

During the 2022 offseason, McVay signed a contract extension that runs through to the 2026 season, which matched the length of general manager Les Snead's deal. 

But his future has been in doubt since the end of the regular season, so much so, that he has allowed his staff to pursue opportunities outside the organization, according to ESPN.

Rams offensive coordinator Liam Coen has already announced he's moving into a similar position with the University of Kentucky.

McVay's future had become the top concern for the injury-riddled Rams, who lost nine of their final 11 games to miss the playoffs a year after winning it all at their home stadium. 

The offseason rebuild couldn't start in earnest before general manager Snead knew who will be coaching those players but it appears the organization can now recharge with McVay back at the reins. 

But McVay denied speculation that he was thinking about walking away because of the work that will be necessary to return the Rams to contention. 

Even though the Rams don't have their first-round pick after trading it to Detroit for Matthew Stafford, McVay said he doesn't believe the Rams need a major rebuild with Stafford, Super Bowl MVP Kupp and star cornerback Jalen Ramsey all returning healthy for 2023. 

McVay all but said his first instinct was to resign in recent weeks, but he is taking time to reconsider and to discuss new ways forward with the Rams' top brass, his coaching friends, his parents and his wife, Veronika.

He has spoken repeatedly in recent weeks about the exhaustion and frustration of this difficult season being compounded by the mental stresses of his grandfather´s death and his worries about his wife´s family in Ukraine.

'Tom Brady had a quote before about (how) he hopes that his kids can find something that they´re as passionate about as he is about football, but he wouldn´t wish that torment on anybody else, and I can really relate to that,' McVay said Monday.

'I'm a very impulsive person, and patience is not something that I do have,' he added. 'And so (I) probably want to adjust the approach that I'm typically accustomed to taking, especially as it relates to a decision of this magnitude.'

He has spoken repeatedly about the exhaustion and frustration of this difficult season being compounded by the mental stresses of his grandfather's death and worrying about his wife's family in Ukraine. He also hasn't hidden his interest in a cushy broadcasting career, although those rumors aren't nearly as prominent as they were last year.

After the Rams beat Cincinnati in their home stadium to win the franchise's second Super Bowl title last February, McVay's fame ballooned, and he landed endorsement deals that included a series of national television commercials. He also got a new contract from the Rams that reportedly made him one of the top-paid coaches in North American sports.

After the Rams' Super Bowl victory, McVay was asked whether he would return to Los Angeles in 2022. He responded, 'We'll see.' 

But despite the speculation over his future in LA, less than two weeks later, McVay told ESPN that he would not be pursuing any television opportunities and would return to coach the Rams.