In 2018, at age 33, Sean McVay became the youngest coach to ever lead a team to the Super Bowl. When he was hired as the Los Angeles Ram’s head coach less than 2 years earlier, many people had doubts that he had the experience to successfully coach and NFL team, as most coaches to not get a chance to be head coaches in the NFL until their 40s or 50s. However, despite his lack of experience, Sean McVay was able to quickly find success by seeing the game differently than his head coaching peers. McVay grew up around the game of football, as his grandfather was an NFL head coach and his father and uncle both played college football. McVay played quarterback in high school and wide receiver in college, so his family history and experience playing multiple positions helped him to develop a deep understanding of the game at a young age. McVay had the ability to easily understand all the complicated schematics of an NFL offense, which allowed him to use his entrepreneurial mindset to to find new ways of helping an offense put points on the scoreboard more efficiently. This was evident in home much better young quarterback Jared Goff performed under McVay as opposed to under the old Ram’s coach. Goff completed a higher percentage of his passes for more touchdowns and less interceptions once McVay took over as head coach. McVay’s leadership has also been credited as a reason why he has found success so quickly as a coach. He is friendly to his players and works well with them, but also knows how to push players to get the most out of them. This leadership is another trait that is important to an innovator in any field. This innovative style of coaching has caught on in the NFL and made McVay sort of a disrupter in the industry, as other teams have recently hired Matt LaFleur and Kliff Kingsbury, who are two other young coaches that are similar to McVay. While we wouldn’t normally look at NFL coaches as entrepreneurs, the way that Sean McVay has changed the way teams play offense and hire young head coaches have shown that he is an innovator with an entrepreneurial mindset.
https://www.businessinsider.com/nfl-coaches-hired-sean-mcvay-2019-1
Very interesting post. I like the fact that he was so young to be an NFL coach and was one of the best. It goes to show that in the field of entrepreneurship, it doesn’t matter how old you are. I also find it interesting how much better the players performed under McVay than the old coach. I like how you put that his career in the NFL lead to more hiring of young coaches.
Sean McVay is truly an innovator in the sport of football. As you discussed, it is usually unheard of for a coach of his age to be in such a high position, let alone a head coach. Not only this, but he has had a great amount of success as well. I agree that a coach isn’t usually thought of as an entrepreneur, but his ability to win while doing things his way is a great accomplishment for someone his age.
Sean McVay is the coach who really redefined the coaching role in football as we know and love today. It is very unlikely to see such a new coach, and such a young coach be so successful, and change how the game is coached. It also sparked a fire under his players and they perform well with him. He sees football differently, as you mention, and think this helped him be so successful. And generally, I would not have thought to use a coach as an entrepreneur, but by the definition, that is who/what McVay is. Great find, and great write up.
Its very interesting to look at a football coach as an entrepreneur, I have never thought about that before. Sean McVay has certainly accomplished much in his young career, and I am very interested to see how his style of coaching influences other future coaches in the league.
It is interesting that he was able to disrupt established concept for who an NFL head coach should be. His success even at a young age shows how relevant entrepreneurial thinking and innovation are to any industry.
I like that we get to see how McVay has set a new wave of coaching being hired and reshaped what teams look for in coaches. He also shows how a new young coach can come in and make some noise in the league and shake up the norm. We also get to see that even in the face of adversity that he adapts and changes with how he needs to.