Colt McCoy watched the Week 8 “Thursday Night Football” tilt between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams, a 30-20 victory for the home-team Rams, with a high level of familiarity.
To this day, the former NFL quarterback can recognize the genius behind his former coaches, Sean McVay (Rams) and Kevin O’Connell (Vikings), from the time he spent under them with Washington in the mid-2010s.
“That was fun. Not surprised about that to be honest,” McCoy told USA TODAY Sports the morning after the game. “Both of those teams are good.”
O’Connell and McVay will go head-to-head again in the NFC wild-card round Monday night (8 p.m. ET, ESPN); due to the ongoing wildfires in the Los Angeles area, the game will be played in Arizona.
Much of McCoy’s analysis – “two of the best head coaches (in the NFL)” – is based on the respective offenses they lead.
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“Listen, they’re not just playcallers,” McCoy said. “They’re schemers.”
Confronting injuries to receivers Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, the Rams still finished 10th in overall passing offense (yards gained). Minnesota, with quarterback Sam Darnold experiencing a career revival, was sixth in the same category.
McCoy spent six seasons (2014-19) in Washington, which coincided with McVay’s tenure – first as the tight ends coach (2011-13) and then offensive coordinator (2014-16) while working for head coach Jay Gruden. O’Connell was his quarterbacks coach during the 2017-18 seasons before adding the title of offensive coordinator in 2019. The next year, O’Connell joined McVay as his offensive coordinator with the Rams, and the Vikings hired him in 2021 after the Rams won Super Bowl 56 following their second season together in Los Angeles.
“To learn those systems and how they call plays and how they coach, that was the best,” McCoy said.
The former Texas Longhorn started his career with the Cleveland Browns from 2010-12 and spent the 2013 campaign with the San Francisco 49ers. By the time he signed with Washington, he said, he was worn down by injuries and lack of structure to set him up for success. But McVay, and later O’Connell, reignited his love of football on the way to a 12-year career spent primarily as a backup.
“I just didn’t want to leave (Washington) because I knew what I had with those guys,” McCoy said. “It was really special. Jay put together a great staff while I was there. And Kevin and Sean, in particular, those are some of my best friends to this day.”
McCoy talks to the pair on a “pretty much weekly” basis, he said. Being around them a decade ago McCoy “100 percent” knew they would be head coaches in the league in little time.
“Those guys can hold a room. They can lead. They can talk to anybody. They can get guys on the same page going toward a common goal better than anybody I’ve ever been around,” McCoy said. “Both of those guys are tremendous leaders. Great vision. There’s no doubt what they stand for, how they want to do it, who they want to do it with. You want to be on their teams. They’re fair, but they’re hard. As a player, there’s nothing else you’d ask for.”
O’Connell, a California native, said McVay is one of his best friends and that he is thinking about him and the Rams organization in the face of the devastation in his home state. But Monday night should be a chess match between the two coaches who know each other’s tendencies when it comes to calling plays.
There will be times when either calls something that does not work, McCoy said. But neither are one to “waste” calls, he added.
“Everything is schematically put together for what you’re doing,” McCoy said. “It’s cool to see things match up. If I see a certain coverage, a lot of times I’ll know the progressions and routes that are coming next if you keep playing that coverage. That’s their advantage.”
Whoever can do that better Monday night will likely have his team moving on to face the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round.