Sean McVay got his start in the NFL as an assistant wide receivers coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers way back in 2008. He was just 22 at the time, fresh out of college after four years of playing wide receiver for Miami (Ohio) University.
He had no coaching experience, but Jon Gruden gave him a shot. It was by no means a glorious job, barely making any money right out of college. But he relished the opportunity to work for an NFL team gaining any experience he could get his hands on.
It paid off because McVay is now one of the best coaches in the NFL, starting his head coaching career with a 39-18 regular-season record. He’ll try to make it 40-18 on Monday night against the Bucs, taking on the team he started his NFL path with.
McVay reflected on that job in a conversation with Peter Schrager, telling him he didn’t realize how little he knew when he got started.
“What I didn’t realize is I didn’t know anything then,” he said flatly. “I didn’t know what the heck was going on. I was just kind of a fan there, kind of just happy to be there. You go up into the box, you chart some plays. You don’t know what you’re looking at, and you just come away impressed with the opportunity that you do have.”
Looking back now, McVay realizes what a great opportunity it was to learn from a great coach like Gruden, and be around elite talent in Tampa Bay. He may not have known much about coaching, but simply getting exposed to the NFL helped him get started.
“But when I reflect back on the experience, with what Coach Gruden meant to me, the amazing coaches I was around, how the players treated me. One of the things I’ll always remember is the way I was treated by Joey Galloway, Ike Hilliard, Antonio [Bryant],” he said. “Those things meant a lot and then to be able to get your feet wet around some of those great coaches was amazing. But I think what you also realize is how little you knew. I remember Coach Gruden asking me to get up on the board and draw a standard run play where it’s a power play where a backside guard pulls and you get some double-teams at the point of attack on the frontside. I didn’t even know a backside guard was pulling on a power play. I’m thinking I’ve got all these answers and I didn’t know anything then.”
McVay knows a lot more now and will try to put it to good use against the 7-3 Buccaneers in the midst of this playoff push.
