Sean McVay on Mikel Arteta Friendship, Becoming an Arsenal Fan, and Coaching Culture: Men in Blazers 08/29/25

0:00With the American Express Platinum Card, I can unlock experiences like no other. Since I'm always booking my next trip, I love that I can earn points on travel. Plus, I get a Resi benefit, so you know I'm hitting the restaurants everyone's talking about. And you can find out your welcome offer after you apply, which could be as high as 175 ,000 points. For experiences like no other, there's nothing like Platinum. Learn more at AmericanExpress.com slash Explore-Platinum. Terms apply. You're listening to the Men in Blazers Media Network, Suboptimal Radio. I look up to Mikel. I cherish the times that we get a chance to even just spend a couple moments together.

0:41You know, we've connected. We stay in touch through WhatsApp. I still have his writing, Make It Happen up on my board here. And that's about taking the next steps, whether that's finishing the deal, you know, winning the Premier League, you know, coming away with some trophies. I've just loved everything that he's about. And shoot, I'm a huge Arsenal fan now.

1:03My guest today, the youngest coach ever to win a Super Bowl, still just 39 years young, known for his shark fin hair, black belt in leadership, Mensa-level steel trap ability to remember every single play in his glorious career, one in which he traded one type of football for another during high school, but he still proceeded to forge a fascinating friendship with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and to talk about it all. It's a joy to welcome head coach of your Los Angeles Rams, the pride of Dayton, Ohio. It's Mr. Sean McVay. Hey, Raj, that's a heck of an introduction. I appreciate that. We got to help get our guys in LA on that kind of stuff.

1:44You make me sound a lot better than I am. You've packed a lot into a little time. I got to tell you, there's a lot of reasons I admire you. The creativity of your thinking, your winning mentality, your ability to do 405-pound squats, to lead an NFL locker room at 30 years of age. That is Mozart, Bobby Fischer-level prodigy stuff. How much is leadership a natural skill, innate, and how much can it be learned? You know what? I think I've been very fortunate, Raj, to grow up around what great leadership looks like, starting with my dad, Tim McVeigh. American football is in kind of our blood. You know, my grandfather, John McVeigh Sr., was a coach and then went into being a general manager for a team for a long time.

2:27And so I've been really fortunate to be around great people that modeled the way. You say you come from a football bloodstock. There is a sliding doors, Sean McVay soccer trajectory. We have to touch upon it. Freshman year of high school, I think Morris High School in Brookhaven, Georgia. I heard you were such a bloody good soccer player that you were a starter for the Vosti soccer team and the coach was going to build a team around you for years to come. Give us a blast of the one that got away. How good a footballer was a young Sean McVay for real? I was good enough to have those stories get better as we get further away from it.

3:01So we'll not let the truth get in the way of a good story. But, you know, I grew up playing it. I loved it. I went back and forth where I was playing up front or I was, you know, playing in the back end. But I did have some decent speed to be able to clean up stuff on the back end if things broke through. I used to be decent, but I will tell you this. You know, you just look at the evolution of the game, the spacing, the timing, the way that, you know, some of these set pieces look now. I'm glad I transitioned into American football because I couldn't hang with these guys in the high level of play that I see around the States.

3:33Is it true, though? Or is this just like layered mythology, Sean? Like there was talk that maybe Sean McVay could like be a pro footballer and that was a difficult decision. I mean, was there ever a second that went in your head as a teen, you thought, I could be the next Clint Dempsey? You know, where I went through the Olympic development program and was doing the regionals and stuff like that all the way up until, you know, really once you got to the age of about 13, 14, then I had to make a decision because club soccer was in the fall. And then that's when football was, when you know that's where the majority of the recruitment comes in.

4:08And that was kind of the Olympic development, which I did at a younger age. But I ended up going to a high school that was heavily, you know, American football based. And so I ended up, you know, going that direction. But I did play varsity as a freshman. And that ended up being the last year once I had to make a decision if I wanted to be the quarterback for the football team or not. It's not too late. You're actually still younger than Tim Ream, who plays for the national team. You could be the number nine our nation's looking for for the World Cup. But you still follow football, Premier League football.

4:36Do you watch it or is it being an NFL coach, you're just kind of so time consuming? No, I watched it. I'm a big fan. You know, I'm such a fan of Mikel and the way he leads and really just the caliber of play when you look at the Premier League as a whole. I'm really glad we started off with a 1-0 lead. You know, we'll take those three points however we can get them. I'm glad we got the early score off the corner. We're on track to lead the EPL and scoring on corners again this year so far. Set pieces just as you drew it up. You became a football coach straight out of college, youngest NFL head coach in the modern era, 30 years, 354 days old.

5:11When the Rams appointed you 2017, you then proceeded to become the youngest coach to win the Super Bowl in 2021. And we've learned on this show, Sean, from the likes of Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla. He and Pep Guardiola have both come on and talked about the friendship, the kinship of great coaches, a loneliness that only they can understand. So during the pandemic, you did a two-hour Zoom call with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta. What were your impressions of Arteta on that initial call? Can you talk about what you, two young leaders in very different footballs, what did you bond over initially? There's a lot of similarities.

5:47There's a passion for competing. There's a passion in bringing out the best of everybody. There's a passion for always pushing the envelope, whether that's tactically or leadership. You know, even just going out and watching where I've gotten a chance to go out and see Mikel lead a practice, you know, on the pitch and the way that he communicates in so many different languages, but the clarity, the conviction, the passion, the way that he feels like he's in it with his guys. And then the tactical advantages and the standards that are unrelenting. We really try to emulate a lot of the things that Mikel stands for.

6:17I was so impressed even just watching the all or nothing documentary, the way he navigated a challenging season. He stayed sturdy. He stayed resilient. It's not by mistake that you guys finish on a strong run like that. And then just watching from afar where now, you know, you're in position where you're finishing second in the league the last handful of years. You're making good runs into the Champions League. I've just loved everything that he's about. And shoot, I'm a huge Arsenal fan now.

6:47When you watch All or Nothing, do you relate to that? I mean, he's obsessed with marginal tweaks that can lead to, you know, to victory, the clock, the drawings. Do you watch that and be like that guy? What I watch, I want to see somebody that's connected to his players, that's in it with them, that is always pushing the envelope where there's high standards, but there's an urgency, but there's also an enjoyment. When those guys come into the building, you can feel they enjoy the atmosphere. We're not going to apologize for having high standards, but we're going to have an urgency. We're going to have an enjoyment.

7:20And, you know, just the type of competitor he is. You know, you talk about having the courage to go for it and to really be able to not be afraid to fail. I just think he models a lot of the things that I hope our, you know, American football team represents. Do you look at Arteta and see something of yourself? Sure. Do you feel that similarity of kinship? I do. And I look up to Mikel. I cherish the times that we get a chance to even just spend a couple moments together. You know, we've connected. We stay in touch through WhatsApp. You know, I got a chance to go out there last year with Josh. spend some time with Mikel.

7:50I've gotten a chance for, you know, when Mikel came out during one of our seasons, I still have his writing, make it happen up on my board here. There was something that stuck out to me. You know, he's doing all these reflections of how can he improve? How can he be better for the players? You know, and there was even one instance where the guy, the way this guy thinks is he's talking about on a scale of one to 10, how much do I stay engaged with the players that are injured on, you know, that are not able to be on the pitch right now. And I thought, But man, I probably haven't done as good a job of staying connected to those guys and aren't able to be available.

8:20And, you know, his just never ending pursuit of improvement, his unrelenting standards, his ability to connect, but his ability to be able to have difficult conversations. He epitomizes a lot of the things that I think are right about coaching. And then when I just watch the way that he moves, you might not know the intricacies of what's going on tactically that he's asking of his guys. but there's a command and you could say, man, I know that he knows what he's doing. And I would follow that guy if I was one of those players or coaches. Is that something you work on? Your poise, the presence.

8:52Is that something you're very conscious of? It's exhausting. You know what? Or it's invigorating and exhilarating. You know, like one of the things I think about Mikel, he loves what he does. Like you can't fake the passion that he has for competing for the game for his players. And I'd like to think that if you saw us, you know, that's one of those deals that you would say about how we operate. I'm always studying leaders and what he's about. I couldn't be more impressed with just him as I continue to build our friendship. What's the story with the make it happen? I think that was one of the themes for them last year, you know, make it happen.

9:25And that's about taking the next steps, whether that's finishing the deal, you know, winning the Premier League, you know, coming away with some trophies. I think we're continuously moving the envelope in the right direction. that we're disappointed with a second place finish in the EPL. We're disappointed with a semi-final appearance in the Champions League because the standards are, let's finish the deal and let's win it. And I think that's where you guys are headed. Yeah, I was just with Mikel last week and that theme for this season is new heights. I mean, a guy that's come second three times on the run.

9:53There can only be one new rung for him to go. He's very clear that if you can't say it, if you can't speak it, you can't do it. I mean, May 2023, you mentioned, that was when you went over to visit London. I think you took in the Brighton game at the Emirates. And I want to know, how did you experience match day, the English football match day experience? What stuck out to you in contrast to your NFL normality? Well, what I think stuck out to me was just, you know, what a class operation it is. You know, you go up there, you're having a lunch, you know, with the opposing ownership and just how class, you know, just the whole thing with the Premier League is, the passion for the fans, you know, and it was a little disappointing because Man City locked up the championship earlier that day.

10:33So it was kind of like we had already locked in a second place finish. So that took a little bit of wind out of our sails. But the whole operation, the magnitude of the pageantry, the passion for the fan base, the, you know, the ability to sustain an energy for 100 plus minutes. And man, the fans, they're so into it. It's embedded into the culture of that community. And you can feel that and you can see it. And those are things that, man, you hope to try to be able to mimic and emulate in LA because it's special. God bless. And by the way, it is happening in LA, particularly LAFC. There is joy.

11:07There is culture. They're doing a good job. But I just, you know, what I'm so impressed with is just the passion of the fan base and what they mean to that community. And you can just feel they're just so passionate and they want to do great. They want to be consistent in terms of their support. And I'm tuning in as much as I possibly can. And I'm so impressed with the amount of games, the competitive stamina that's required now from these players and coaches, especially when you're in that upper echelon and you're competing in multiple leagues at one time, then you get the international games.

11:36It's impressive, just the competitive stamina that's required to do it at a high level. Mikel was the trigger for this conversation. I spoke to him last week about the time he spent with you, 2024 preseason. He came and met your operation. You went out for dinner. You spoke publicly together. And I talked to Mikel last week. I said, what did you learn from Sean McVay? And he said two things. I'm not going to do a very bad Mikel impression, but he said, he said he marveled at the size of the organization that you have to manage he said i'm paraphrasing but he said i've got 23 first team players sean has 53 and he marveled at the organizational logistics involved in getting so many big men to align and build a focused culture and the second thing was that because the nfl pulls from college players he was really envious about nfl players willingness to study to put the work in with the playbook i think he wishes i mean this was implied that the football culture football players premier league football players have that muscle to study when you look at what he has to do you hit on one of these pieces you know his culture his nine month season challenge what stands out and astonishes you about the english football life it's the sustainability and the stamina throughout the different competitions it's being able to manage the roster when you're trying from a sports performance perspective, have guys peaking at the right time in these high level competitions.

13:00I think it's the ingenuity that's required, you know, with the way that the game is played. And then, all right, how are we going to go beat some of these teams from other leagues? How do we want to beat the Liverpools, the Man Cities, you know, but then what does that look like when we're playing in the Champions League against PSG? And I also marvel at the way he communicates with people. You know, I just think it's incredible where you're talking about guys from a bunch of different backgrounds, but there is still a universal language in terms of the body language, the energy that he emits and that he gives to others, the way that he demands a lot, but brings people with him.

13:34And I just think the seamlessness and the concise clarity in terms of how he communicates with his group, both verbally and non-verbally on the pitch, you know, just watching him in action. When I went to the practice right before they played Brighton, And I was just marveled at, you know, just his ability to be involved, to be, you know, instrumental and kind of facilitating what the standards were. But he's in it with those guys. He's communicating in a bunch of different languages. But then there is a universal language that's both nonverbal and verbal that is just incredible to me. Mikel's come second.

14:10You nailed this. He's come second three times on the run. It's hard to do that, man. It's hard. I mean, that is Premier League Marv Levy. That's the thing, Raj, is you don't want to get bored with the consistent success, even if we're just getting close to finishing. But it's Man City a couple years. Liverpool has a magical season. Then you make a great run in the Champions League. And you know what PSG did, especially in the final, that was a really close game to be able to advance and do their thing. But I think new heights is an appropriate theme. I'm just so impressed with the consistency over the last couple years.

14:47you can see players want to be a part of that place. You know, you're able to, you know, bring in some of these really special players to try to be able to consistently push the envelope. But it sure seems like watching from afar, that's a place that people want to be a part of, whether that's coaches and managers or whether that's, you know, these players that, you know, that you see where you're getting some big name guys that we expect to be able to be big time contributors. Yeah, I mean, New Heights, I hadn't thought about it like this. He's sprinkling some of that Kelsey magic dust on the Arsenal.

15:17But you did lose your first ever Super Bowl, second season as a head coach, but you were right back there three years later to win it all. What insight do you have to share about how to harness losing, how to metabolize that experience and use it to change the mentality, to change the self-perception of the team, to win us? What Mikel does call new heights. You know, I think the biggest thing is is consistently pushing the envelope and really embracing and enjoying the journey. You know, because I think a lot of the times, Raj, the lies I told myself are once we win a Super Bowl, then I'll be happy.

15:50No, what I was happy for was the shared experience for people that I loved and cared about to be able to hoist that trophy. The memories that are built in the midst of that journey, you know, but you got to go right back to work. I think you want to be able to take it in and enjoy those little moments. But if that's it, then I think our goals are too shallow. How do we really help people reach and realize their highest potential? How are we building relationships that allow us to be able to handle the inevitable storms that you know you're going to face throughout the course of a season? And how do we make sure that when people leave us, they're better than what they were when they first came?

16:23You know, I think you talk about leaving the jersey better than it was when you got there. That's what we want to try to be able to do here. And don't get me wrong. We want to win championships. But it's also about developing the human being, whether it's, you know, the person is greater than the player. The person is greater than the coach. And I think if you coach these guys, you know, inside, then they become better footballers. They become better players. But it's about the connection and the relationships. And I think that's sustainable throughout.

16:53Sean, there's one concrete lesson you've gleaned from Premier League football for your time with Arsenal, your time with Mikel Arteta that you use in your own life and your own career. Like I mentioned to you, Raj, I think the competitive stamina, you know, we feel exhausted. We play 17 games in the regular season, and then you get a chance to be able to advance into the playoffs, and you could play a maximum of four games or a minimum of three, depending upon what your seed is. We played 21 games the year that we won the Super Bowl, and we're 16-5 in 2021 season. You know, we're playing 38 games in just the Premier League alone, let alone some of these tournaments, the other leagues.

17:30So it is so amazing and so impressive. Some of the turnarounds, managing those different types of things and being able to keep guys engaged throughout, especially as you're navigating who's available and who's not with some of the numbers that you do have. Sean, this is a question from a friend, JJ Watt. He wanted to ask this for you. He said, you have such a great work ethic and a brilliant mind. You famously remember every single play from your entire life. Do you think that if someone gave you five years to learn and study that you could coach, not a Premier League team, but like a third tier League One or second tier championship side to a winning record?

18:06No, I don't think so. Now, I do think there's a lot of crossover in regards to how you lead, how you connect, how you build a sustainable culture where there is carryover. over. But, you know, the nuanced advancement in terms of, you know, the style of play that you want to be able to have, the flexibility and the agility that's necessary, I think that would be minimizing the amount of knowledge and the intricacies that go on within the framework of a game and tactically. So I would never pretend to be able to accumulate that kind of knowledge, but I would sure work my ass off to do it if I had the chance.

18:40To paraphrase, It would drive you crazy, the lack of control that Premier League football managers. You control everything. Mikel kind of just has to watch in agony. What I think is so impressive about what he does, though, he's translating a vision of how we want to be able to see the game, but you're giving players ownership and autonomy just based on the flow of football. You know, not American football, but your guys' football. The closest thing to what American football is, is if you had every play was a set piece. There's a little bit more structure. there's a little bit more organization.

19:13Every play represents a set piece for us, but there still is a beauty when things go off schedule in our game where I think you see the separator. But when things go a little bit different, sometimes that's the beauty and the creativity and the autonomy that the players have that Mikel tries to be able to translate to them. A cronky team, set plays, set plays, set plays. Last question for you. I could listen to you all day, you magnificent human being. Today is, as we pod, 295 days away from the 2026 World Cup, which will happen on these very shores, these very stadia even. The Rams home, SoFi Stadium, that magical kingdom in Inglewood.

19:52It'll host two USA games, including our nation's first. You've won a trophy there on that field yourself. Can you give us a sense what this country can brace itself for in your imagination when the World Cup washes up on these shores? The game of football internationally is so special because it brings so many nations together. And I think the United States is embracing the importance of what this is. I think they're getting more and more competitive, you know, the men's and the women's team. But, you know, you just look at how many people are passionate around the world. It's a magnificent sport.

20:25I got a chance to go to some of the Olympic Games in 96 when I lived in Atlanta. And I just remember the passion from the fan bases and how exhilarating it was. and the amount of passion that this game involves and the amount of people that it brings together. I think that's what's beautiful about sports and it'll be special. I'll look forward to going to some of those games. When the US team first arrives at SoFi on June 12th, they will be greeted on that bus by a floor to ceiling mural in the tunnel with some of the world's greatest performers and athletes painted on it, including your Super Bowl winning LA Rams.

20:57If Mauricio Pochettino, the coach, invited you in to give a pregame speech to those players, Give us a sense of what would you tell those gentlemen about how to succeed on home soil at SoFi and earn a spot on that mural next to you and your guys? I think I would really challenge them to be able to trust the ability to go for it. In sports, what I think is the most important thing is there's the unpredictability of the outcome, but there's the trust in your preparation, the trust in yourself and your teammates to go for it. I always love the teams that aren't afraid to fail. And you can just see, all right, those people that are just immersed in the moment.

21:33And hey, I would rather us fail valiantly and come up short than just play it safe and be afraid to go swing and be courageous enough to not be afraid of whatever the outcome is. And so I think you want to be able to have a comfort in the unpredictability of the outcome and going for it. Trust in yourself, trust in each other. When things don't go our way, let's see how quickly we can respond and not react. and let's be the more connected team that goes and plays with a passion that, hey, when people are watching, they feel it. And that's the type of team you want to be a part of. Sure, Mervey.

22:06To you, your Rams, the season ahead. Big, big love. Thank you, man. Hey, enjoyed it. Thanks for having me on, Raj. I appreciate you. Courage.