Hour 3: Rams Head Coach Sean McVay, plus Comedian Tom Papa In-Studio

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1:41The Rich Eisen Show. Earlier on the show, Pro Football Hall of Famer, Kurt Warner. Rams head coach, Sean McVay. Coming up, comedian Tom Papa. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

1:56Rich Eisen:that's right can confirm that welcome to our number three of the rich eyes and show on the air on disney plus the espn app everywhere and espn radio presented by progressive insurance just had a nice chat with tom papa our uh our third hour guest in studio coming up shortly uh he hasn't been here in a while he showed me a photograph talk about small world the comedian who opens for him on his tour is the sports anchor who got my job after i left it to go to espn at krcr tv in red in california crazy talk about small that's incredible i know so we'll talk about that and um of course his his uh his break his grateful bread tour uh and everything else that's going on with uh tom papa but uh joining us top of our number three is one of my favorites and i'm not just saying that because he's potentially listening me to introduce him uh on his bye we care uh kind enough to join us is sean mcveigh head coach of the los angeles there he is what's up rich how are you pal how's it going i'm good i'm uh i'm just sitting in my kitchen right now so i got a nice little uh i don't know what this is behind me but it looks like it's going to grow on me any second yeah yeah um it's like a living wall wait a minute that doesn't mean you're you're not in charge of uh of what's on the walls in your house or you have a little say or or you just leave it no say zero say i am certainly not the head coach at my own house and i'm more than happy to accept that me too uh there's one item in my house one item in my house it's a chair that uh i brought to the relationship 25 years ago sean okay that's old faithful that's what i mean you know i mean everything else is just i i got i have nothing to do with them i i'm just i i'm just a resident you know what i mean so i'm i'm with you i'm with you I do know what you mean.

3:47I know exactly what you mean.

3:48Rich Eisen:It's good to see you, man. First things first, you know, about the London game, the conversation around your plan to, you know what, stay on the East Coast after playing the Ravens, work out in Camden Yards and then show up the day before the game. there was a lot of questions about like if that's the right thing to do and you guys crushed it I'm wondering have you already gotten calls from other east coast teams about giving them your information about sleep and and planning so they can copycat what you just did Sean you know I I didn't realize what a what a big deal was made of it until after the game you know but I but here's what I would say is I have a ton of trust in Reggie Scott, our group behind the scenes that is responsible for sports performance and really trying to understand how do we make this not as much of a big deal for our players where we can try to keep a normal rhythm and routine, even though you're staying in Baltimore.

4:45But what we have been accustomed to when we're kicking off at two 30 in London, it's going from the East or from the West coast, the East coast, kicking out off at 10 AM and our body clocks. So what are, what, what we did was we basically just adjusted and said, all right, let's get acclimated to the East Coast. And because they kick off at 2.30, it's a three-and-a-half-hour time difference. And so it's very similar to things that we had done. And ultimately, it's about our players. They handled it like studs. But I have gotten hit up about it, and I'm not going to tell them anything. He's about to say, man.

5:17Rich Eisen:I was about to say, because this is a copycat league. And, you know, I've done all these London games, and everyone's like, we're going to get there first thing. Or we're not going to get there until two days before. And you're the first to basically say, you know what? We're going to hang on the East Coast the entire week, and then we're just going to fly in for the game, sleep and play, and go home. Like a special ops. We were just in and out before you knew it. You were like Ocean's 11, and your 11 were on each side of the ball, man. You flew over. The Ocean was the Atlantic, and the 11 was on either side of the ball for you, man.

5:50Rich Eisen:And it worked out. And Stafford is just unbelievable. I can't believe this was a guy who had back pain in the summer that made people think he might not answer a bell. He's been maybe the best he's ever been. What's it been like from your perspective? He's been awesome. You know what's funny is he was telling me before the game that a couple of the coaches on the other staff said, yeah, that was really nice of Sean to basically fake a back injury for you so that you could just miss camp. He's like, what the hell are you talking about? The back injury was real. You know, I think there's this narrative that we were just faking it because he's played so well.

6:24He's been awesome, though, Rich. I think the first thing I would say is he's done a great job of taking care of himself. He is feeling good, but he's in total command. And this guy enjoys the game. He certainly doesn't have to be playing. He enjoys his teammates. He enjoys competing. I think he's seeing the field really well. I don't think there's ever been a time that there's more multiple looks that defenses are presenting than what we've seen over the last year. And that's a credit to just the volume that people are carrying and how hard it is to get a beat on what they're doing. But to be 17-2 touchdowns to picks, and he's really had a lot of plays where, you know, they're not turnover worthy.

7:02So, I mean, that's a real stat. Sometimes you can see guys get away with that, but he's a stud, and I'm certainly grateful, and I'm going to cherish every moment for however long he wants to play. But I don't take for granted how lucky I am to be able to coach a guy like him.

7:15Rich Eisen:Well, we had Devontae Adams in our broadcast meeting Zoom after we chatted with you last week, Sean, and he told Kurt Warner that Rogers is the quarterback with the best arm he's ever had, but he said that Stafford's superpower, the best he's ever seen at manipulating a defense with his eyes, with his mannerisms. What have you seen on that front that you could sort of add to that? He's incredible. Well, he's the best in both for what I've been around, And he is just so special. I think he's so smart. I think that's the one thing, and you and I have talked about this before, Rich. He's obviously well-respected for this gunslinger, this tough competitor.

8:02He takes hits, he gets up. But he's so smart. I think that's the one thing. People don't realize how hard he works at it, how he's accumulated this knowledge of inventory that he's able to replicate from years. But he'll be the first to tell you, when he first started, there's so many ways that Calvin Johnson was getting doubled in creative. ways that coverage contours played out and he wants to throw to him and they know it and I've got to figure out a way to be able to do that when there's usually two or three people paying attention to him and I think a lot of the manipulation of coverage and understanding how to move people opposite of where you're trying to get them to go was foundationally started from him and Calvin playing together but I think that's an athletic intuition that he has that's pretty unique and special and it's a credit to him and I remember Mahomes you know mentioned it to me when I saw him, the balls that he had to be able to bring that out.

8:51It's one thing to do it when you got the games in hand, but to do it in crunch time on a game-winning drive to win the Super Bowl. And now it's kind of been old hat and he has fun with it. And everybody knows he's doing it and he still finds a way to be able to get people to move to where he wants. He's special.

9:07Rich Eisen:What's your collaboration with him like coming up with a game plan? What's that like? Well, I'll tell you what, we went to, it's really what do you like and that's what we're going to do. But we went to do a walkthrough at Wembley. And, you know, obviously the Jags go play there. But, you know, you got people with Jags T-shirts on. And, you know, I think Gladstone might have been in the upper deck suites when we were walking through on Saturday. So I told the players, I said, you know, we're not going to do much stuff here. This just feels a little weird. I said, why don't you make up a cool play?

9:37Make up a cool trick play, Matthew. He makes up a trick play in about 10 seconds. And I'm thinking to myself, Rich, shows you really what an idiot I am. That would have taken me eight hours to come up with on a Tuesday. He comes up with it in 10 seconds. I'm thinking, man, I really don't know what my value is here when we've got a guy like him. But it truly is a collaboration. He just has such a capacity and an understanding and an ownership of what we're trying to get done. He can watch film and say, these are the types of spots or areas we want to get to. And when you have a guy like that, he can get you in and out of stuff.

10:11He obviously has the autonomy to be able to get in and out of different looks at all times based on the different situations that arise. And I don't take for granted how lucky I am to have somebody that when you make a decision that's not necessarily right, he can make it right with the autonomy and ownership he has and his ability to be able to get it communicated to his other 10 teammates in real time.

10:31Rich Eisen:Well, I'd have my host card taken away if I didn't follow up. Is that now in your playbook? That thing? It might show up, you know, in a theater near you. because I thought to myself, that's actually a pretty damn good idea. So we might have to implement this one. All right. So if there's a trick play at any point during the rest of this season, I need to sit there and think, is that what Stafford came up? Whole cloth and Wembley. I'll shoot you a text and say that's the one. Give him his proper credit. Okay. Fantastic. Sean McVay here on the Rich Eisen Show. Also in that broadcast meeting with you, You talked about how Puka Nakua being out was going to be a challenge for you and your staff, about how you maybe became a little bit Puka-dependent because he's so damn good, and you then have 10 different guys catch a football in this game, including two rookies for touchdowns.

11:26Rich Eisen:First time in five years, the Rams had that. So did you check the box? Did you accomplish what you wanted? Yeah, I think it was really cool. I think what ended up happening is sometimes these things that are challenges can be blessings in disguise. And what I mean by that is we're always going to have Puka when he's up as a focal point. But also, hey, let's not in the meantime lose sight of, you know, we've got Puka, we've got Devontae, but we've got these other eligibles that we want to take advantage of. And, you know, my dad's talked to me about this before. You know, we always talk about everybody likes being a part of something bigger than themselves.

11:59But as long as they feel like their role contributes. And we've got these great players that we want to take advantage of. And I thought that was illustrated by being able to have multiple personnel groupings, multiple guys involved where they've got some plays where they could maybe be the primary in a progression. And then it allows those other guys to be a little bit fresher. Devontae was outstanding with the targets he had, but I also think it's a credit to, hey, he was able to get maybe some snaps off. Otherwise, it'll be the same thing reflected with Puka moving forward. And I was really happy for the guys.

12:29And I thought Matthew did a great job of basically just being a great point guard, getting everybody involved, going where the ball should go. And to have that many people involved is a real credit to, you know, the depth of our players that we do have. And I'm excited about that moving forward.

12:43Rich Eisen:Yeah. And in terms of, you know, you also told a story about about Jared Verse first two weeks, maybe thinking a little bit more than just being natural. and you showed him some footage of last year, right? Absolutely. Right, and your point in that was what with him? Here's the point. I think sometimes when you're a young guy and you have all this success, you feel like you have to reimagine and really kind of add layers to your game. And in the midst of that, you can almost forget about what allowed you to be you in the first place that's natural and the way that you work. There'll be just a natural progression.

13:21And so it's all with the right intentions. But I think sometimes it's, hey, remember who you are. Let's see you doing the things that are in alignment with who you need to be. You don't need to make things up. You don't need to add all these different things to your game. Let's understand what makes you great. What are the things that have naturally occurred just based on your work ethic and your approach? And I think sometimes seeing is more powerful than anything we could say. We sat down. We were able to watch some great examples of stuff that he's done at a high clip. And I think it's getting back to, no, don't press.

13:51You know, every single snap, four to six seconds, man, go do your thing and play to the best of your ability. Your pre-snap demeanor, the way that you violently attack based on whatever that call is. And he's done an awesome job. He's such a likable guy. You know, when he comes on here, you can see he's got this personality. He never shuts up, but that's who he is all the time. And you love him for that. And I've been really proud of the way that he's responded. He's so coachable. He's so accountable. And he is a great challenge because of how smart he is. but he's really played at a high clip.

14:21I think he and Byron Young have really done an outstanding job overall, Rich, and I thought you felt that. I told him, I said, why are you waiting so long to get that sack out of the way? Why don't you just do it like you did in the Jags game every single game?

14:32Rich Eisen:Yeah, I know. First set of downs, he did it. And by the way, since that film session with you, a sack in every single game, including a forced fumble in three of them, and I'm glad you brought up Byron Young. I was about to as well. He's the one who's tied with Brian Burns for the most sacks in the league. What about this kid? He doesn't get a lot of run or discussion. He's in year three, another less need hitting on a draft choice with you guys. What about him? I don't know much about him. Yeah, he's a special player. He's a special human. You know, I think Joe Caniglo does such a great job with that group overall, Rich.

15:07But really, you know, when you look at the edges of our defense, you know, with Byron and with Jared, I think they play off of one another. They're like the Bash brothers. They're always together. But I think there's a good complement. You know, Jared is they're both really physical players, but B.Y. has this great set of athleticism. I mean, he's a legitimate four four guy. He can you know, he's got an understanding of where does he fit within some of the different movements. And I think we're really rushing for as one or for sending more. And he's just made the most of his opportunities. I think he's played consistent like he's gotten those sacks, but he's playing really productive in both phases to stop the run, to rush the passer.

15:45He does some different things when he drops into coverage based on some simulated pressures or overloads that we'll bring. And he's really played consistent. And he's one of those guys that when you spend time with him, you can't help but love him. And really, I feel that way about both he and verse.

15:59Rich Eisen:All right. So in a couple minutes I have left with you, Sean. I know you don't have time to sort of self-reflect here, but I'll try it anyway with you. because one of the things we had as a graphic on a screen of the broadcast during the game in London was, you know, obviously Liam Cohen from your staff. He's under 40. You're 39, and we had a list of the five youngest coaches in the NFL. You're still on that list. The other four, though, were in either year one or year two. You're in year nine. You're in year nine. So it is crazy. So how do you – do you still like it? I mean, obviously – I love it.

16:35Rich Eisen:I know you're really energetic and you got that smile there, but you're not. You can burn out. I mean, John Madden's that perfect example in that regard. You know what I mean? But how are you handling that? I'll tell you what. I think there's been some times, Rich, that, you know, and we've talked about that I went through where you lose perspective. You know, you almost – you come in and you're so young and you have that unobstructed mind. You don't even know the things to worry about. It's just such a blessing. You know, you're able to have – be a part of some teams that did some really cool stuff.

17:05And then in the midst of that journey, you can almost lose sight of it and you can get caught up in, hey, this is about being transformational, not transactional. I do think that, you know, me having a family and, you know, you're continuing to mature and grow just as a man. When you get hired at 30 years old, I made a ton of mistakes. There's been some things that you want to replicate, but I think I have a healthier perspective on what a blessing this is and how much I love this game and how many blessings it's brought me. But most importantly, the people that I've been able to develop relationships in the midst of this journey, the impact that you want to make.

17:38And I talk to our team about this all the time. We try to say all the time, hey, let's let's be grateful. Let's be present and let's keep doing hard things. And that's what the NFL entails. I love this job. But most importantly, I love the people that I'm doing it with. I love these players. I love the coaches. I love working with Les Snead going into year nine. I love working with Tony Pastors and Kevin Demoff. I love working for Stan Kroenke and Josh Kroenke. And, um, and I really do love it. I think there was moments when I, I got a little bit misguided and, uh, and I wasn't the person that I want to be.

18:10And I still have moments all the time that I mess up, but there's a much more of a healthier perspective and appreciation for what this job is. And, and I don't take for granted how lucky I am to be into year nine, um, and to continue to really love what you're doing and to feel like there's a real purpose based on the relationships that are building that journey. And, you know, it's a lot more fun winning those games. Don't get me wrong, but there's a lot of cool stuff that I think I have a better perspective and appreciation for that maybe I didn't cherish as much in the earlier years. And sometimes some of the success we had early on, I think, made me lose that perspective.

18:44Rich Eisen:How old is Jordan John McKay right now? You know what? Jordan John turns two years old on the 24th this week. Big birthday. We've got trucks. We've got dinos. It's going to be a big day at the McVay household. Dinos. Dinos. Yeah. Dinos, huh? Okay. That's right. So he's two. Bouncy house? We've got a bouncy house going on? Oh, we'll have a bounce house. I think Dad will be in there more than Jordan. Be careful, man. It'll be great. Wait a minute. Didn't you hurt your foot? You've got to be careful in that bouncy house. Hey, I'm like Hulk. I heal quick. I should know that. Is that why? Last thing for you.

19:19Rich Eisen:because listen, I noticed these things. You're in the rain. Put up the photograph. I was just so impressed that the hair is stained. I mean, in the rain for three and a half hours and the headset. But what is that pomade made out of, man? Cement? What is that? Kevin O 'Connell, when we played the Niners last year on Thursday night, Kevin O 'Connell's oldest son asked him the same thing. He said, how does Coach McVay's hair not move even when it's wet? I'll never tell, Rich. I'll never tell. All right. Secret to the trade. you know you could tell me it's not like i'm gonna use it you know what i mean like if i could pull that off though i'd just go the easy route and shave the head too you've been you've been doing that at a high clip for a long time my friend you're the best sean thanks for the time i appreciate you spending time of your bye week you're off time with me man i appreciate it hey thanks for having me on it was good catching up with you in the production meeting too thanks pal right back at you and enjoy the birthday enjoy the birthday with your wife and everybody else will do appreciate you man you got that sean mcveigh we now know what he's going to be doing on his off weekend love it the best dad ever he's coming for the crown two-year-old that's a fun birthday oh my god that was amazing secrets he won't tell us it's not like again i'm not going to do anything what are we going to do did he was he kind enough to say that i'm shaving my hair like that this is he made it seem like this is a choice it's a choice yeah i don't want to you know i don't like correcting my guests in real time understood all right fantastic espn radio is presented by progressive insurance not only does progressive let you bundle your insurance they also give you round the clock protection kind of like sean mcveigh's hair gel quote today at progressive dot com that's great man i just love the insight with him and stafford by the way a trick play when it happens i'll let you know if he's telling me if he texts me that that's the one from Wembley.

21:11Rich Eisen:Can you imagine they win a game and it's a play that they pull out of the hat because McVeigh basically said, choose up a trick play. He comes up with one on the spot in Wembley and they put it in the playbook and they win a game with it. Can you imagine that happens? I imagine it will happen. Oh my god. Awesome. Tom Papa is here. Let's bring him out. Let's have some fun with the comedian Tom Papa when we come back.

21:39Rich Eisen:the rich is a show podcast

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