In past offseasons, Rams coach Sean McVay has talked about feeling burned out, and considered retiring — even though he’s still just 39 years old. But McVay now says he can’t imagine himself walking away from coaching.
McVay credited former Boise State and Washington head coach Chris Petersen, who reached out to him two years ago after seeing how burned out he looked, with helping him see his job and himself in a new light. McVay told Jourdan Rodrigue of TheAthletic.com that Petersen has helped him realize that coaching doesn’t have to be the pressure cooker he previously made it.
“He has helped me see this game and this profession in \[such\] a totally different lens that [the idea of not coaching feels so laughable](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6398004/2025/06/03/sean-mcvay-coaching-career-rams-nfl/),” said McVay. “I get so much more joy out of things that I just didn’t give a s— about before.”
McVay said that after a press conference in which he talked about potentially quitting coaching, Petersen recognized in him a burnout he had seen in himself and helped him find more joy in the job.
“You’re in the middle of a storm. It’s real gray; things are cloudy,” McVay said. “He saw that press conference. I was crying out for help, I just didn’t realize I was.”
McVay got the help, and got a different perspective on a job he now thinks he’s going to keep doing for many years.