The McVay Effect: How does Vikings’ Zimmer stay relevant amid seismic shift in NFL?

Whether it’s Bruce Arians scoring a job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Adam Gase retreading with the New York Jets, Freddie Kitchens locking down the full-time gig with the Cleveland Browns, Matt LaFleur getting a shot with the Green Bay Packers or Zac Taylor reportedly being the frontrunner with the Cincinnati Bengals, it’s no coincidence that teams have made a concerted effort to hire the best offensive-minded candidate.
That said, no hire illustrates The Sean McVay Effect more than Kliff Kingsbury being named head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, a couple of months after being fired by Texas Tech.
Heck, in the original news release sent out to announce the hiring of Kingsbury, the Cardinals actually emphasized his friendship with McVay, seemingly using that as a selling point to the fan base. That wording has since been changed online.
“There’s nothing that I can say that is going to change that,” Kingsbury said, responding to those critics who think he’s in over his head. “I know it’s about the work that started (on Tuesday) and what we do from this point forward. That’s how I’m attacking that.”
Nonetheless, Kingsbury didn’t deny the fact that his relationship with McVay contributed to landing in his current role.
Neither did LaFleur, who actually thanked McVay in his opening statement after being introduced by the Packers.
“He is a close friend of mine,” LaFleur said. “Just watching him empower everybody around him, from the other coaches to the players, really brings out the best in everybody.”
It’s become a meme at this point. Any sort of connection to McVay is something that can actually set candidates above the rest of the field.

Have you seen this Freddie Kitchens guy? This dude is country bumpkin. I mean, he must do pretty well at his job but wow, he acts like a big doofus. 

Maybe McCarthy can get a job w/ the Rams next season in an attempt to recycle himself...  ;) B)

@"StickyBun" said: Have you seen this Freddie Kitchens guy? This dude is country bumpkin. I mean, he must do pretty well at his job but wow, he acts like a big doofus. 

https://twitter.com/NFLFilms/status/1083070722979713024?s=19

@"Vikergirl" said:

@"StickyBun" said: Have you seen this Freddie Kitchens guy? This dude is country bumpkin. I mean, he must do pretty well at his job but wow, he acts like a big doofus. 

https://twitter.com/NFLFilms/status/1083070722979713024?s=19

The McVay effect is a media fad.   Rams loaded the roster for him and anyone is an upgrade over Jeff freakin' Fisher.   The longer he is around the more defenses will figure him out.   The NFL game nowadays is more about offense mostly due to rules changes, but in the long term it's the same game it's always been.   What's old is new many times, it's just that people have forgotten most of the history.

@"comet52" said: The McVay effect is a media fad.   Rams loaded the roster for him and anyone is an upgrade over Jeff freakin' Fisher.   The longer he is around the more defenses will figure him out.   The NFL game nowadays is more about offense mostly due to rules changes, but in the long term it's the same game it's always been.   What's old is new many times, it's just that people have forgotten most of the history.

This.

@"comet52" said: The McVay effect is a media fad.   Rams loaded the roster for him and anyone is an upgrade over Jeff freakin' Fisher.   The longer he is around the more defenses will figure him out.   The NFL game nowadays is more about offense mostly due to rules changes, but in the long term it's the same game it's always been.   What's old is new many times, it's just that people have forgotten most of the history.

Yep and the article posted is already writing off defense and Zimmer as being outdated.  Anyone remember Chicago kicking the snot out of the Rams just a few weeks back?  That was a good old defensive ass whooping.  And the Saints are the #1 seed in the NFC, more on the back of their improved D rather than another great year by Brees. 

So we shall see.  Zimmer's D adjusted to the new rules and played pretty damn well since the Rams game.  If the offense could have fought thru a wet paper bag, we might still be in the thick of it.

I like McVay, but I would like to see him have some
adversity to deal with on offense.

I think teams need to be dominant on both sides but they
should prioritize offense.  I think it’s
just easier to win if you are consistently scoring points.  I think it’s easier to push a little harder
on a dominant offense to get an extra touchdown, than it is hold an opposing
offense under 10-13 when you can’t move the ball at all, but you need
both.  Teams that are one sided aren’t
often likely to make it deep, unless they get lucky with injuries.

That said, I think the idea that McVay means old coaches are
outdated and we need to hire 30 somethings is ludicrous.  I think you’re much more likely to get a JDF
type performance than you are to get a McVay type performance.  McVay doesn’t even have the best offense in
the league.  The best offense in the
league is run by a 60 year old in KC.

@"medaille" said: I like McVay, but I would like to see him have some adversity to deal with on offense.

I think teams need to be dominant on both sides but they
should prioritize offense.  I think it’s
just easier to win if you are consistently scoring points.  I think it’s easier to push a little harder
on a dominant offense to get an extra touchdown, than it is hold an opposing
offense under 10-13 when you can’t move the ball at all, but you need
both.  Teams that are one sided aren’t
often likely to make it deep, unless they get lucky with injuries.

That said, I think the idea that McVay means old coaches are
outdated and we need to hire 30 somethings is ludicrous.  I think you’re much more likely to get a JDF
type performance than you are to get a McVay type performance.  McVay doesn’t even have the best offense in
the league.  The best offense in the
league is run by a 60 year old in KC.

Yeah but hiring fat old guys is much less desirable than energetic dashing young men.

Bill Bellichek and Andy Reid could probably be Sean McVays' grandpa. 

I noticed Saints coach Payton spells his name "Sean" as well. Maybe that's the secret. We don't need a 30 year old coach... just go get a dude named Sean. How the media has missed this is beyond me.

It’ll be hard to duplicate McVay. The guy is like a savant, recalling playcalls made over the years including the different players, different teams, the situations & the results involved verbatim. He’s also so good at relating to the players he seems to bring out their most on both sides of the ball. He’s the total package, we’ll have to see if any of these other guys can carry that forward...

@"Kentis" said: It’ll be hard to duplicate McVay. The guy is like a savant, recalling playcalls made over the years including the different players, different teams, the situations & the results involved verbatim. He’s also so good at relating to the players he seems to bring out their most on both sides of the ball. He’s the total package, we’ll have to see if any of these other guys can carry that forward...

That all works as long as you keep winning!

The current flaw that modern offenses have exploited is that you have 15-20 yards outside the receivers on each side of the field to use pre-snap. Typically you hear how the QB reads the defense, makes his progressions, and delivers the ball. By using side to side motion you are make the defense reactionary to what you're going to do. So you basically are flipping who has the advantage. You WR's moving side to side are no match for LB's and the DB's are easily blocked 1x1 if receivers do their jobs.

Since the NFL is cyclical in nature teams will begin drafting more athletic DE's and putting together big nickel packages to have the extra safety set the edge. Chicago just happened to have the right personnel to do that this year. Once others adapt something new will be introduced. 

Are you saying Bill Musgrave was on to something?!  :p