Sean McVay informed the Rams on Friday that he will return to coach for a seventh season, the team announced.
McVay, who guided the Rams to a Super Bowl title in 2021 and then suffered through a 5-12 season in 2022, said Monday he would take some time to reflect on the season and decide whether he would return.
“Don’t want to rush into any sort of decision,” McVay said.
It took four days.
McVay, who will turn 37 in 11 days, has been the Rams coach since 2017, when owner Stan Kroenke made the then-30-year-old McVay the youngest coach in modern NFL history.
Last spring, McVay received an extension that made him one of the NFL’s highest-paid coaches. He remains under contract for several years.
McVay led the Rams to the playoffs four times and two Super Bowls in six seasons, winning Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium.
This season, however, the Rams nosedived to the worst finish by a defending Super Bowl champion in league history.
McVay has 60-38 record and is 7-3 in the playoffs.
McVay on Monday described his passion for coaching and the way he goes about it as “a beautiful torment.” He said his desire to reflect on whether to step away had been building over time.
“This has been years,” he said. “This is not a new thing.”
After defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl, McVay flirted with transitioning to broadcasting. Networks reportedly would have paid him tens of millions annually. But the extension soon followed.
Kevin Demoff, the Rams chief operating officer, said Thursday that there was no timeline for McVay to inform the team of his decision.
If McVay had stepped away, the Rams had “contingency plans in a situation like this that will be ready to be enacted,” Demoff said.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has said that he would return to the Rams for a 15th NFL season regardless of whether McVay were the coach.
Defensive tackle Aaron Donald, a three-time NFL defensive player of the year, has said that he would play as long as McVay was the coach. Donald has not spoken with reporters since sitting out a Nov. 27 game against the Seattle Seahawks because of a season-ending ankle injury.
The Rams also are searching for a new offensive coordinator. Liam Coen this week returned to Kentucky to become offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Coen will call plays, a responsibility that McVay has always held with the Rams.
McVay reportedly told assistant coaches this week that he would not stand in their way of seeking other opportunities.
