The Jeff Fisher Rams periodically drew criticism for chippy play that often crossed the line. The Sean McVay Rams apparently won’t be that way,
“[W]e’re going to be a team that’s built on character,” McVay told reporters on Friday. “We feel that true leadership is about building and developing relationships that are going to help us create a unified vision that’s sustainable over time. Our character will be the foundation and it will be the glue that holds us together as an organization. We’re going to be committed to our process and we’re going to be committed to a standard of performance. And those things are going to be focused on – daily improvement and daily excellence. That’s what’s going to help guide us on our journey to try to achieve a world championship and bring it to this great City of Los Angeles. . . . .
“[W]hat does a Ram look like, what do we want our tape to look like? A Ram, for us, they’re going to be mentally and physically tough players that are smart and love to compete. And our tape is our resume and we know that. But, in order to be able to put out that product that our fans deserve, that we want to see that’s going to give us a chance to compete and win games week-in and week-out, we’ve got to be committed to that process and that standard of performance. And that’s something that we will be doing.”
Those comments imply plenty about the status of the Rams organization before McVay’s arrival. These comments do even more of the same.
“[W]e know that before we can become a consistent winner, we have to act like winners – and that starts with implementing a culture,” McCoy said. “So we want to set a culture, maintain a culture and then that’s going to allow us to achieve that sustained success. The similarities in what we believed we needed to implement in this organization — creating a culture of we, not me — are the things that really excited me about the opportunity to work with [COO] Kevin [Demoff] and [G.M.] Les [Snead].”
Those comments imply that the culture previously was one of me, not we, and that the players aren’t acting like winners or otherwise demonstrating character. Which surely had to make things a little awkward for Snead, since he had a direct and significant role in creating the culture that McVay is determined to change.
Snead’s presence at the press conference in front-and-center capacity, including having a hand on the jersey with McVay’s name on it for the photo op, would tend to suggest that Snead’s status may not be as tenuous as previously believed. McVay’s comments, however, subtly but clearly suggest that the person who set the table for Fisher may not be setting the table for McVay.