Make no mistake. Sean McVay might have become a head coach before Kyle Shanahan, but all the proliferation we've seen in recent years of that system started with Shanahan — these were all his guys — back in Washington in 2012, where they worked for Mike Shanahan.
The Rams' 23-20 victory on Sunday night was the seminal moment for that group. Two offshoots of the Shanahan system, McVay and Zac Taylor, going head to head in Super Bowl LVI, with McVay getting the first title.
It was the culmination of the system, at least through those based in offense (Brandon Staley, Robert Saleh were defensive coordinators) spreading like wildfire throughout the league in recent years.
Kyle Shanahan, 49ers - 10-7, '19 NFC Champion
Sean McVay, Rams - Super Bowl champion, 62-29 in five seasons
Zac Taylor, Bengals - SB runner-up in 3rd season
Matt LaFleur, Packers - 13-4, NFC's top seed, 2 NFC title games
Kevin Stefanski, Browns - 19-14 in two seasons (Gary Kubiak branch)
Coming next season:
Kevin O'Connell, Vikings
Mike McDaniel, Dolphins
That's just a phenomenal track record. You put it up next to Bill Belichick's coaching tree, and it's no contest — we don't even need to go over the failures there.
An offshoot ... both Shanahan and McVay get raided by other teams, especially McVay, and he keeps winning. Yet New England loses a few front office execs and coaches, and the region is in a full-blown panic — and probably well-placed panic given what we've seen in both areas the past three years.
The question is, why does the Shanahan tree prosper while Belichick's is dead on the vine? And what will that mean for the Patriots going forward as Belichick walks away from the game at some point?
The Scheme
Any discussion has to start with the scheme, especially on offense (defense is hard to compare because McVay switches coordinators). There's little question the Patriots' system is very good — when it's run by the right people, specifically the quarterback. You could make an argument that the Patriots need too many smart people (coaches and players) to run their offense at full capacity given all the choice routes, option routes, route conversions and sight adjustments. I'm sure the Shanahan system has some of those, but it can't be all that complicated considering they can just plop people in from other systems and contend for Super Bowls — Jimmy Garoppolo went to one his first full season, Matthew Stafford won one in his. The number of players that have failed to grasp the Patriots' offensive system, namely receivers, is lengthy. Odell Beckham played 11.5 games including playoffs for the Rams and caught seven touchdowns.
There's little doubt, watching the Rams and Niners on film, that the three-level passing system is predicated more on formations, route concepts and speed to win more than the Patriots, which is more about a high-level QB diagnosing the defense quickly and being on the same page as the intended target.
The Patriots have a great running system and is more gameplan oriented. Shanahan is the zone blocking scheme that is tough to defend and doesn't need as many elite linemen, who also benefit by a moving pocket and motion in pass protection.
Basically, the Shanahan is easier to learn and execute, and the players play faster more quickly
Coaching the Coaches
This was a big lesson Mike taught Kyle and his buddies back in the day: you're not only coaching the players, but also all the coaches because if you're successful, other teams are going to hire away assistants. Basically, the Shanahan tree involves all the coaches in every aspect on both sides of the ball. The communication is constant and there is round-the-clock discussion behind the meaning of everything they do as a team, and challenging each other to come up with more efficient ways to do things.
"The best two years of my life,’’ Taylor told reporters about working for McVay. “He’s really showed a lot of us young guys you can do it your own way.”
You could make the argument that communication has never been Belichick's strong suit. There's no question that he seems the game differently and better than anyone else and knows how 99 percent of games need to be played for the Patriots to win, so that communication is great. But as far as coaching all the coaches up so they can share Belichick's thinking
"The secret sauce in New England is him, and people that are there, they really don't understand what he does, and then they try to emulate him in a fashion that's really not emulating him," said Mike Lombardi, who worked for Belichick in two stints. "They don't really understand the whole picture. ... If you don't understand the formula for what he's doing, it's hard to do it. When problems creep in, you don't know how to solve them."
Belichick might train his assistants in scheme and gameplanning, but he's a closed book to them in many other ways. And being an effective head coach is almost always being good in the other areas, interpersonal areas, as Josh McDaniels learned in Denver.
“When I went to Denver, I knew a little bit of football,” McDaniels said after being introduced as Raiders coach. “I didn’t really know people and how important that aspect of this process and maintaining the culture and building the team was. I failed, and I didn’t succeed at it. Looking at that experience has been one of the best things in my life in terms of my overall growth as a person, as a coach."
Why didn't McDaniels — or any other failed former Patriots head coaches — learn that lesson in New England? Belichick coaches the coaches on football, but he doesn't coach them on being a good head coach. You could make the argument the best two coaches ever under Belichick, Dante Scarnecchia and Ivan Fears, weren't trained by Belichick.
Relating to the players
No one is going to make the case that you need to be a players coach, or that Belichick didn't have good relationships with many of his players — he certainly did. But there's no question watching some of the Shanahan assistants, who are all 30-somethings and younger than some of their players, that they let the players be themselves, and that appeals to the younger stars. I mean, anyone who can get Odell Beckham, Jalen Ramsey and Von Miller to co-exist with ease and quickly is doing something right.
"I think Sean's relationship with his players is really special," Taylor told reporters this week. "It's not just scheme-based. He really wants to get to know those guys and see their personalities shine through."
Said Miller: “You just relate a little bit more to guys you’re closer in age to. Coach McVay, he just has that energy, he has that leadership spark about him. He gets the best out of his players. ... When you feel like a coach loves you and appreciates you, it makes you want to play a little bit harder.’’
Many of Shanahan's players say the same thing.
That's not to say that players don't enjoy playing for Belichick and the Patriots, but there's little question the Shanahan tree has a better track record of making it work on and off the field with those players.
Other game thoughts ...
- You're not going to hear the Patriots have to go all-in on talent to win in this spot, but I think the Rams' method for building a champion — we don't know how sustainable this is while the Patriots are the model for that — is about striking the balance between hitting on a lot of second to fifth round draft picks to the point that you can target some spots try trading first-round picks. The Patriots used to be able to do that when they drafted better at certain points. But they can't now because the recent drafts were so poor.
- Another win for the better offensive line. Joe Burrow was pressured on 42.5 percent of his dropbacks (seven sacks) while Matthew Stafford was pressure on just 19 percent (two sacks). The Bengals' run would have and should have ended in the first round if Ryan Tannehill was just a little better.
- Wouldn't count on Burrow getting back anytime soon. He's the new Dan Marino — a cocky and talented QB whose team didn't put enough around him. What did having Duper and Clayton do for Marino, all those people who prioritize weapons for Mac Jones?
- Yes, you need more than a great QB to be a champion. Tom Brady wasn't winning six titles here without very good players and coaches around him. Swap Burrow and Brady in Cincy and you'd end up with the same results.
- Hated the holding call on Logan Wilson.
- Your defense has to be better than to be beaten by the Rams moving Cooper Kupp to the outside from the slot after the Beckham injury. There's no way Eli Apple should be matched up with Kupp that often. Have to have a more flexible scheme.
- Same goes with the Bengals' offense where, despite the pressure, they kept putting five guys out in routes and getting Burrow killed.
- Matthew Stafford is not a Hall of Famer in any way, shape or form. He might have been outside of Detroit, but the HOF isn't fantasy football. A second title would help him, but that shouldn't put Eli Manning over the top either. Neither came close to dominating in their era.
- Sam Perine on third and 1? Really? And that play should have been reviewed. If he didn't hit the line, it was close enough to be in sneak territory. Bad spot.
- Please don't retire Aaron Donald.
