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Football may be a young man's game, but coaching football is certainly not. While it's not quite as senior-skewed as the most recent United States presidential race -- in which the top candidates were all at least in their 70s -- the fraternity of NFL head coaches is typically an older crowd.
Bill Belichick, the active standard by which NFL head coaches are judged, is 68 years old. Andy Reid, the reigning Super Bowl champion, is 62. Jon Gruden and Pete Carroll, two of the most dynamic personalities and successful winners among coaches, are 57 and 69, respectively. Mike McCarthy, the coach of "America's Team," is also 57.
The youngest head coach in the NFL is one who's not brand-new and has an impressive track record of success.
Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, 34 years old, is the youngest head coach in the NFL.
In his fourth season as the Rams' head coach, McVay has already put together the foundation of a Hall of Fame resume. He was voted NFL Coach of the Year in 2017 when he led the Rams to an 11-5 record in his first season. In his second season, he guided the Rams to the Super Bowl, where they lost to Belichick's New England Patriots.
Last season, the Rams missed the playoffs at 9-7, but this season they are 9-4 and starting to look like a serious Super Bowl contender again. On Thursday, McVay's Rams outclassed Belichick's Patriots, 24-3, to put the Patriots on the brink of being eliminated from the playoff picture.
Also Read: Who is Sean McVay's girlfriend, Veronika Khomyn?
Sean McVay's road to NFL head coach
Sean McVay grew up in an Ohio football family. His father, Tim, played college football. His grandfather, John, coached the NFL's New York Giants in the 1970s and worked as general manager of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s and 1990s.
Sean McVay played wide receiver at Miami (Ohio). He actually began attending that college shortly after Ben Roethlisberger left the school for the NFL. So yes, there is a scenario in which this season's Super Bowl gives up Roethlisberger quarterbacking a Pittsburgh Steelers team against a Rams team whose head coach followed in his footsteps in college.
After college, McVay was hired by Gruden as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He later worked as an assistant with Washington under Jon Gruden's brother, Jay Gruden.
In 2017, McVay completed his rapid rise through the coaching ranks by getting hired by the Rams as their head coach. At the time, he was the youngest head coach of the NFL's modern era, just a few days shy of his 31st birthday.
Given McVay's age, it makes sense that he'd have a coaching staff that leaned on the younger side as well. Going into this season, the Rams had the NFL's second-youngest coaching staff, with an average age of 40.5 years old. Offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell is 35, while defensive coordinator Brandon Staley is 37.
The San Francisco 49ers had the youngest coaching staff, averaging 38 years old, led by 40-year-old head coach Kyle Shanahan.
