By now, Sean McVay should be used to losing his coordinators and assistants to promotions around the NFL. He’s seen Matt LaFleur, Zac Taylor and Greg Olson all leave for either coordinator or head coaching jobs, which is a testament to the impact McVay has on his assistants.
He should prepare to possibly lose Thomas Brown at some point, too. Brown is currently the Rams’ running backs coach but McVay sees no limit on how high he can ascend in the coaching ranks. McVay left no doubt about Brown’s potential as a coordinator candidate, despite this being his first gig in the NFL.
“Yes. I think that there’s no limit for this guy,” he said last week. “I’d be so happy for him if he continues to ascend but sad for the Rams. I think he can do whatever he wants. I think he’s definitely a coordinator. I think he’s got head coach potential, in terms of his leadership and the way he relates to guys. This guy’s a great coach. I don’t think there’s any sort of ceiling or limitations on what he’s not able to accomplish at this level.”
If current offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell leaves at some point in the future, which based on recent history with the Rams’ coordinators seems likely, Brown could be an option if McVay wants to promote from within.
Currently, Brown is overcoming a torn Achilles, which he suffered in practice last week, but he’s a resilient coach and McVay doesn’t expect it to slow him down at all.
“He is such a stud,” McVay said of Brown. “I mean, if you guys see him moving around, the urgency. He’s so sudden that he unfortunately blew out his Achilles yesterday doing individual drills. I mean, walked right off and didn’t flinch. He was out there today. He’ll end up getting surgery early next week, but just sick for him. This guy won’t miss a beat. It’s more of an inconvenience than anything for us as coaches at this point, but he’s so active and so involved with those guys that you definitely missed out on those kinds of things. Hoping and praying for a fast and safe recovery for him.”
