Friends to foes: Sean McVay excited to battle ‘big brother’ Matt LaFleur
Saturday’s game between the Rams and Packers will mark a first for Sean McVay. He’ll be going up against Matt LaFleur who was his offensive coordinator for one season in 2017 before leaving to join the Titans and eventually Green Bay.
This will be McVay’s first game against LaFleur, who he considers to be one of his best friends. Although they only spent one year together in Los Angeles, they also worked on the same staff in Washington from 2010-2013 when LaFleur coached the quarterbacks and McVay was an offensive assistant/TEs coach.
A huge playoff game won’t come between the friendship of McVay and LaFleur, but they’re also not talking to each other about Saturday’s showdown. They’ve kept in touch this week, though only about things not related to the game.
McVay said that he spoke with Matt LaFleur this week but not about the game.
— Gary Klein (@LATimesklein) January 14, 2021
McVay said this week that he and LaFleur steal plays from each other after the two spent so much time drawing up plays together in Los Angeles. McVay can see LaFleur carrying over some of the offensive philosophies that he had with the Rams, though he’s created his own identity with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay.
There’s obviously a certain level of familiarity between the two of them, but McVay doesn’t see that as an advantage or disadvantage. He’s just thrilled that both have the opportunity to coach in this game with a spot in the NFC championship on the line.
“I don’t know that you’d say advantage or disadvantage. I think it’s just when Matt got the opportunity to go there, the last thing I was surprised by was the success that he had,” McVay said. “He’s a great coach. He’s a great friend of mine. You’re so happy to see that success. It’s pretty crazy that we’re getting an opportunity to play against one another, really our teams are getting to play each other in the divisional round. That’s going to be the most important thing, is the Rams versus the Packers and we’ll see if we can go and get after Matt a little bit. It’ll be fun.”
McVay took the chance to reflect on his relationship with LaFleur this week, sharing an anecdote about how he third-wheeled with Matt and his wife while they were working together in Washington.
He even considers LaFleur to be like a big brother to him, helping him develop as a coach during their time together over the years.
“Matt is one of my closest friends in life,” McVay said. “I think us getting a chance to work here together my first year, where really, I think sometimes you end up being harder or having that comfort level with one another and with the people that you’re closest with. And so, I think as we were both getting comfortable in the roles and trying to do a great job as we got here, I always appreciated his ability to say, ‘I don’t care what you are.’ He always has the right approach as far as being honest. It wasn’t one of those tell you what you want to hear. He told me what I needed to hear, and it was good, even though sometimes we wanted to choke each other out. But I love him. He’s like my big brother and we’ve been close for a long time. I can remember even just going back to when we started working in Washington. He and his wife lived right across the street right when they had their first son, Luke. That was before I had met my fiancée and so I’d come third-wheel it with them a lot. They kind of took me under their wing. So, they’re very close friends of ours. Hey, this is about the Rams versus the Packers, but it’s a blessing to be able to be in these positions.”
LaFleur is taking a similar approach this week, too. He told reporters that the “gloves are off this week” when it comes to facing McVay, putting their friendship aside as they try to punch their ticket to the next round.
Matt LaFleur said he loves Sean McVay like a brother, but the “gloves are off this week.” He said that close relationship helped him grow as a coach when he was #LARams OC in that he had total trust to not hold back and offer his views/input without concern.
— Omar Ruiz (@OmarDRuiz) January 12, 2021
Coming into this one, it’s LaFleur’s Packers that are favored in the eyes of oddsmakers. Green Bay is currently favored by a touchdown over the Rams, which isn’t the least bit surprising after the Packers went 13-3 in the regular season.
But he’s not going to take McVay’s Rams lightly. The better team will win on Saturday, and that team’s coach will have bragging rights over the other. Not that either guy needed added motivation heading into a playoff tilt.
