In the business world, CEOs have non-compete clauses in their contracts which prevent them from amassing a stockpile of company secrets and leaving to go work for a competitor. In the NFL, it's simply part of the standard operating procedure.
Redskins head coach Jay Gruden just didn't think his protégé, Rams head coach Sean McVay, would be leaving so soon. McVay and the Rams host Gruden and the Redskins on Sunday in Los Angeles.
"Well, honestly I didn't think he'd get [a head coaching job] this quick [laughs]," Gruden told Rams reporters Wednesday, via comments distributed by the team. "He's pretty young, but we had some success on offense and he did great things with [Redskins QB] Kirk Cousins obviously and he's very organized. The whole trick is to get in front of a room and I had a feeling that once he got in front of a room, some general managers and some owners that he would be able to get in there because he's very presentable, he's very knowledgeable, very smart, he's a very loyal guy and very passionate about the game.
"So, there's a lot to like about Sean once you get to know him. I just didn't know that people would give him that opportunity at such a young age, but once they started giving him interviews, I figured that he would get one of them because like I said, he has all of those traits to be a good head coach."
McVay is the youngest head coach in NFL history. His first NFL game was a 46-9 thrashing of the Andrew Luck-less Colts and, interestingly enough, the first game that might legitimize his early tenure is against the person who gave him his start in the league.
Judging by Gruden's comments on McVay, which have been expansive this week and took up nearly all of Gruden's time with Rams reporters Wednesday, there isn't the type of animosity that there might have been in a Bill Belichick/Josh McDaniels matchup or perhaps a Belichick/Eric Mangini. So, minus a fist-pumping gaffe for the ages, we're left wondering about what will take place on the field, and just how many of those state secrets McVay will end up pulling from Gruden to begin with.
"I just know that knowing what we do offensively, it's going to be hard for our defense," Gruden said. "They're going to give us a lot of different formations, a lot of change-of-tempos offensively, quick counts, speed breaks, no huddle, a lot of different formations, a lot of stacks and they've got a good running game with [Rams RB] Todd Gurley and he changes it up with good play-action passes.
"I can tell them what he likes, but stopping it is another issue because you stop certain things but then they hit you with the running game or they hit you with the play-pass or hit you with the bunch-stack deal and the quick game and it's a great changeup."
