Don’t be so surprised. The rumors started when he was only 34. It is more likely that Sean McVay will be working in television before he turns 40—he’s almost 37—than it is that he’ll still be coaching the Rams for another four years.
In the summer of 2020, when he was only 34 and had only spent three years as an NFL head coach, ESPN approached McVay about being the new voice of Monday Night Football. You don’t do this with just any head coach. You approach people who you know might be available, even if it were only a sliver of a chance.
That sliver has grown into a chasm and now only hours away from officially ending his first losing season as a head coach in the NFL, Sean McVay could retire and go into television following Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks. Which outcome is most likely to nudge McVay in that direction?