For all his brilliance at game planning and play calling, Rams head coach Sean McVay has made more than his share of mistakes as a coach, specifically when it comes to clock management. That was particularly notable in the Rams’ playoff loss to the Lions, when McVay blew two timeouts early in the second half of a game that ended with the Lions running out the clock to secure a one-point win.
Recognizing that’s an area where he needs to improve, McVay hired John Streicher as a new addition to the coaching staff with the title of game management coordinator, and McVay cited the timeout mismanagement as the kind of thing Streicher will help him avoid.
“Not use my timeouts in the second half until I need to,” McVay answered when asked what Streicher will help him with.
McVay said Streicher has been very well respected in the NFL for his work with the Titans over the last six years.
“This game management coordinator, there’s a select group of people who have really earned a great reputation around the league,” McVay said. “You look at what this guy’s reputation has been in Tennessee, working closely with Mike Vrabel, and I think from afar I’ve always admired and respected how they handle situations. There’s an innate understanding of the rules and how to be able to use those to your advantage, clock management, some of the situational things that do end up coming up. He’s done a lot of different things for Tennessee, but when they ended up having a transition, he was a guy that came available, and you wanted to be able to jump at the opportunity to get him on board because I think he’s gonna be really valuable. I’ve really enjoyed being around him in a short amount of time and getting some exposure to the passion he has for that specific part of the game, while also having a big-picture capacity for it schematically, and also being able to evaluate personnel. So that’ll be the focus and concentration.”
McVay made two self-deprecating jokes about his timeout usage, saying another time during his meeting with the media on Thursday, “Maybe I won’t burn my timeouts in the second half so early.”