Sean McVay Says He's Exchanged Text Messages with Bill Belichick All Season

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay told Peter King of NBC Sports that he had the opportunity to meet New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick at the NFL Scouting Combine last year and that the two have regularly texted throughout the season:

"He was really great in the conversation we had, really enlightening. This is wild: This season, he has basically texted me after every one of our games. After we beat Minnesota in September, he texted, 'Man, you guys are really explosive and impressive and fun to watch. Congratulations—keep it rolling.' For him to even take the time to say congrats, it's pretty cool. That's one of the things I like about our business, our fraternity of coaches. As competitive as it is, guys find time to share when they can. I'm still young, still figuring it out. That stuff's been really helpful to me."

McVay and his Rams are now set to face Belichick and his Patriots in Super Bowl LIII, a matchup of the game's young coaching prodigy versus the man who has dominated the sport for the past two decades. 

Under McVay, the Rams are now 26-9 and have reached the postseason in two straight seasons, ending a 12-year drought in the 2017 campaign. That's already an impressive resume for the 33-year-old McVay, and NFL teams have taken notice, with a hiring frenzy to add candidates from the McVay coaching tree this offseason.

Belichick's resume, meanwhile, is the most impressive in NFL history. The 66-year-old legend is 261-123 in his career with 17 postseason berths, nine trips to the Super Bowl and five titles. His pairing with quarterback Tom Brady has terrorized the NFL for the past 18 seasons, though McVay and his young quarterback, Jared Goff, are looking to assume that mantle. 

McVay is already one of the most respected offensive minds in the game, but one of the areas in which he may differ from his predecessors is a willingness to listen to his players' ideas and incorporate them into the game plan. 

"Listen to players. Players have the best feel for the game," McVay told King. "Especially guys who have the right insight and the right understanding of what's going on. Giving them that ownership, they're likely to make it work. Players get an intricate feel being out there, more than I have as a coach on the sideline. There are nuances of the game that I can't feel on the sideline."

In McVay's meteoric rise, it hasn't appeared there's been much he's missed, and if he bests Belichick in Super Bowl LIII, his place as the game's preeminent young mind will be secure. It's one of the game's most intriguing storylines: The young genius vs. the old master.