Les Snead is winningest general manager in Rams franchise history

Sean McVay saw the game through a similar lens as Snead, and McVay’s ability to understand both sides of the ball – even as an offensive-minded coach – was instrumental in helping Snead assemble the roster.

“At that point in time, right, Sean was definitely a part of a new iteration of coaches in the NFL,” Snead said. “Some that were very good at calling plays, and then when they got the head coaching job, they were still coming to call plays. And so with Sean being on the offensive side of the ball, he’s very in tune with offense, but he’s also very in tune with the league’s defenses. It was very, very impactful to work with someone to construct a team, to engineer a team, to build it, to weigh which positions matter and why on both sides of the ball, because he was knee-deep in the weeds trying to get a first down, trying to get a touchdown. … There was a lot of chemistry and compatibility as we started that journey, because he was very clear and concise on the why. And that was definitely fun to go through that.”

Year 1 of the partnership produced immediate results. The Rams reached the playoffs for the first time since 2004 and clinched the NFC West for the first time since 2003, going 11-5 before falling to the Falcons in the wild card round.

The team followed that with a playoff appearance in the 2018 season, narrowly missed the playoffs in 2019, returned to the postseason in 2020 before breaking through in 2021 with the franchise’s first Super Bowl title in Los Angeles – and doing it in their own stadium.

“That window, that phase, getting there (to the Super Bowl), losing, eventually getting back, winning, I think really, probably early in the interview process, you realize, okay, Sean’s a difference-maker,” Snead said. “And then once we got on the grass, before we started keeping score – OTAs, training camp, scrimmages – you remember, ‘Wow, he’s a difference-maker. He’s inspiring the team to go execute those differences.’ So it was one of those moments, like, wow, it would be nice to take advantage of this, and to actually take advantage of it (was) very, very fulfilling, to climb that mountain. I remember Kara, my wife, saying that the best thing that ever happened to us was losing the first Super Bowl. I still dissent that, (but) what I can say is by losing that one, the one we did win, really tasted well, smelled really good, probably based on the stench of losing one.”