Sean McVay turns 40 with a new perspective on football and the same dreams for his Los Angeles Rams

LOS ANGELES — Sean McVay will spend his 40th birthday on Saturday in the exact same way he spent the vast majority of his 30s.

He'll be preparing the Los Angeles Rams to play their hearts out.

''What's a good birthday? When I'm working on my birthday, and if I'm working next week,'' McVay said. ''That would be a hell of a birthday. That's the only present I want.''

This year, he'll be working to get the Rams ready for the NFC championship game on Sunday. If Los Angeles (14-5) beats the Seattle Seahawks (16-3), McVay will open his next decade by preparing to coach in his third Super Bowl — something no one has done at his age.

McVay has been the ''youngest'' and the ''first'' to a jaw-dropping number of accomplishments since he took over the Rams as a 30-year-old prodigy. He became the apogee of cerebral, offense-minded coaching while transforming a long-struggling franchise into a winner, and his stature in his profession's hierarchy hasn't really changed in nine years.

As he reaches 40, McVay is still working long hours, innovating constantly and striving to master every facet of this complex game. But after he publicly considered walking away from coaching several years ago, the father of two young sons also says he has developed a more nuanced perspective about what football really means — and what coaching truly is.

''I've had a lot of growing up to do since nine years ago when we first got here,'' McVay said. ''Over the last couple of years, and I think through some of the adverse times where you're really forced to do that reflection, is where the appreciation and joy and the journey come from. It's not exclusive to just the trophies. Those are all fleeting. The other things last a lot longer, and I think it keeps your cup full when that's really where your intrinsic motivation comes from.

McVay has already summitted nearly every coaching mountaintop, and he was almost always the first to reach each peak.

He became an offensive coordinator at 27 in Washington. He was the youngest head coach in the Super Bowl era when the Rams hired him in 2017, and he immediately led them to their first playoff berth in 13 years.

At 33, McVay became the youngest head coach to reach the Super Bowl.

At 36, he became the youngest coach to win the Super Bowl.

At 39 last week in Chicago, McVay claimed his 10th playoff victory — the most by any coach under 40, and the same number as Bill Walsh and George Seifert managed in their entire careers.

While his year-to-year results have been outstanding — eight winning seasons, seven playoff berths, four NFC West titles and those two Super Bowl runs — McVay says he takes more pride in his evolution as a leader than in his steady success on the field.

''What I think about the most is the appreciation for when I haven't been at my best, but the unconditional support that I felt,'' McVay said. ''That means a whole hell of a lot to me. (There were) moments I've been open about where I wasn't the leader, I wasn't the man or the coach that I wanted to be on a consistent basis. I'm not by any stretch saying that I've got it all figured out. But I'm better than what I once was, and it's only because I'm around people, and I have family and friends and people in this building, that make you want to do better.''

McVay needed that maturity to thrive during a tumultuous 2025.

He started last January coaching the Rams through two playoff games amid the chaos caused by the Southern California wildfires near their training complex. He began the new season by tearing his plantar fascia on the sideline in Week 2 while running to speak to an official.

The Rams rolled to an 11-3 start before a late slump knocked them out of the No. 1 seed in the NFC. But after two gritty playoff wins, McVay's team could become only the sixth in NFL history to win three straight postseason games in road stadiums.

''It's been fun to watch him become a father of two,'' said quarterback Matthew Stafford, who has four kids of his own. ''I was FaceTiming my girls in the meeting room (Friday) morning, and he's asking (youngest daughter) Tyler if her tooth is still loose. It's a really cool, unique relationship, and one that I don't take for granted.''

Even with a new noisemaker in his house, McVay has become a convert to the importance of sleep, getting at least seven hours every night after spending years in the performative sleep droughts so often flaunted by football coaches.

It's only the latest signal that McVay is growing and maturing. He's no longer younger than any of his players, and he isn't the youngest head coach in the NFL after he spent a whopping seven seasons holding that title.

But as anyone can see on the Rams' sideline each week, McVay remains a ferocious competitor and a football obsessive who's grateful to be working instead of blowing out candles.

''I'm not a big birthday guy,'' McVay said with a broad grin. ''And if you guys say, ‘Happy 40th,' I'll slap the (expletive) out of you."