Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay played his cards just right and appears to be on track to become the NFL’s highest-paid head coach. But he did, in the process, have to turn down a lucrative offer from Amazon to give up coaching and become a TV analyst.
According to the New York Post, McVay told reporters during a Zoom interview this week that he was flattered and humbled by the push to become one of the leading voices of Amazon’s Thursday Night Football broadcast. But he added that just because he turned down the deal doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to eventually try his hand in broadcasting.
“To say that down the line that [broadcasting] is not something I’m very intrigued by would not be accurate, but I’m totally committed to coaching,” McVay said.
The Super Bowl LVI champion head coach said he did give Amazon serious consideration, but the decision to stay in coaching was clear and never in question.
“As soon as you make that decision to move forward, I think the clarity and the peace that I had, you knew this is exactly what I wanted to do,” he said. “There was really never a doubt.”
McVay was just one of several candidates being considered as nearly all the networks with NFL broadcast rights have started juggling changes to their play-by-play teams. Troy Aikman reportedly signed a deal worth $18 million a season to leave Fox and join the ESPN Monday Night Football booth. It’s something McVay acknowledged is great to see.
“It’s incredible to be a part of a game that has so many different avenues of being able to financially support your family in great ways,” he said. “It’s like anything else, the more options you have, it’s helpful, but I’m really happy for a lot of people who have been able to benefit.”
