Rams coach Sean McVay admits the special teams were not good enough in 2023. But he says that’s not how he judges his special teams coordinator, Chase Blackburn.
McVay said he’s keeping Blackburn in 2024 because he observes the way Blackburn coaches, and sees that as more important than the Rams’ shaky results in the kicking game.
“We were able to separate some of the results that we know weren’t good enough, to be able to say, when we talk about process over results, are we really that way? And watching how Chase handled that earned a tremendous amount of respect from me for him,” McVay said.
McVay repeatedly said that Blackburn is a good coach and indicated that the Rams need to do a better job of identifying and acquiring special teams players.
“I believe in Chase,” McVay said. “You’re evaluating not just the results, but the process and what the week looks like, and the way that those players continue to believe in him. And then you’re saying, ‘Alright, where are some of the things that we can identify to improve?’ And I do think there’s the solutions from Chase and from being able to play better, to be able to tackle better, to be able to consistently figure out, alright, where can we take the next steps? But you look at some of the different things that we had to navigate with new players at key and critical spots and I appreciated just how steady he was in what was a challenging year. That’s when you learn about people, and I learned a lot about him that made me say, You know what? I believe in this guy and I know he’s going to evolve and adapt. I think we can do a better job of providing him with guys that can play more consistently. And he never said anything other than ‘I want to do better.’ He took accountability and ownership. I believe in Chase Blackburn.”
