In the NFL, most of a head coach’s work happens during the week, not necessarily on Sunday. Of course, there are in-game adjustments made that separate good coaches from great ones, but a team’s success is often determined by the coach’s original game plan.

For Sean McVay, he’s a mastermind when it comes to putting together a scheme that puts his team in a position to succeed each and every week. It’s not just because he’s a smart guy, either. He puts in the work.

He said on Thursday that he’s always thinking about ways to improve the offense and draw up plays to insert into the game plan.

“Yeah, I don’t know about jotting on a napkin, but I probably have no life outside of football, so you’re kind of thinking of new ways to put our players in good spots. I think what the bye provides is an opportunity to really look closely at yourself and also kind of think about what are some things that we’ve done that can kind of play off of each other and then we’ve got very capable players that can do a lot of the things that we’re asking them to do.”

Todd Gurley knows how hard McVay works during the week, saying he’s constantly trying to make the Rams better and does so at all hours of the night. That’s not unusual for a coach, but McVay seems to be one of the best when it comes to being a round-the-clock worker.

In today’s NFL, so many plays are used by a number of teams across the league. We often hear that it’s a “copycat league,” and it seems to apply to McVay and the Rams.

“He’s up all night. He’ll tell you – he doesn’t have much to do, so he’s always copying new ideas,” Gurley said. “It’s a copycat league. We all do the same exact thing. We see something two, three weeks ago that Seattle beat them on, let’s try it again. If they stop it, they stop it. If they don’t then that’s a win for us.”

With a guy like McVay running the offense, and Wade Phillips heading the defense, the Rams have the leadership and coaching in place to succeed for a long time. This season could be the first of a special run in Los Angeles.