He’s like, ‘Hey, man, how are you picking up nickel Mike pressure out of this look?’” Coen recalled during an interview on Wednesday’s edition of Pardon My Take. “And I’m up on the board like, ‘Wait, I’m interviewing for the assistant receivers job and you got me talking protections?’

“And I had never seen that, that look. And I turned to him, I said, ‘I don’t know what this is.’ He’s like, ‘Man, don’t worry about it. It’s new in the league. We’re just trying to ask a bunch of people and figure it out.’”

McVay not only found a future head coach while interviewing Coen. He also used the time to improve the Rams’ offensive attack. And on their way to a berth in the Super Bowl that season, Coen picked up another important coaching lesson from McVay.

Mired in a Week 5 dogfight at Seattle that year, the Rams clung to a 33-31 advantage after the game’s fifth lead change. They didn’t want to see a sixth. Seattle took its final timeout with 1:39 remaining and the Rams facing a fourth-and-1 from their own 42-yard line.

“Sean goes around the headsets,” Coen explained on Pardon My Take. “’What do we want to do?’ You know, sneak it or punt it; obviously, give those guys the ball back again. Every single dude on the headset said punt it. Everybody. Then, he goes to Wade Phillips.”

Stop for a second and think about this. A 31-year-old head coach swallowed his pride to ask his 71-year-old defensive coordinator – who had just allowed three Russell Wilson touchdown passes and 190 Seattle rushing yards – what the offense should do. Phillips also swallowed his pride, Coen remembered.