Sean McVay, Les Snead at the forefront of NFL

LONDON — Rams normal supervisor Les Snead and Jacksonville Jaguars normal supervisor James Gladstone still speak every week.

Gladstone labored for Snead for 9 years before the Jaguars employed him last January. So they’ve remained in contact through free company, the draft and the season.

But this week, with their groups enjoying against each other at Wembley Stadium in London, Snead thought it is perhaps best to go old-school and not speak until the sport was over.

“James, he’s of the younger generation, so he’s like, ‘No you can talk during game week,’” Snead said as he watched the Rams apply in Baltimore. “I’m more kind of … you shouldn’t shake hands before the game, right? We’re trying to beat each other.

“We joked about that. It just seems like a regular game week right now.”

As Rams coach Sean McVay and Snead navigate their ninth season together, they’ll’t keep away from seeing throughout the NFL the fruits — and aggressive challenges — created by their labors and success.

Head coaches Matt LaFleur of the Green Bay Packers, Zac Taylor of the Cincinnati Bengals, Kevin O’Connell of the Minnesota Vikings and Raheem Morris of the Atlanta Falcons all served as assistants under McVay.

Detroit Lions normal supervisor Brad Holmes, who labored under Snead for many years, constructed the Lions into an NFC energy after he was employed following the 2020 season.

On Sunday, McVay and Snead will face the latest problem from members of their respective teaching and management trees.

Jaguars coach Liam Coen labored under McVay as an assistant receivers coach in 2018 and 2019 and assistant quarterbacks coach in 2020. After a season as the University of Kentucky’s offensive coordinator, he returned to the Rams as offensive coordinator in 2022.

The Jaguars employed Coen last January after he spent the 2024 season as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator.

The next month, the Jaguars employed Gladstone, who shortly established an aggressive method, trading up to choose cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter with the second decide in the draft. The wheeling and dealing has continued during the season.

Coen has the Jaguars off to a 4-2 start.

“He’s passionate,” McVay said. “You can see that quarterback background. He’s fiery, but he also knows when to be able to stay steady. I think he picks and chooses his spots accordingly. But I think the most important thing is authenticity. That’s exactly what he’s been.”

Coen was offensive coordinator during the Rams historic Super Bowl hangover. The Rams misplaced many of their star gamers because of accidents, including quarterback Matthew Stafford, receiver Cooper Kupp and defensive lineman Aaron Donald — and completed 5-12.

Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen watches from the sideline during a sport against the Seattle Seahawks on Oct. 12.

(John Raoux / Associated Press)

“That was a challenging year for us,” McVay said. “But man, there was a lot of growth that occurred in the midst of a uniquely challenging year. I think there was a lot of growth for us personally and professionally. I think he’s used that to be able to use some of those scars, if you will, to be stronger.”

Coen this week praised McVay for instilling confidence in Rams gamers, coaches and employees members from “a positive state of mind,” particularly during troublesome intervals.

“But also the standard, the demand, the way that he ultimately wants the team to play, it shows up every single week,” Coen told reporters during a news convention.

Gladstone, 35, continues to provide Coen with proficient gamers, and reveals no indicators of slowing down as the commerce deadline nears.

Snead employed Gladstone in 2016 as a senior assistant and Gladstone shortly climbed through the group as one thing of a personnel and scouting savant.

“You just appreciated how he thought,” Snead said. “Historically, we’ve done that here in L.A. a little bit with someone that’s ‘OK, wait a minute, they’re bright, they have passion for football, they might not have, let’s call it, professional experience, but lets bring them in, find them a seat on the bus and see where it goes from there.”

McVay and Snead are completely happy to see their former assistants succeed every day — besides when they’re enjoying against the Rams.

“It’s always cool to see people take a little bit of the foundation that we worked together to engineer here,” Snead said, “but you can always see people … go somewhere else and they add their DNA or their independence away from how we’ve done it here and have given them a little bit more freedom to innovate in a different direction.”