{"id":895700,"date":"2026-05-19T18:33:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T18:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/895700\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T18:33:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T18:33:15","slug":"sean-mcvay-reveals-rock-bottom-moment-with-wife-during-retirement-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/895700\/","title":{"rendered":"Sean McVay reveals rock bottom moment with wife during retirement crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At one point, Sean McVay was ready to walk away from football.<\/p>\n<p>After leading the Los Angeles Rams to a Super Bowl title in 2021, McVay hit a breaking point during the disastrous 5-12 season that followed in 2022. The losses piled up, burnout consumed him, and for the first time in his coaching career, the NFL\u2019s youngest Super Bowl-winning head coach seriously considered retirement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut it took that 5-12 year where you\u2019re really getting broken down,\u201d McVay admitted recently on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=--Gm3D-J-cM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Bussin\u2019 With The Boys<\/a> podcast. \u201cI almost quit coaching.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>McVay revealed he was counting down the days until the season ended, calling himself \u201ca fraud\u201d for his lack of perseverance through the first losing season he had endured during his young head coaching career. Although massive broadcasting opportunities were waiting for him, McVay admitted those offers would have simply masked the real reason he wanted out.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:0.75390625;display:block\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39425915\" width=\"445\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/sean-mcvay-s-fianc-e-15268776.jpg\" alt=\"Sean McVay with his then fiancee Veronika Khomyn\" class=\"wp-image-39425915\"  \/>Sean McVay with his then fiancee Veronika Khomyn Instagram<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reality is, I would have been quitting because I couldn\u2019t handle the losing. It was almost like a scarlet letter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>A major turning point came during a conversation with his wife, Veronika McVay, whom he married in 2022 after the Rams\u2019 Super Bowl run. As McVay explained why stepping away made sense, Veronika delivered the line that changed everything.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39425924\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/los-angeles-rams-head-coach-61668306.jpg\" alt=\"Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay walks the field before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium on October 15, 2023 in Inglewood, California. \" class=\"wp-image-39425924\"  \/>Sean McVay opened up on his retirement decision recently. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s like, \u2018You know, that never really sounded like the kind of leader you wanted to be,\u2019\u201d McVay said. \u201cBoom. It hit me like a ton of bricks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That moment forced McVay to rethink not just coaching, but the example he wanted to set for his growing family. The couple welcomed their first son, Jordan, in 2023, and their second son, Christian, in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll never be able to look at my little boy when he grows up and goes through adversity and say, \u2018Do as I say, not as I did,\u2019\u201d McVay said.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, McVay has embraced a healthier perspective on coaching, <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/sean-mcvay-past-thoughts-retiring-202020595.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">crediting former coach Chris Petersen<\/a> for helping him rediscover joy in the profession. Now, after signing a contract extension and leading another Rams resurgence, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6398004\/2025\/06\/03\/sean-mcvay-coaching-career-rams-nfl\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">McVay says the idea of leaving coaching \u201cfeels so laughable.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At one point, Sean McVay was ready to walk away from football. After leading the Los Angeles Rams&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":895701,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[1443,7,58,6,3307,9,33],"class_list":["post-895700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-california","tag-football","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-nfl","tag-sean-mcvay","tag-sports","tag-wags"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116602680673138504","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=895700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/895701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}