In the 2021 offseason, Stafford and McVay were on vacation in Mexico at the same time when one of Stafford’s former teammates arranged a casual get-together, where he and McVay shared drinks and talked football. At that time, the quarterback grabbed McVay’s attention by recalling a drive that he engineered for the Detroit Lions’ Week 7 game against Washington in 2016, back when McVay coached the Commanders.

For McVay, that level of football memory was so fascinating that he decided that Stafford would be his quarterback. A few days later, the Rams acquired Stafford via trade, and he has been helping McVay win games ever since. But even with their shared success in the NFL, there have been some conflicts between Stafford and McVay in the past five seasons. And now, Rams legend Rob Havenstein just revealed how the duo is handling such situations. 

“Football can be, most of the time, very emotionally high,” Rob Havenstein said on the latest episode of the Bleav podcast. “And so, when you have two apex predators out there calling the plays, running the plays, there’s going to be conflict at times. But kind of what I was saying earlier between Les and Sean, it’s nothing that clear communication can’t get through. There might be a blow-up here or where something happens, and maybe we’re not on the same wavelength for a certain play, a certain concept, whatever it happens to be.”

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“We kind of get our emotions out and have a big kerfuffle or something like that. And then all of a sudden we’re like, ‘Hey, boom,’ come back, little smack on the behind, and ‘Hey, I love you, buddy,’ and ‘ I love you, too. Let’s go attack this next play.’ And that’s kind of how it went.”

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Since joining forces in 2021, the duo has already won a Super Bowl and a 7-3 postseason record. McVay’s top offensive mind, combined with Stafford’s arm talent, has created an offense that ranked 1st in 2025. Even when the last season didn’t unfold exactly as planned, the results still showed how dangerous this partnership can be. 

The Rams finished with a 12-5 record and won the NFC South title, but fell short of reaching the Super Bowl. Even so, Stafford won the 2025 MVP award, and McVay strongly backed his return to chase another Super Bowl.

Meanwhile, in a recent NBC Sports ranking, McVay earned the title of the NFL’s best coach despite being only nine seasons into his NFL head coaching career. So, when two of the best minds in football lead the same team, isn’t a clash of egos almost guaranteed?

McVay and Stafford also share an unusual dynamic as they’re roughly the same age in a league where coaches typically have more years than their players. That closeness in age could fuel more conflicts of interest, but Rob Havenstein revealed it hasn’t been the case in Los Angeles. As per Havenstein, clear communication has helped settle any issues between the duo, and the same dynamic also exists between McVay and Rams’ GM Les Snead.

For nearly a decade, Snead and McVay have signed top free agents and drafted good prospects to build a championship contender team in Los Angeles. Havenstein thinks that the partnership has worked because both Snead and McVay communicate openly and resolve disagreements. Havenstein also thinks that those leading the Rams need to stand their ground for the team to succeed.

Rams legend believes that Sean McVay and Stafford need to have conflicts

Remember the Rams’ 2025 Wild Card game against the Carolina Panthers back in January? The Rams opened the game with a 14-point lead in the first half. But the Panthers answered back behind their QB, Bryce Young, and used good defensive stops to take the lead in the second half of the game. Late in the fourth quarter, as the situation became tense, cameras caught Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford arguing. 

After a fourth-down play, as Stafford walked toward the sideline, McVay said something that made Stafford turn back, exchanging words with the HC. Havenstein believes moments like that are actually needed for the Rams to keep winning games.

“Matthew ain’t going to back down from anyone,” Rob Havenstein said. “Sean ain’t going to back down from anyone. So, when they clash, which every now and again there was a clash, I would say that if there wasn’t that, then you would have a problem. Cuz then someone’s backing down, then someone’s being a little submissive. And it’s like, you guys are the top dog leaders of the Rams organization.”

“So, when you have the two alpha dogs that can get together, you kind of butt heads a little bit. But then still have this strength of their manhood to be like, ‘Hey, listen. Yeah. I was in the wrong. My bad.’ And then I go, ‘Hey, cool. No worries. Love everybody. Let’s go ahead and get this thing right.’ And then they’re back to smiling, talking, laughing, and trying to get back to our overall goal, which is just to win as many games as possible.”

During that Wild Card game, the tension between Stafford and McVay made sense. Stafford started the game strong, completing his first eight passes. But later on, the Panthers’ defense slowed him down, so at one point, Stafford had completed just 15 of 31 passes for 204 yards, 2 touchdowns, and one interception.

Then, the pressure increased with 2:39 remaining in the game, when Carolina scored a touchdown and took a four-point lead. Still, with just 38 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Stafford made a touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson, sealing a 34-31 victory for Los Angeles.

In the end, the argument on the sideline didn’t define the night as Stafford and McVay communicated their differences and found a solution. Therefore, their ability to challenge each other might be the exact reason that the Rams keep finding ways to win.