Did Nick Wright Throw Shade At Bill Belichick In Praising Sean McVay?

Nick Wright had some things to say Wednesday, and shockingly, they weren’t exactly pro-New England Patriots.

The FS1 talking head has been doing his fair share of conducting aboard the Patriots hater train and that was not about to stop with New England gearing up for Super Bowl LIII against the Los Angeles Rams on Feb. 3.

One of the most intriguing matchups heading into the big game is between Bill Belichick and Sean McVay.

McVay has been all the rage around the NFL for his upbeat style and, of course, his age. McVay, who turns 33 on Thursday, will be the youngest head coach to coach in the Super Bowl. Belichick, 66, could become the oldest coach to ever win a Super Bowl.

On FS1’s “First Things First,” Wright, alongside analyst Chris Carter, talked about McVay’s exceptional rise to success, calling the Rams’ coach a ‘generational coaching talent,’ while throwing shade at Belichick for his early-career struggles with the Cleveland Browns.

“His ability, at this age, to handle everything a head coach has to handle, while schematically giving his team so many advantages, while scheming guys open — that is not a duplicable skill set,” Wright said. “There aren’t five Sean McVays, much less 10. There might only be one.

“And so, (Carter’s) point that Bill Belichick couldn’t do this at 30 years old. … He couldn’t do this at 42 years old,” Wright added. “When he was the head coach of the Browns, I don’t know that he was equipped to be a successful head coach the way he certainly was when he took over the Pats, and certainly not the way Sean McVay was when he was 30 years old and got the job. I do think Sean McVay is a generational coaching talent, it’s why he got the job so young and it’s why he’s been so successful.”

Belichick went 36-44 with the Browns, but coincidentally, led the franchise to their last playoff win in 1994 when he was 42.

While it’s true that McVay has impressed in his first two years on the sideline, it’s still probably going to be a while before we can throw him in the same ranks as someone with five Super Bowl rings, 261 regular season wins and 30 more wins in the playoffs as a head coach.