ATLANTA—The Los Angeles Rams, of the National Football League, named Marist School alumnus Sean McVay their new head coach Jan. 12. The announcement makes 31-year-old McVay the youngest head coach in NFL history.

Sean McVay, former offensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins, was named the new head coach of the National Football League’s Los Angeles Rams earlier this month. The hiring makes McVay, a 2004 graduate of Marist School, Atlanta, the youngest head coach in NFL history. McVay turned 31 on Jan. 24.

“I am incredibly honored by this opportunity and I want to start by thanking Mr. (Stanley) Kroenke and Kevin Demoff for their faith in me to lead the Los Angeles Rams as head coach,” McVay said in a statement referring to the Rams owner and vice president of football operations.

“Collectively, we are committed to building a championship caliber team, and I’m excited to start that process and make our fans proud,” his statement said.

McVay played quarterback on the Marist football team that won the Class AAAA state championship title in 2003. After graduating from Marist in 2004, McVay went on to a four-year career at Miami University of Ohio, and then he began his coaching career in 2008 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“Sean was and has been a very special part of the Marist Long Blue Line,” said Marist head football coach Alan Chadwick. “We knew from the start he was going to do great things because of all the outstanding qualities he possessed. His knowledge of the game, outstanding character, leadership, competitiveness and explosive skills made him an exceptional quarterback in our system. The Rams have chosen wisely and just added a great many supporters from the Marist War Eagle nation.”

“Sean was one of our leaders at Marist as a student-athlete,” added Marist athletic director Tommy Marshall. “As the starting quarterback on our football team, he was a great student of the game. He not only studied his position as quarterback, but he also knew what everyone else was supposed to do on any given play on offense. His servant leadership was certainly a major factor in our winning the 2003 state championship.”