Chip says money not a factor in Rams' coaching search

[Nick]

Owner says money not a factor in Rams' coaching search
By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
01/02/2009

Rams owner Chip Rosenbloom denies strongly that general manager Billy Devaney is under any financial restrictions in the search for a new head coach.

"There have been no constraints put on Billy in terms of spending on coaches," Rosenbloom told the Post-Dispatch. "We may be one of the few teams in the league that has not said money is a factor in the decision. Although I do think that some salaries are out of whack, if Billy thinks the best guy will cost $6 million a year that would be who we hire."


Rosenbloom said that neither the ongoing process of paying estate taxes following the death of his mother, Georgia Frontiere, nor the possible future sale of the team has any effect on how much money the Rams spend — for a coach, or for anything.

"I’ll stick by what I’ve said before about the possible sale of the team," Rosenbloom said. "If the right offer comes along — maybe I’m interested; maybe I’m not. But we’re not in a position where we have to sell the team. We’re in a position where we’re trying to make the team as good as possible.

"So it’s not accurate to say we’re cheap or we’re trying to save money because we want to sell the team. If we were doing that, we didn’t have to fire the coach (Scott Linehan), we didn’t have to make changes in the front office."

If he wanted to position the team’s finances to sell the team, Rosenbloom said he could have traded out of the No. 2 spot in the draft last April to save money. (Rosenbloom said it’s possible the team could trade down this year from the No. 2 spot, but only if Devaney thought extra picks were the best way to improve the team.)

"We’ve attempted to do the right things to make this better," Rosenbloom said.

He said he’s as angry, just like Rams fans, over the team’s 5-27 record the past two seasons, including a 2-14 mark this season.

"Things got screwed up and we’re trying to straighten them out," he said. "It’s not as though I’m saying, 'let’s just keep the status quo.' "

[general counsel]

Blatant LIE. It has been all over the new york newspapers that the Rams backed out of the spagnola situation over the money. All over new york talk radio. I believe that money is not an issue about as much as i believe that the team is not for sale.

Ramming speed to all

general counsel

[DistantRam]

Blatant LIE. It has been all over the new york newspapers that the Rams backed out of the spagnola situation over the money. All over new york talk radio.

And the mass media always tell the truth, don't they?

[IzzyHigh1212]

^^^WORD! haha. I really like Chip, the dude seemed a little heated if you ask me.

[AvengerRam]

Blatant LIE. It has been all over the new york newspapers that the Rams backed out of the spagnola situation over the money. All over new york talk radio. I believe that money is not an issue about as much as i believe that the team is not for sale.

Ramming speed to all

general counsel

Oh, come now, GC... you're going to take the word of sportswriters, bloggers and radio hosts?

[NJ Ramsfan1]

Gotta' go against you on this one, GC- I live in New Jersey and listen everyday to WFAN, the biggest talk radio station in the country, and they sometimes fall in love with themselves while getting the story completely wrong. The only guy on there who is supremely knowledgable is Mike Francesa, yet I guarantee you any one of a number of people on Clan Ram know more than he does about our football team. I place no stock whatsoever on any report about the Rams not talking to Spagnuolo for financial reasons. If Chip is lying, he's doing a great job of it because his comments and actions dictate otherwise.

What I will say is this: If money is not a factor, why are we not immediately reaching out to Bill Cowher, Mike Shanahan or Marty Schottenheimer- two of whom won Super Bowls and the other who won 200 games in his career? You mean to tell me that Todd Bowles, Winston Moss, et. al. are better options than these guys? I realize there's no guarantee that these coaches would come here and immediately turn the Rams into title contenders, but based on their track record, I'd say they're a helluva bet to get us back to the playoffs sooner rather than later. I'd like an established guy to come in here and impose his will rather than have a coordinator grow into the job. Just my preference.

[Azul e Oro]

Does anyone really know if Spagnuolo is worth the pricetag the media think he's likely to command,anyway? I could sort of see spending megabucks for Cowher or Shanahan who have the track record but Spag's price is probably inflated by the market and his perceived value by the performance of Coughlin, GM Reese and those whatchamacallits....uh...oh yeah, ... players (that one's for you,Ferter. LOL).

The firing of Limpehan in the 3rd yr of a 4 yr $8 mill deal sounds logical as proof of Chip's sincerity on the issue. Then add what Haz got for his stint.

Lotta dough to throw away on a business you want to either sell or run on the cheap.

Just read somewhere that The Jags will be liable for something like $20 mill if they fire Del Rio. Ouch! Now that's gonna leave a mark!

[Varg6]

Blatant LIE.

GC, only time will tell.

Like others have said it's tough to really believe anything a sportswriter has to say. For our sake, let's hope the sportswriters are dead wrong. I want to like Chip a lot, and this is the first step he can take to get fans back on the organization's side. Let's stir things up a little bit, let's go the extra mile this time...Let's rebuild a winning tradition. Hire the right guy Chip, no matter what the cost.

[MoonJoe]

No way in heck someone from the rams would say one thing and do another, that just doesn't happen!!

PRO FOOTBALL; Rams Deny Move To St. Louis Is Set - New York Times

[general counsel]

I have personal knowledge that the Rams are for sale. I am not going to say how or from who, but trust me, they are marketing the team. Its virtually impossible to get a deal done in this environment given the credit markets, but they need to sell the team for tax reasons. Chip DOES NOT have the cash to pay the taxes on Georgia's estate without leveraging all sorts of illiquid real estate which itself is highly suspect in this environment.

That personal knowledge makes me highly suspect of everything else the guy says. If money isnt the issue, why arent the rams talking to spags? same point as the earlier poster made (which was a great one) as to why the rams arent in there on cowher, shanahan, marty. The hiring of linehan was below market rate for the top guys. I dont think it proves we were prepared to spend money. The hirings of haslett and saunders do make a nice counter point as we did spend money on those guys for all the good it did.

Lets see what happens with OJ and Bartell. If we dont sign those two, cheaping out because they are trying to sell the business is the only explanation i can think of as we are not cap squeezed and these are two quality young players that are both improving.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[unorthodox1999]

I think chip is telling the truth to a certain extent..I think, reading from the article, he is a little heated or stressed or maybe just wants to get the point across that money is not an issue, but at the same time i would not for a second doubt that he would back out of a coach because of the money. Being an owner of a team is just a business, and if tomorrow he moved the team AND resigned Soiled Linen(linehan lol) he would never have to explain his decision..

He said before he had no plans or intentions to sell the team, but now its, "..if the right offer comes along- i might be interested?" cmon, thats more than a clue the teams on the market without being on the market..dont believe a word but dont take everything as false, we'll have to see who they let go, keep, sign etc..

[Fullerton_Ramfan]

Oh Yes, they will be sold and move to LA!!!

[Nick]

What I will say is this: If money is not a factor, why are we not immediately reaching out to Bill Cowher, Mike Shanahan or Marty Schottenheimer

Let's run down the candidates and maybe we'll get an answer.

First, how many teams has Cowher been connected to besides the Jets? I don't think any. It sounds as if the big chin was reluctant to get back into coaching this year to begin with, and then the Jets came calling. Cowher was intrigued but had very specific demands he wanted the Jets to meet. Namely, he wanted his own personnel director. Kind of a tough demands for the Rams to meet since they just promoted Devaney to GM. Even though the Jets said they'd let Cowher replace their GM Mike Tannenbaum with his own candidate - nice vote of confidence for Tannenbaum! - Cowher backed out. Moving on.

Adam Schefter reported earlier in the week that Marty Schottenheimer would be willing to coach again "in the right situation surrounded by the right people." What that means is anybody's guess. Does it sound like St. Louis fits that description? Hard to say. Schott hasn't exactly been a frequent name in many of these searches and I don't believe he's scheduled for any interviews, so it's not as if he's out there on the prowl and the Rams are missing him. Besides, he's 65 years old. Even if we got him, how long would we expect him to stay here? He's a short term fix, when we need a major overhaul to start a new era.

Then there's Shanahan, who isn't returning anyone's calls. At his farewell news conference earlier this week, he said he was planning to get away from everything for a couple of weeks and then looking at his options then. Even if he picked up the phone, he'd probably be a long shot. The Denver Post suggests Shanahan would like to join a team with "strong ownership" which we can't really say the Rams have at this point. Furthermore, Shanahan had GM power in Denver

To me, it would seem that all of these older veteran coaches are looking for just the right situation with near total control if they're going to come back, and right now I doubt the Rams' opening presents that kind of opportunity for them. If the Rams called any of these three, I suspect they wouldn't exactly be inclined to listen. It's possible that the Rams have put out feelers for some of these guys and either haven't heard back or have been turned down. Or it's possible the Rams simply aren't reaching out to them at all for whatever reason. But I guess my point is even if the Rams did, I doubt it would amount to anything.

If money isnt the issue, why arent the rams talking to spags?

According to Jim Thomas, they have: "In addition, the Rams are considering former New York Giants coach Jim Fassel and have talked to the agents of Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and Dallas assistant head coach-offensive coordinator Jason Garrett."

[eldfan]

Well the guy is saying the right thing. I hope it is ture I have to think he on the up until he proves me wrong.

[Goldenfleece]

Even if he is trying to sell the team, it seems like paying for a good coach could be a sound investment. It's kind of like when you're trying to sell a house and you put in new carpets and sink fixtures. You want to clean the place up to make it more marketable. As long as the team is getting local media blackouts because they can't fill the stadium, it's going to be hard to attract buyers.