With Devaney in place, St. Louis Rams head coaching job is more attractive

[RamWraith]

By Bernie Miklasz
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Saturday, Dec. 27 2008

Now that Billy Devaney is running the football side, the Rams are in stronger
position to attract a promising head coach.

Though the Rams have a lot of work to do to reach respectability, the job
figures to be more appealing now. Devaney is a respected football man with a
good reputation around the NFL. He works well with others and is sincere in his
desire to do whatever he can to help the new coach succeed.

The Rams would have been a tough sell with Jay Zygmunt and John Shaw in charge.
Candidates wouldn't have trusted the organizational setup, which was confusing
to insiders and outsiders alike. In the previous Zygmunt-Shaw arrangement, an
interested coach would come to the interview process with a bunch of questions:
Who is the boss? Who does the coach answer to? How can a coach survive the
hazardous politics at Rams Park? The job would have carried the stench of
failure.

Chip Rosenbloom cleared the foul air with his promotion of Devaney. Rosenbloom
sent the signal that he's determined to do things differently. Being the Rams'
head coach is no longer an automatic dead-end career move. There's clarity.
There's daylight. And there's hope.
----
Devaney's appointment to GM was endorsed by his former boss, Atlanta Falcons
owner Arthur Blank. In an interview with our town's Howard Balzer on Sirius
satellite radio, Blank said: "Let me put it this way, I'm thrilled for the
Rams. I'm thrilled for Billy on a personal level but that has really nothing to
do with whether or not he's competent. I'm thrilled for the Rams because I
think they made a great choice. I think this is somebody that's a great talent
evaluator ... his strength is really being able to build a roster. He's a very
good communicator. He's a very clear thinker and I think that the Rams will be
very fortunate to have him in that position for a long period of time."

Speaking of Balzer, a belated congrats on his recent marriage to Bernie
Tibbitts. And as Balzer jokes, there's no truth to the rumor that Marc Bulger
was best man. ... Congrats to the Rams' talented young media-relations intern,
Jerome Hubbard, who has been hired as a media relations assistant by baseball's
Chicago White Sox.


... Kathy Hewitt, wife of longtime Rams equipment manager Todd Hewitt, has
opened the West Coast Salon and Spa, a full-service facility on Holloway Road
in Ballwin. Todd Hewitt quips, "I'm the towel boy." ... Update on two Mizzou
rookies in the NFL: KC Chiefs wide receiver Will Franklin (Vashon High) has
seven catches for 83 yards. Cleveland Browns tight end Martin Rucker has
appeared in one game, with one catch.


The Rams' decision to make Donnie Avery the first wide receiver picked in the
2008 draft has turned out well. Avery ranks third among NFL rookie wideouts in
catches (48) and receiving yards (634), trailing only Denver's Eddie Royal and
Philadelphia's DeSean Jackson in both categories. But here's the difference:
Royal and Jackson were given the chance to start right away; Avery didn't enter
the starting lineup for good until Oct. 19. And those guys play on better
teams. And Avery seems to be a really terrific young man. One reader e-mailed
to tell me Avery walked over to around 50 fans as he left the field following
Sunday's loss to shake their hands and wish them a Merry Christmas.

Retired Rams running back Marshall Faulk tried to knock down Chris Mortensen's
report on ESPN after Mortensen said Faulk wanted to be the Rams' next head
coach. But Faulk didn't shoot it down 100 percent, saying the only way it would
work is if he could hire strong coordinators for the offense and defense. Faulk
told me that his long-range interest is in becoming a meaningful contributor in
the Rams' front office, and that he's willing to pay his dues by learning the
ins and outs of scouting and personnel evaluation.

Friday at Rams Park, Torry Holt had this to say about his former teammate's
head-coaching profile: "If that was to happen, a lot of guys on that team and
in that organization would be in for a rude awakening. I think they would be
totally shocked with his level of intensity and the pressure he puts on you to
be excellent every day. It would be a challenge, but I think it would be a good
thing. It would surprise a lot of people."

By the way, with the Rams closing the season Sunday in Atlanta, I hope this
isn't Holt's last game as a Ram. He could still be valuable if utilized
properly. He wasn't used correctly this season.

[CaliGirlRamsFan]

Nice to hear all that. I love the Idea of Faulk in the Dome, and Tory staying another year. I sure wish we could get Bruce back.

[Action_Jackson]

Bring back Faulk.