Wednesday, May 17, 2006
By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer
Although Greg Olson’s role as the Rams’ new offensive coordinator doesn’t include the usual play calling duties, there is no doubt that he will be an important piece of what the team is trying to do offensively.
“It’s going to be a big role,” head coach Scott Linehan said. “Calling the plays is one thing, but on a day to day basis, implementing the plan during the season and evaluating the personnel that fit the characteristics that we require of our offensive players as a group…he will have big input in all of those things. I think his strength as an evaluator and a position coach will serve him well.”
While Linehan will handle the majority of the play calling duties, Olson’s role will include working with quarterback
Marc Bulger, putting the offense in during the week and serving as Linehan’s right-hand man.
Olson and Linehan have never worked together, but both come from similar backgrounds. Olson spent the past two years as the quarterbacks coach for the Lions. Previously, he held the same position with the Bears and ***** in the NFL and Purdue and Idaho in college.
He has worked with such quarterbacks as Jon Kitna, Drew Brees, Rex Grossman and Jeff Garcia in that time.
While Linehan and Olson haven’t been on the same staff, they do have a history where their paths have crossed on a few occasions and clinics and camps. The two are from the same area in Washington and were raised in Dennis Erickson’s system.
At the end of last season, Linehan and Olson discussed possibilities for the future and agreed that if something came up, they would keep each other in mind.
“Throughout the 15 years that I coached college football we would often talk,” Olson said. “We’d both thought it would be interesting to see if we were ever able to get to the NFL and maybe share some of that philosophy and be able to work on a common staff together, maybe try some of the things that we had talked around as college coaches.”
Now, that duo is charged with the task of getting the Rams back to the top of the league in total offense. After the glory days of the “Greatest Show on Turf,” the Rams fell off on offense last year. Although there is still plenty of talent in place, the offense sputtered in the red zone.
Olson and Linehan clearly have a plan to give the offense a fresh look this season. That doesn’t mean that this offense will be completely different in how it attacks defenses, though.
“It is going to be an aggressive style,” Olson said. “We’re going to be aggressive in our approach to game planning.”
In other words, the Rams don’t plan on throttling down what they do. Rather, the offense will be an attacking yet balanced group predicated on a list of a few priorities.
At the top of that list is protecting Bulger, who has missed chunks of the past two seasons with shoulder injuries.
“How are we going to protect our quarterback?” Olson said. “Obviously, that will be a priority.
“Obviously, we have to keep him healthy, number one. But I think he’s a tremendous player. I have all the respect in the world for
Marc Bulger, and if we can keep him healthy, I think we’re going to have a heck of an offense next year.”
The offensive line stabilized last season with the addition of right tackle
Alex Barron, which should keep Bulger upright more often this year. As part of that plan, the Rams revamped the tight end position during the offseason by trading incumbent Brandon Manumaleuna and drafting
Joe Klopfenstein and
Dominique Byrd.
With those changes in place, Linehan has hinted at the Rams using more two tight end sets to help protect Bulger. But the use of multiple tight ends will also help open up the field more and could help in put an end to the red zone woes of last year, according to Olson.
Tight ends in the St. Louis offense combined for just 22 catches and two touchdowns last year.
“It was an area we felt like we needed to address,” Olson said. “But we're not going to force-feed these tight ends. They're young, and we'll slowly bring them along. I would probably be disappointed if they didn't - between the two of them - have more than 22 catches.”
Klopfenstein has been impressed so far by the commitment that Olson and the Rams have made to getting the tight end more involved.
“They are saying they that need somebody to step up," Klopfenstein said. “It's an open job. It's a battle out there. It's going to help with us pushing each other.”
One other area that could get the Rams back near the top of the league offensively is finding a balance between the run and pass that has been missing in the past two seasons.
Running back
Steven Jackson has said he is ready for a breakout year and is hoping to get more involved in the offense this year. That is one area Olson and Linehan hope to improve on in 2006.
“If you can get the ball to him 20 times or more, he seems to get better,” Olson said. “We think that's a good number to shoot for. He's one of our primary weapons that needs to get touches.”
Together, Olson and Linehan will get their chance to rekindle the “Greatest Show on Turf.”
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