Rams will ask right questions as they search for new coach

[RamWraith]

By Bryan Burwell
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Tuesday, Jan. 06 2009
Now that Rams owner Chip Rosenbloom has spread the word that price will be no
object in the pursuit of a new head coach, why does it feel like general
manager Billy Devaney has just been given an unlimited budget for a shopping
spree at a discount warehouse?

Over the past few days, most of the brand-name, top-shelf coaching prospects
who would command those eye-popping $5 million to $8 million price tags have
basically taken themselves off the market. Bill Cowher says he wants to stay in
television. The recently "devastated" Mike Shanahan wants to heal his emotional
wounds and count Pat Bowlen's money until next year, when free-spending owners
in Dallas and Washington are in the mood to upgrade to flashier models.

And now the last of the proven "big names" — Marty Schottenheimer — has said
that his year-old retirement from the NFL rat race has become permanent.

So we're right back to where we were when this whole process started a few
weeks ago, which is that the next Rams head coach is not going to be a name
that registers big with the populace.

No pricey brand names. No headline-grabbing mega-personalities. And that's not
necessarily a bad thing.

Devaney and his search committee of football men have been doing their
homework, carefully scrutinizing coaches with the sort of due diligence that
will allow them to separate the best candidates from the
not-ready-for-prime-time players.

When real football men are asking the questions, this coaching search will go
beyond the superficial; this search shouldn't be susceptible to uneducated
guesses and unsophisticated conclusions.

So while there may be a popular groundswell for Baltimore defensive coordinator
Rex Ryan, the Rams' search committee is likely to dig a bit deeper than the NFL
stat sheets that rank Ryan's defense second in the league. What they might be a
bit more interested in is how Ryan will fare differently as a head coach than
his predecessor, Mike Nolan, who also was in charge of a ferocious Ravens
defense but experienced little success as an NFL head coach.

What due diligence will uncover are the tough answers to tough questions.

Do Ryan's schemes make the magic or do those incredible players make Ryan's X's
and O's magical?

This is not to say that Ryan isn't the man for the job. He very well could be.
There's no better defense in the NFL right now than the Ravens. They play
exactly the way the Rams ought to play, with a fearless, aggressive, tough guy
image that rattles offenses and creates game-changing plays. Ryan's schemes are
creative and unpredictable, and it's fun to watch Baltimore control a game. But
there's a difference between X's and O's when Ed Reed, Ray Lewis and Terrell
Suggs are creating havoc and when Corey Chavous, Quinton Culberson and Fakhir
Brown are running around.

I'd like to know the reason he finished out of the running for at least two
head coaching jobs a year ago, and if there is anything about him now that has
upgraded him from also-ran status to true contender this time around.

Those are fair questions that Ryan ought to be prepared to answer. And Devaney
and his search committee are smart enough to seek answers to those sorts of
questions and a whole lot more. Ryan and Jim Fassel, who comes to town Thursday
for an interview, are intriguing names, and I wouldn't be surprised if Brian
Billick gets a look at some point, too. Fassel and Billick both have Super
Bowls on their coaching résumés, and recent history tells us that there's
nothing like a good head coach on his second tour of duty (see: Bill Belichick
and Tony Dungy).

But I still won't be surprised if at the end of all the questions, the search
leads back to the man who is still occupying the upstairs corner office at Rams
Park, Jim Haslett.

He took over an impossible situation after four games with a roster bereft of
Pro Bowl talent and turned it into a hard-working group of overachievers. He
has already clearly articulated his plan for how to turn this organization
around in a hurry to the people who matter most. It includes critical changes
in his coaching staff and detailed evaluations of the entire roster. He also
has a proven record to fall back on that validates that he is up to the task
(he took over a 3-13 team and turned it into a 10-6 division winner in his
first season in New Orleans). That's precisely why he has been ushered to an
automatic berth into the finals for this job.

Haslett's not the exciting choice. He's not the popular choice, either. But
smart football people won't be fooled by such superficial stuff, which is why
Haslett's candidacy is still very much alive.

[laram0]

Haslett has been with our RAMS for 3 seasons now. 2 1/4 seasons running the defense which didn't go to well. The other 3/4 of the most recent season as our interim headcoach that didn't go to well either.

Does he deserve the same patience that Linehan was given? After all he took over for Linehan and tried to make Linehan's team a winner, not Haslett's.

Does he deserve the opportunity to buy the groceries himself?


My personal opinion is that we need a proven "LEADER". A man with previous headcoaching experience. Teams in the NFL can be turned around very quickly. We are in arguably the weakest division in the NFL. I can honestly see us going from worst to first in the NFC WEST next season. However the key in my mind is having the right LEADER.

So with that opinion it leaves me leaning towards Fassel, Billick and yes, Haslett.

[ScottD413]

Haslett has failed us as a coordinator. Why is he being considered for the HC spot? This is ridiculous

[Gateway Rams]

Haslett has been with our RAMS for 3 seasons now. 2 1/4 seasons running the defense which didn't go to well. The other 3/4 of the most recent season as our interim headcoach that didn't go to well either.

Does he deserve the same patience that Linehan was given? After all he took over for Linehan and tried to make Linehan's team a winner, not Haslett's.

Does he deserve the opportunity to buy the groceries himself?


My personal opinion is that we need a proven "LEADER". A man with previous headcoaching experience. Teams in the NFL can be turned around very quickly. We are in arguably the weakest division in the NFL. I can honestly see us going from worst to first in the NFC WEST next season. However the key in my mind is having the right LEADER.

So with that opinion it leaves me leaning towards Fassel, Billick and yes, Haslett.

Out of those three I would take FASSEL hands down. Billick was known as an offensive genious and the only reason he won the SB is because he walked into one of the gretest defenses in NFL history. That was pretty much luck, and look at the ravens without Billick with pretty much the same roster. Faseel can help rebuild this team, and he has proven that he can hire good asst coaches. FASSEL IN 2009

[eldfan]

So with that opinion it leaves me leaning towards Fassel, Billick and yes, Haslett.

Of those 3 I would take Billick.