Time to bring back Vermeil

[eldfan]

Time to bring back Vermeil

Columnist Jeff Gordon
(E-mail a "Letter to Gordo")By Jeff Gordon
STLTODAY.COM SPORTS COLUMNIST
09/16/2008

Chip Rosenbloom will make changes if the Rams don’t start winning football games. He made that promise to the Post-Dispatch on Monday during a phone interview from Los Angeles.

So that’s a start. The team’s owner-for-now realizes the franchise can’t operate this way.

The Rams have lost 15 of their last 18 games and 22 of their last 29.

Al Saunders is positioned to replace Scott Linehan on an interim basis this season, if need be. But as my P-D colleagues have observed, the franchise’s issues extend well past the head coach’s office.

Sweeping changes are in order.

The Rams need a strong football man to assume control of this operation. If Rosenbloom decides to sell the team, the next owner must hire a commanding leader -– as Blues owner David Checketts did by wooing John Davidson.

If the family wants to keep the team for a few more years, then it needs to bring in a friend capable of righting the ship. The first guy to call: Dick Vermeil.

STLtoday.com users wish Vermeil would come back and coach the team. But why not bring him back as team president and put him in charge of the football operation?

Why not ask him to play Marv Levy for the next few years, long enough to turn things around?

With Vermeil in charge, the football operation could regroup with minimal bloodshed. Here is how it could play out:

John Shaw could finally step aside as team president and remain an advisor to Chip Rosenbloom in LA. His close relationship with Vermeil would make this an easy step.

Jay Zygmunt could continue managing the salary cap and negotiate contracts, but he would no longer have input on football decisions. He, too, has worked well with Vermeil.

Marshall Faulk could come aboard as Vermeil’s right-hand personnel man. If Faulk wants to run a football operation some day, this would a great way to learn that job.

Billy Devaney, a fine personnel man in his own right, could continue running the draft. Aside from injuries, his ’08 group is shaping up pretty good.

Saunders, a close Vermeil ally, would be the natural head coaching choice in this scenario. He is an “up” guy, like Vermeil, and he understands that there are no short cuts.

The Rams must change their organizational culture, just as the franchise needed back in the 1990s when Vermeil replaced Rich Brooks.

Back then, the Rams were laughingstocks of the NFL. And they are laughingstocks now.

If Chip wants to honor his mother -- and he is quite sincere about that -– then he could summon Vermeil, ASAP, and give him whatever he needs to make all this happen.

He could change the atmosphere at Rams Park. He would raise the energy level. He would get in everybody’s face. He would weed out the weak and incompetent.

Vermeil also could win back the fans. He could engage the business community.

He could protect the value of the franchise for the owners. He is a one-man marketing dynamo.

Vermeil visited the Rams in training camp. He has a handle on the team. He knows all the key figures in the organization.

He is the only guy capable of rallying the group without making more change than Rosenbloom may be comfortable with. Vermeil is the best solution for a franchise facing major, major problems.

[eldfan]

[QUOTE=Time to bring back Vermeil

Columnist Jeff Gordon
Marshall Faulk could come aboard as Vermeil’s right-hand personnel man. If Faulk wants to run a football operation some day, this would a great way to learn that job..[/QUOTE]

I love that ideal

[CaliGirlRamsFan]

Absolutely the best post I have read since the loss. You get Rep from the queen of Red.

[jkramsfan]

I love that ideal

me too,I would love to see DV and Marshall working together to fix this mess.

[AvengerRam]

Um..... no.

[CaliGirlRamsFan]

Um..... no.

What are your thoughts on it?

[makersncoke]

I agree with AV on this one, DV and Marshall are great guys and I for one would love to have them back in the organization, as a coach and running back, something they have experience in. This is no time for another experiment and that is what this would be. We need PROVEN experience to turn this team around and they just don't have it when it comes to running a team.

[btimsah]

I'm not sure Vermeil makes a good "anything other than head coach". And remember he struggled for years under the illusion that Tony Banks, Eddie Kennison and Lawrence Phillips were going to be great players. Just sayin.. Just sayin..

[PARamfan]

I'm not sure Vermeil makes a good "anything other than head coach". And remember he struggled for years under the illusion that Tony Banks, Eddie Kennison and Lawrence Phillips were going to be great players. Just sayin.. Just sayin..

What was he supposed to say about guys that were his players at the time?"These guys really SUCK?"
Bring him back.He evaluates talent better than 100% of the morons who run the show now.