Too much weight throwen to the hire

[RamWraith]

I am hearing a lot of people say Linehan will only be a good hire if hires a good D-Coordinator. I guess I am really confused on that statement. Would not the same hold true if the team hired Rivera? Would he not then need a good offensive coordinator. Same with anyone the Rams hire. You need to surround yourself with good people or nothing will be work. Hence it is the same for the downfall of Martz. He kept Marmie, and it did him in.

[RamsFanSam]

Linehan has one big advantage over Martz: He hasn't had any clashes with the FO.

Linehan also seems to be looking for a lot of new faces on the coaching staff. The one thing I like is he seems to want Ellard sticking around.

[general counsel]

I cant agree with the statement that marmie did martz in. he sure didnt help, but he should not be the scapegoat.

week one, we gave up two special teams tds.
mcdonald had critical fumbles at key points in two games
bulger got hurt againt indy when we had a nice lead
claiborne, kennedy, coakley, arch, travis f. all had disappointing years. That was NOT scheme related, that was execution related.
our best corner missed the year due to injury
Leonard Little was ineffective or missing for a key stretch of the season.
Hargrove didnt come on until late, coupled with littles problems, our pass rush was just terrible all year.
Our right tackle situation in the early part of the season before barron came in was a disaster.
our red zone offense was awful all year, and it cost us at least a couple of games.
our short yardage offense was awful.

I could go on for sure, but i think the point is that there are many many reasons why we had a lousy season. Marmie was not the downfall of martz in my opinion. Easy target of course, because the defense was awful and when you hire your friends and it doesnt work out, you are really setting yourself up for criticism.

Last point. I am NOT defending marmie. I think he was far too passive for far too long, exposing our inexperienced corners without a pass rush. That being said, our EXECUTION on defense was the worst i have ever seen. Guys in the right place (ie the coach did his job) and tackle after tackle after tackle missed. Our PERSONNEL on defense was lousy, plain and simple. Better coaching could have helped at the margain, but it wouldnt have made all the difference. Mike Furrey is a nice guy for depth, but how many scenic routes to the ball carrier can one guy take trying to make a tackle.

Without a dominant offense, our defense was doomed, plain and simple. bad players, on the field too long.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[OldRamsfan]

Well Said GC I totally agree , Their are lot of reasons why things turned out the way they did us this year ...
I believe that with all the probelms in the office and Martz it rolled down hill , I dont want to say lack of heart but their was a lack of interest from the top to the players and it showed when we played ...

[viper]

Nice post, GC. Reliving those games as you described them does serve as a great reminder of just how many things went wrong, not only this season, but last season as well. I'm looking forward to some new blood to get things turned around.

[bruce_wannabe]

mcdonald cost us that seahawk game for sure!!!!!!!! that fumble just put our whole season in perspective

[Nick]

Would not the same hold true if the team hired Rivera? Would he not then need a good offensive coordinator.

Yes, he would. And I think the reason why is because neither have head coaching experience, and thus I believe need more talent/skill/experience/whatever at the coordinator position than an established former head coach.