The Wheels have come off - and then some

[Tony Soprano]

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The wheels have come off this organization.

Linehan has problems way beyond a losing season and injuries.

He doesn't get along with Haslett evidently - and the Players don't respect him.

The Team President (Shaw) stated that they were looking into taking the Draft Power away from Linehan and granting it to a GM type, but then weeks later gives a vote of confidence to Linehan and evidently hasn't made any movement towards hiring or appointing the person that will Draft for the team. The season end is a week away and we're looking the second selection in the entire draft - but it sure looks like we don't have our Sh!t together to make good use of that pick.

Linehan will finish his second season with Never once beating a winning team - a team with a winning record in that season at game time.

I think it's worse than what we know.

[Goldenfleece]

I don't think the plan to add a GM is necessarily meant to reduce Linehan's power. The organization is just recognizing that their methods are different from all the other teams and that it is a detriment to our ability to remain competitive. I'd say the fact that they are focusing on the GM issue rather than the coaching is a tacit admission that the front office is to blame for a lot of our problems.

[Tony Soprano]

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Excerpt:

"But here is the most substantial change being considered by Shaw: removing the head coach's authority over the draft.

Up to now, the organization's top college personnel expert has stacked the draft board. The personnel chief was Charley Armey, and when Armey retired, Tony Softli moved into the role.

But the head coach makes the picks. Shaw insists that no Rams executive has ever vetoed a coach's draft decision.

"We had Charley Armey stacking the board, and Martz making the picks," Shaw said. "Now it's Tony Softli stacking the board and Linehan making the picks.

"We're either putting our draft board together the wrong way, or we're asking the coach to do too much. That's what worries me: as an organization, are we putting too much on the coach? The bottom line is, we're not drafting good players, and that must change.

"This is a draft league. This is how you build your team. Free agency brings only marginal improvement, and usually you end up overpaying for the free agents that provide that marginal improvement. The only way to be dominant in this league is to draft dominance."

Shaw is particularly perturbed by draft selections used to stock the defense. "We haven't found playmakers," he said.

The Rams' overall draft record is abysmal. They have drafted only four Pro Bowl players since moving to St. Louis in 1995: offensive tackle Orlando Pace, wide receiver Torry Holt, running back Steven Jackson, and cornerback Dre Bly (who earned Pro Bowl honors after signing with Detroit).

From 2000-2006 (seven drafts), the Rams chose 63 players. Only one, Jackson, has made a Pro Bowl. Only eight opened this season as Rams starters."

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/spo...7?OpenDocument

These are astonishing things to be saying publicly about you current Head Coach
and personnel. I'm going to assume he held back. He's not going to come out and
say the HC has botched this and we need someone new to Draft for us because it's been a Disaster. No team would do that to their sitting Head Coach. So read between the lines of already damning statements.

Further, consider the timing, the President is coming and saying changes must be made when we're only won 1 or 2 games at the time and have the second worst record in the league.

[Merlin]

Originally Posted by Goldenfleece

I don't think the plan to add a GM is necessarily meant to reduce Linehan's power. The organization is just recognizing that their methods are different from all the other teams and that it is a detriment to our ability to remain competitive. I'd say the fact that they are focusing on the GM issue rather than the coaching is a tacit admission that the front office is to blame for a lot of our problems.

I think you're correct.

And since we all know that Shaw and Ziggy are bean counters, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense that we hire unproven coaches. Way I look at it there's two possibilities this offseason: hire a GM to give us some football acumen, or fire Linehan and hire an experienced coach that will provide the same.

Interestingly enough, the best and most experienced coaches desire a setup that Linehan currently enjoys.

[TekeRam]

We've now seen the top three stars for this team either blow up at or blow off the head coach.

The offensive coordinator sucks, and the head coach, a supposed "offensive genius", has greatly regressed our high powered offense.

The only guy who has done his job is Haslett, but his pass defense is suspect(read:bad) and some of our players (Wade) are not ready for primetime obviously.

Overall this situation is unforgivable, and someone on this staff needs to go. My vote is for Linehan, as the players already have voted him off the island, and Olsen. If we can get Ron Rivera out of San Diego, I fully support him for at least DC, and possibly even head coach. His unit in Chicago got them to a super bowl, and it's a crime that he's only an assistant. Let us get him back to at least a coordinator, please!

[Tony Soprano]

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New GM's usually bring in new coaches - or get the power to do so.

Parcells is deciding whether to keep the HC or bring in his own in Miami. Speculation is he's going to bring in his own.