“font-family: Verdana;”>You did not have to be a visionary to see what the Rams did with respect to the house cleaning on Monday.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>The tip off should have been my prediction of 6-10 that later was amended after three games to a lower number of wins. I thought they would win three games and even with that said you could see this coming.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>The Rams have been a disaster, and that is putting it mildly. They now yearn for the days of Mike Martz and Charlie Armey who were the last successful coach and general manager to win big in St. Louis. And we are coming up on nearly 10 years since that worked.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>I could give you countless reasons why the latest Rams’ failure took place and yet you could probably add to it. The bottom line is they did not win enough games and they did not have enough excuses, even if the media was trying to help.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>Steve Spagnuolo is a good person. I wished it would have worked for him. I thought part of the problem was that he became distracted with things that had nothing to do with wins.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>Taking the pictures off the walls at Rams Park that featured some of the Rams greats was one example. Firing people for no reason other than him wanting his people on board as he needed loyalty, and other things that took away from the general focus of winning.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>As for coaching, while he would credit his players for battling week in and week out, what player really got better on his watch? Perhaps Chris Long? If I am not mistaken, during this time everyone is crediting the team in playing hard throughout the season, is that not what they are paid to do in the first place? It’s like giving little Johnny an A in his math class for showing up even if he does not know multiplication.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>So, that brings me to the question of did Steve Spagnuolo actually have enough to work with? How many of these guys could start on a good team and is that not what we wanted, a good team?
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>Billy Devaney was the General Manager of this team and he also got it on Monday. He was more deserving of being fired as his drafts and free agent signings were beyond disappointing. The busts or near busts are adding up rather quickly and with the Rams having the second pick again, how could you let him draft another player? A bad plan gone worse, if there is such a thing. Did I mention Billy Devaney is a nice guy too?
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>And as the saying goes you know where he finished – last.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>So here is the question. What next? Who will be the next Rams coach who will give St. Louis hope of bringing back the glory days? The Chief Operating Officer for the Rams is Kevin Demhoff. He is sharp and has an understanding in what is at stake. Now, he is the face of the organization as he has worked tirelessly in the community to put the Rams in a favorable light only to see it go up in smoke on Sundays.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>There will be a list of candidates that will include names you have heard and names you will wonder who they are? The bottom line is this; they need a team in place quick as the Rams have many decisions to make. If owner Stan Kroenke wants to stay out of the spotlight then so be it, just make sure you have the right people running this thing.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>The Rams have had seven men as head coaches since their arrival in St. Louis. That is as many as the Cardinals and Blues combined. As for talent, they need more as they have had only one Pro Bowl player make the team since 1999. Something has to change. As the Rams consider what they are looking for, allow me to make a few suggestions.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>1. Find a coach who has coached in the NFL and has had some reasonable success.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>2. Find a coach with leadership and media skills. I should remind you that we are little short on people who really know the game as I could give them to you on a little more than one hand, so that coach will have to understand that some don’t get it. He also needs to help sell the team and of course tickets as for leadership they still have to win.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>3. Find a coach that has an imagination offensively. Conservatives may survive in politics but they get fired a lot quicker in an offensive minded NFL.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>4. While you are looking for a general manger, make sure he has a reasonable understanding in recognizing talent.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>5. Make sure your GM does not draft “reach” players in the early rounds.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>6. Make sure that the GM and coach agree that when you draft a player as the second pick (let’s say left tackle) you should not have to move him to right tackle.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>I have more but I am of the mind that the Rams have learned their lesson and will cover many of the other things that were not covered by the most recently departed regime.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>For those who were championing the cause for Steve Spagnuolo, you should not worry. He will find work soon. He is a good coach and he will return some day as a head coach. This was not a good fit and he paid for it. Let’s hope the next coach has better luck. After all St. Louis is running out of time and patience.
