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by Howard Balzer
The Rams will gather on the practice field today for the final day of preparation for Sunday’s game against the 49ers. Of course, it is also the final practice of the season, save for the walk-through and mock game that takes place Saturday.
Coach Steve Spagnuolo will be no different than he has been for his previous 47 games as Rams coach, running practice, correcting and acting no different than if his record was 37-10 instead of 10-37.
If he has harbored any thoughts that this might be his final practice as Rams coach or that Sunday could be his final game, he doesn’t show it publicly. That is Spagnuolo’s strength as a leader. His players always know what to expect.
But the reality is that’s not probably enough in our short attention span society. It doesn’t matter that Spagnuolo’s Rams were 7-9 last season with a mostly young roster and average team. After the decision to blow up the roster in 2009, the Rams had no business winning seven games. They did, thanks to an offensive plan that protected rookie quarterback Sam Bradford and the unexpected presence of Danario Alexander, whose big plays helped win three games.
Alexander wouldn’t have been on the roster had Mark Clayton not been lost for the season in Week 5. Who knows; maybe if the Rams had won only four or five games, it would have been viewed as incremental progress and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur might not have been hired as head coach by the Cleveland Browns.
But Shurmur left, and Spagnuolo hired offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. He knew there might be growing pains with a new offense in a lockout year. But steady progress was expected.
Of course, we often know what happens to the best-laid plans. Running back Steven Jackson is injured after scoring on a 47-yard touchdown on the first offensive play of the season. Bradford’s security blanket, Danny Amendola, catches five passes in that first game, but he is injured and lost for the season. Cornerback Ron Bartell also goes down, starting an unprecedented run of injuries at that position, which began in training camp when Jerome Murphy was also lost for the season.
We all knew how difficult the schedule was for the first half of the season, but when the Rams came back from the bye and gained 424 yards against Green Bay, it appeared the offense might be onto something even though they failed to score a touchdown. For those with short memories, the “regressing” Bradford was 28-for-44 for 321 yards in that game, and Brandon Lloyd wasn’t on the team yet. Alexander had six receptions for 91 yards and Greg Salas had eight for 77. Even tight end Lance Kendricks had four catches for 71 yards.
But then Bradford was injured on the final play of that game, Alexander went out the next week for six games and Salas was lost for the season three weeks later. Except for one aberration against New Orleans, the offensive subsequently degenerated into a dysfunctional mess that only has Jackson as the shining light.
When Jackson was asked Thursday what he has learned from this year’s experience, he said simply, “That it’s important to have continuity.”
Of course, he probably knew that, but it has been glaring this season.
The offense has had one player start all 16 games, Harvey Dahl, and he has started at two different positions. If Mark LeVoir starts at left tackle Sunday, there will be five starters on offense with three on the offensive line that weren’t with the team in training camp.
The ever-changing roster and in-game injuries makes a thin roster even thinner, and filters its way down to special teams.
And because of that, Spagnuolo and Co. could pay for it with their jobs, as if they could control most of it.
There are those that look at the record and nothing else. Explanations why apparently don’t matter. But if it was thought Spagnuolo did a good job last year, did he suddenly become a bad coach?
Most pointedly, what does anyone think the hot names supposedly being pursued or considered would have done in these circumstances?
Jeff Fisher was a very good coach in Tennessee. But what happened when things didn’t go as planned? In 16 full seasons with the franchise, Fisher had five losing seasons and five that were 8-8. He had a total of six winning seasons.
Jon Gruden won a Super Bowl with Tony Dungy’s team, then went 7-9 and 5-11 the next two seasons. The Bucs did have an 11-5 season, then were 4-12 the following year. In the six seasons after that Super Bowl, Gruden’s Bucs were 45-51.
Ass Dick Vermeil always said, “I became a lot better coach when I got better players and they stayed healthy.”
Firing a coach or general manager is easy. Finding someone better is the tough part.
When McDaniels was asked what he had learned from this difficult season, he said, “You can’t ever assume anything. Bringing me here, doesn’t mean that I’m going to do anything that I’ve done in the past. Bringing an individual player here doesn’t mean they’re going to do the same thing (they’ve done in the past). You have to mesh together. It’s a group of individuals that has to become a team and has to work together, has to fit together the right way. I think it’s about how people interact and people mesh together and you have to continue to work in this business to make sure that you have the right group of guys together.”
When, as Jackson said, “It’s been a lot of moving parts,” what McDaniels discussed is virtually impossible.
The NFL is an unforgiving league where just winning a game is brutally hard. Now, Stan Kroenke has a decision to make, his first major one as owner of the franchise. Perhaps he’s already made it.
But on that continuity theme, Kroenke hopefully knows that patience through hard times can pay off even if it’s not considered the popular decision and franchises that constantly change coaches and systems become mired in quicksand and often end up with players that don’t fit.
If he makes a change, does Kroenke want to pay between $5 and $7 million a year for a “proven” coach? What have the Redskins received for the $7 million a year they are paying Mike Shanahan along with a large assistant coach budget?
On the other hand, is it progress to hire another successful coordinator and likely start over with another new offensive system and defensive system? After all, Kroenke supported the Spagnuolo hire, and knew this probably wouldn’t be a quick fix.
At the end of the day, Kroenke has to go with his own gut and do what he believes is right, not what he believes others think.
We can all only hope he gets it right.
<a class="postlink" href="http://101sports.com/category/hbalzer-blogs/20111230/Kroenke's-Call-Tougher-Than-You-Think/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://101sports.com/category/hbalzer-b ... You-Think/</a>
The Rams will gather on the practice field today for the final day of preparation for Sunday’s game against the 49ers. Of course, it is also the final practice of the season, save for the walk-through and mock game that takes place Saturday.
Coach Steve Spagnuolo will be no different than he has been for his previous 47 games as Rams coach, running practice, correcting and acting no different than if his record was 37-10 instead of 10-37.
If he has harbored any thoughts that this might be his final practice as Rams coach or that Sunday could be his final game, he doesn’t show it publicly. That is Spagnuolo’s strength as a leader. His players always know what to expect.
But the reality is that’s not probably enough in our short attention span society. It doesn’t matter that Spagnuolo’s Rams were 7-9 last season with a mostly young roster and average team. After the decision to blow up the roster in 2009, the Rams had no business winning seven games. They did, thanks to an offensive plan that protected rookie quarterback Sam Bradford and the unexpected presence of Danario Alexander, whose big plays helped win three games.
Alexander wouldn’t have been on the roster had Mark Clayton not been lost for the season in Week 5. Who knows; maybe if the Rams had won only four or five games, it would have been viewed as incremental progress and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur might not have been hired as head coach by the Cleveland Browns.
But Shurmur left, and Spagnuolo hired offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. He knew there might be growing pains with a new offense in a lockout year. But steady progress was expected.
Of course, we often know what happens to the best-laid plans. Running back Steven Jackson is injured after scoring on a 47-yard touchdown on the first offensive play of the season. Bradford’s security blanket, Danny Amendola, catches five passes in that first game, but he is injured and lost for the season. Cornerback Ron Bartell also goes down, starting an unprecedented run of injuries at that position, which began in training camp when Jerome Murphy was also lost for the season.
We all knew how difficult the schedule was for the first half of the season, but when the Rams came back from the bye and gained 424 yards against Green Bay, it appeared the offense might be onto something even though they failed to score a touchdown. For those with short memories, the “regressing” Bradford was 28-for-44 for 321 yards in that game, and Brandon Lloyd wasn’t on the team yet. Alexander had six receptions for 91 yards and Greg Salas had eight for 77. Even tight end Lance Kendricks had four catches for 71 yards.
But then Bradford was injured on the final play of that game, Alexander went out the next week for six games and Salas was lost for the season three weeks later. Except for one aberration against New Orleans, the offensive subsequently degenerated into a dysfunctional mess that only has Jackson as the shining light.
When Jackson was asked Thursday what he has learned from this year’s experience, he said simply, “That it’s important to have continuity.”
Of course, he probably knew that, but it has been glaring this season.
The offense has had one player start all 16 games, Harvey Dahl, and he has started at two different positions. If Mark LeVoir starts at left tackle Sunday, there will be five starters on offense with three on the offensive line that weren’t with the team in training camp.
The ever-changing roster and in-game injuries makes a thin roster even thinner, and filters its way down to special teams.
And because of that, Spagnuolo and Co. could pay for it with their jobs, as if they could control most of it.
There are those that look at the record and nothing else. Explanations why apparently don’t matter. But if it was thought Spagnuolo did a good job last year, did he suddenly become a bad coach?
Most pointedly, what does anyone think the hot names supposedly being pursued or considered would have done in these circumstances?
Jeff Fisher was a very good coach in Tennessee. But what happened when things didn’t go as planned? In 16 full seasons with the franchise, Fisher had five losing seasons and five that were 8-8. He had a total of six winning seasons.
Jon Gruden won a Super Bowl with Tony Dungy’s team, then went 7-9 and 5-11 the next two seasons. The Bucs did have an 11-5 season, then were 4-12 the following year. In the six seasons after that Super Bowl, Gruden’s Bucs were 45-51.
Ass Dick Vermeil always said, “I became a lot better coach when I got better players and they stayed healthy.”
Firing a coach or general manager is easy. Finding someone better is the tough part.
When McDaniels was asked what he had learned from this difficult season, he said, “You can’t ever assume anything. Bringing me here, doesn’t mean that I’m going to do anything that I’ve done in the past. Bringing an individual player here doesn’t mean they’re going to do the same thing (they’ve done in the past). You have to mesh together. It’s a group of individuals that has to become a team and has to work together, has to fit together the right way. I think it’s about how people interact and people mesh together and you have to continue to work in this business to make sure that you have the right group of guys together.”
When, as Jackson said, “It’s been a lot of moving parts,” what McDaniels discussed is virtually impossible.
The NFL is an unforgiving league where just winning a game is brutally hard. Now, Stan Kroenke has a decision to make, his first major one as owner of the franchise. Perhaps he’s already made it.
But on that continuity theme, Kroenke hopefully knows that patience through hard times can pay off even if it’s not considered the popular decision and franchises that constantly change coaches and systems become mired in quicksand and often end up with players that don’t fit.
If he makes a change, does Kroenke want to pay between $5 and $7 million a year for a “proven” coach? What have the Redskins received for the $7 million a year they are paying Mike Shanahan along with a large assistant coach budget?
On the other hand, is it progress to hire another successful coordinator and likely start over with another new offensive system and defensive system? After all, Kroenke supported the Spagnuolo hire, and knew this probably wouldn’t be a quick fix.
At the end of the day, Kroenke has to go with his own gut and do what he believes is right, not what he believes others think.
We can all only hope he gets it right.
<a class="postlink" href="http://101sports.com/category/hbalzer-blogs/20111230/Kroenke's-Call-Tougher-Than-You-Think/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://101sports.com/category/hbalzer-b ... You-Think/</a>
