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‘Project Goff’ is underway at Rams headquarters
By Vincent Bonsignore, Los Angeles Daily News
From the inner sanctum of his Fired Football Coaches Association office some 2,500 miles from Los Angeles, Jon Gruden scoured the key piece of evidence in the case of Rams rookie quarterback Jared Goff.
The game tape, football coaches maintain, always tells the truth.
And in Goff’s case, the images flickering from the big screen inside Gruden’s Tampa, Fla., based football think tank provided key clues to explain how Goff’s first NFL season deteriorated into a nightmare.
“That’s an offensive line that has struggled,” Gruden testified recently. “That’s a receiving corps that has struggled.”
Gruden could have added a flawed coaching staff short on both imagination and a proven track record of quarterback development, one that failed even the basic principals of providing support for a rookie quarterback. Like establishing a sound running game Goff could lean on – in spite of having reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year Todd Gurley on the roster – or functional game plans, or a culture of discipline in which frustrating, drive-sabotaging penalties would finally be eradicated.
And while factually true, it would have been speculative considering the evidence at hand.
“I do think he went into a difficult situation,” Gruden summed up, politely.
The result being a rugged rookie season that left fans and pundits wondering if the Rams severely over-reached by relinquishing six draft picks to move to the top of last year’s draft to select the former Cal star.
But from Gruden’s vantage point, most of the dynamics involved were out of Goff’s control.
The Rams, it appears, agree.
And it has prompted them to devote almost every bit of energy and focus this offseason on improving the infrastructure around Goff and maximizing his chances of succeeding.
Their Thousand Oaks headquarters is now the home of Project Goff, with almost every decision they make – including the direction they take in this week’s draft – motivated by creating an environment that helps expedite the development and efficiency of a position around which their world revolves.
That includes building a coaching staff deeply rooted in quarterback development. And adding left tackle Andrew Whitworth, not only to help protect Goff but also to free up tight ends to be more active in the passing game and elevate Todd Gurley in the running game. And signing former USC wide receiver Robert Woods, a precise, dependable route-runner with sure hands who Goff can trust as a go-to target.
All of it is designed to create a better environment in which Goff can excel.
“Everything that we do starts with the quarterback in mind,” new coach Sean McVay said.
That doesn’t mean their draft board won’t dictate they go defense when their first pick arrives early in the second round.
But the Rams believe a pool of talent most analysts agree is the deepest in years will augment their Goff objectives.
“From the beginning, when we had our initial meetings in December, you’re starting to go, ‘Wow, there’s certain positions (of need) where there will still be quality on the board,” Rams general manger Les Snead said.
It’s an edict that began with the firing of long-time coach Jeff Fisher who, for all the laurels he rested on, could never figure out how to field a productive offense. And when presented with the responsibility of developing Goff, he woefully underestimated the importance of experienced coaching by surrounding the rookie with first-year offensive coordinator Rob Boras – a former tight ends coach – and a quarterbacks coach in Chris Weinke with exactly one year experience.
It was a confusing approach.
On one hand Fisher believed the Rams were a high-caliber quarterback away from being a playoff contender.
On the other, he completely neglected the support system needed to assist the very asset he considered the missing piece.
It was a recipe for disaster.
Goff struggled with the learning curve going from Cal’s spread offense offense to the NFL. The talent around him was either incapable or not yet ready to contribute at a sufficient level. And the inexperienced offensive staff was helpless to provide alternative answers.
The miscalculations eventually cost Fisher his job.
It also underscored the importance of finding a new football leader with a proven offensive track record who could lay out a plan how to develop Goff and the infrastructure around him.
The Rams quickly landed on McVay, who represents a complete reversal not only from Fisher, but the string of three straight defensive-minded head coaches covering the last eight seasons.
None of whom could field functional offenses, let alone figure out a long-range answer at quarterback.
“What you’re looking at right now, with the first offensive head coach since (Scott) Linnehan, is someone who is going to put a priority on quarterback and how you develop the position by putting the right pieces around him in order for it to function at its highest level,” said Kevin Demoff, the Rams’ vice president of football operations.
Groomed under Gruden and his brother – Washington coach Jay Gruden – and former Washington coach Mike Shanahan, McVay, 31, is largely responsible for Kirk Cousins’ assent from a fourth-round draft pick to a playoff-caliber quarterback.
And while Washington didn’t have All-Pro caliber players across the board during his three years as the offensive coordinator, they were among the most productive in the NFL.
McVay’s upbringing and the success he helped create in Washington - coupled with his dynamic personality - helped sell Demoff and the Rams on him.
But more than anything, it was the detailed plan he articulated on how to develop Goff and the infrastructure around him – be it internally or through free agent and draft acquisitions – that convinced the Rams that McVay was their guy.
“Did we hire Sean specifically for Jared? No. We hired Sean because we think he’s going to be a great head coach,” Demoff said. “But, we also recognize Jared is a significant asset for the franchise and we needed someone who could maximize him.”
The coaching staff McVay built backs up that conviction. He’s surrounded himself – and Goff – with assistants deeply rooted in quarterback development and coordinating offenses.
Combined, offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur, quarterbacks coach Greg Olson and offensive line coach Aaron Kromer bring more than two decades of experience building quarterbacks and offenses.
LeFleur spent the last two years coaching Matt Ryan with the Atlanta Falcons, and was Washington’s quarterback coach under Mike Shanahan from 2010-13. Olson helped transition Raiders quarterback Derek Carr from a spread offense in college to NFL stardom in Oakland.
That’s an incredible amount of experience and resources Goff can lean on.
“I think the truth of the matter is Sean’s entire world runs through the quarterback,” Demoff said. “Everything that’s been done, in Sean’s mind, is to give the quarterback the best chance to win.”
That was the benefit McVay gained being groomed under coaching mentors whose quarterback philosophies all trace back to former 49ers coach Bill Walsh.
“(Quarterback) is the most difficult position in all of sports, it’s the most important one for the football team,” McVay said. “So everything that we do starts with the quarterback in mind. And our job is to make the most difficult position as easy as we can.”
Of equal importance is improving the talent around Goff, which was painfully obvious after watching the Rams go winless in his seven starts to end the season.
Some of the blame goes to Goff, who struggled making the transition from a spread offense to a conventional NFL scheme.
But playing behind an offensive line that ranked among the worst in the NFL and with wide receivers that struck fear in no one, it was also impossible to get any sort of read on Goff given the amount of time he devoted to simply surviving from one play to the next.
The Rams hope McVay can help get Gurley and receiver Tavon Austin on track, but they aggressively went outside the organization through free agency intent on creating a safer, more functional environment around Goff.
Whitworth, a two-time All Pro, was brought in to protect Goff’s blind side, serve as a mentor to an extremely young offensive unit and anchor a line that, for all its bad play last season, still has potential.
“You really look at what we’re trying to do, and Andrew’s going to be a big part of running the football more efficiently as well,” McVay said. “We have to get Todd going, he’s a very important part of what we’re trying to do.”
Woods, while not the No. 1 wide receiver the Rams desperately need, is a precise route-runner with dependable hands and a willing blocker. Simply by being in the right place at the right time and consistently catching the ball, he can be a valuable addition.
Goff was a keen observer to the Rams’ offseason moves.
“Anytime they make any sort of investment on the offensive side of the ball, especially, it’s always helpful,” he said. “I think that all of the additions we made offensively and defensively were all great."
[www.presstelegram.com]
By Vincent Bonsignore, Los Angeles Daily News
From the inner sanctum of his Fired Football Coaches Association office some 2,500 miles from Los Angeles, Jon Gruden scoured the key piece of evidence in the case of Rams rookie quarterback Jared Goff.
The game tape, football coaches maintain, always tells the truth.
And in Goff’s case, the images flickering from the big screen inside Gruden’s Tampa, Fla., based football think tank provided key clues to explain how Goff’s first NFL season deteriorated into a nightmare.
“That’s an offensive line that has struggled,” Gruden testified recently. “That’s a receiving corps that has struggled.”
Gruden could have added a flawed coaching staff short on both imagination and a proven track record of quarterback development, one that failed even the basic principals of providing support for a rookie quarterback. Like establishing a sound running game Goff could lean on – in spite of having reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year Todd Gurley on the roster – or functional game plans, or a culture of discipline in which frustrating, drive-sabotaging penalties would finally be eradicated.
And while factually true, it would have been speculative considering the evidence at hand.
“I do think he went into a difficult situation,” Gruden summed up, politely.
The result being a rugged rookie season that left fans and pundits wondering if the Rams severely over-reached by relinquishing six draft picks to move to the top of last year’s draft to select the former Cal star.
But from Gruden’s vantage point, most of the dynamics involved were out of Goff’s control.
The Rams, it appears, agree.
And it has prompted them to devote almost every bit of energy and focus this offseason on improving the infrastructure around Goff and maximizing his chances of succeeding.
Their Thousand Oaks headquarters is now the home of Project Goff, with almost every decision they make – including the direction they take in this week’s draft – motivated by creating an environment that helps expedite the development and efficiency of a position around which their world revolves.
That includes building a coaching staff deeply rooted in quarterback development. And adding left tackle Andrew Whitworth, not only to help protect Goff but also to free up tight ends to be more active in the passing game and elevate Todd Gurley in the running game. And signing former USC wide receiver Robert Woods, a precise, dependable route-runner with sure hands who Goff can trust as a go-to target.
All of it is designed to create a better environment in which Goff can excel.
“Everything that we do starts with the quarterback in mind,” new coach Sean McVay said.
That doesn’t mean their draft board won’t dictate they go defense when their first pick arrives early in the second round.
But the Rams believe a pool of talent most analysts agree is the deepest in years will augment their Goff objectives.
“From the beginning, when we had our initial meetings in December, you’re starting to go, ‘Wow, there’s certain positions (of need) where there will still be quality on the board,” Rams general manger Les Snead said.
It’s an edict that began with the firing of long-time coach Jeff Fisher who, for all the laurels he rested on, could never figure out how to field a productive offense. And when presented with the responsibility of developing Goff, he woefully underestimated the importance of experienced coaching by surrounding the rookie with first-year offensive coordinator Rob Boras – a former tight ends coach – and a quarterbacks coach in Chris Weinke with exactly one year experience.
It was a confusing approach.
On one hand Fisher believed the Rams were a high-caliber quarterback away from being a playoff contender.
On the other, he completely neglected the support system needed to assist the very asset he considered the missing piece.
It was a recipe for disaster.
Goff struggled with the learning curve going from Cal’s spread offense offense to the NFL. The talent around him was either incapable or not yet ready to contribute at a sufficient level. And the inexperienced offensive staff was helpless to provide alternative answers.
The miscalculations eventually cost Fisher his job.
It also underscored the importance of finding a new football leader with a proven offensive track record who could lay out a plan how to develop Goff and the infrastructure around him.
The Rams quickly landed on McVay, who represents a complete reversal not only from Fisher, but the string of three straight defensive-minded head coaches covering the last eight seasons.
None of whom could field functional offenses, let alone figure out a long-range answer at quarterback.
“What you’re looking at right now, with the first offensive head coach since (Scott) Linnehan, is someone who is going to put a priority on quarterback and how you develop the position by putting the right pieces around him in order for it to function at its highest level,” said Kevin Demoff, the Rams’ vice president of football operations.
Groomed under Gruden and his brother – Washington coach Jay Gruden – and former Washington coach Mike Shanahan, McVay, 31, is largely responsible for Kirk Cousins’ assent from a fourth-round draft pick to a playoff-caliber quarterback.
And while Washington didn’t have All-Pro caliber players across the board during his three years as the offensive coordinator, they were among the most productive in the NFL.
McVay’s upbringing and the success he helped create in Washington - coupled with his dynamic personality - helped sell Demoff and the Rams on him.
But more than anything, it was the detailed plan he articulated on how to develop Goff and the infrastructure around him – be it internally or through free agent and draft acquisitions – that convinced the Rams that McVay was their guy.
“Did we hire Sean specifically for Jared? No. We hired Sean because we think he’s going to be a great head coach,” Demoff said. “But, we also recognize Jared is a significant asset for the franchise and we needed someone who could maximize him.”
The coaching staff McVay built backs up that conviction. He’s surrounded himself – and Goff – with assistants deeply rooted in quarterback development and coordinating offenses.
Combined, offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur, quarterbacks coach Greg Olson and offensive line coach Aaron Kromer bring more than two decades of experience building quarterbacks and offenses.
LeFleur spent the last two years coaching Matt Ryan with the Atlanta Falcons, and was Washington’s quarterback coach under Mike Shanahan from 2010-13. Olson helped transition Raiders quarterback Derek Carr from a spread offense in college to NFL stardom in Oakland.
That’s an incredible amount of experience and resources Goff can lean on.
“I think the truth of the matter is Sean’s entire world runs through the quarterback,” Demoff said. “Everything that’s been done, in Sean’s mind, is to give the quarterback the best chance to win.”
That was the benefit McVay gained being groomed under coaching mentors whose quarterback philosophies all trace back to former 49ers coach Bill Walsh.
“(Quarterback) is the most difficult position in all of sports, it’s the most important one for the football team,” McVay said. “So everything that we do starts with the quarterback in mind. And our job is to make the most difficult position as easy as we can.”
Of equal importance is improving the talent around Goff, which was painfully obvious after watching the Rams go winless in his seven starts to end the season.
Some of the blame goes to Goff, who struggled making the transition from a spread offense to a conventional NFL scheme.
But playing behind an offensive line that ranked among the worst in the NFL and with wide receivers that struck fear in no one, it was also impossible to get any sort of read on Goff given the amount of time he devoted to simply surviving from one play to the next.
The Rams hope McVay can help get Gurley and receiver Tavon Austin on track, but they aggressively went outside the organization through free agency intent on creating a safer, more functional environment around Goff.
Whitworth, a two-time All Pro, was brought in to protect Goff’s blind side, serve as a mentor to an extremely young offensive unit and anchor a line that, for all its bad play last season, still has potential.
“You really look at what we’re trying to do, and Andrew’s going to be a big part of running the football more efficiently as well,” McVay said. “We have to get Todd going, he’s a very important part of what we’re trying to do.”
Woods, while not the No. 1 wide receiver the Rams desperately need, is a precise route-runner with dependable hands and a willing blocker. Simply by being in the right place at the right time and consistently catching the ball, he can be a valuable addition.
Goff was a keen observer to the Rams’ offseason moves.
“Anytime they make any sort of investment on the offensive side of the ball, especially, it’s always helpful,” he said. “I think that all of the additions we made offensively and defensively were all great."
[www.presstelegram.com]
