Is Paul Boudreau a good coach?

[den-the-coach]

In the end if the Rams struggle again this year I look for Fisher to make some staff changes and I believe offensive line will be a starting point, however, who's available will be the question?

Fisher had a great OL Coach in Tennessee in Mike Munchak, but he's now with the Steelers so I don't think he'll be leaving there and Fisher is very loyal so staff changes are not easy for him, but again Boudreau needs more time so hopefully this won't be an ongoing issue.

 

[12intheBox]

I wonder if our issues have more to do w the positional coaches or the coordinators.

It comes down to why these guys have failed - was it poor technique/ execution or was the player put in a position where he had little chance of success no matter how he did it?

If we are getting out schemed - maybe we need to be casting a wider net of blame?

 

[-X-]

His results in St.Louis, in either stint, don't suggest he's very good. His first stint can be placed on the talent evaluator who brought players in possibly. If that's the case then is it the same this time around?

In 2006, Steven Jackson had the most yards from scrimmage that he's ever had. In 2007, the O-line had so many injuries, they were bringing in street free agents to fill the holes. I can't possibly put the blame on him for 2007. There's been a lot of turnover since he re-joined the Rams, and that can excuse some of the problem (in addition to not really attacking the O-line personnel issues until this year), but I wouldn't rank him as some elite position coach or anything. He's definitely a good coach though, IMO.

 

[V3]

I think he's average. For some reason people tend to overrate him as a coach. He was given a gift with GRob and he actually looks worse than he did as a rookie.

 

[CoachO]

LOL how come now whenever someone wants to validate a point they have to invoke the name of CoachO?

Not sure what I did to warrant such a shot. But hey. Thanks for the shout out.
(I think)

 

[DCH]

How long should it reasonably take for a guy like GRob to become a dominant tackle, given his combination of talent, inexperience, and coaching?

Also, was Saffold's abysmal Sunday an aberration, or should we be worried about him?

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Not sure what I did to warrant such a shot. But hey. Thanks for the shout out.
(I think)

Not a shot at you. Just posters referring to your comments to validate their own opinions. Seen a bit of that lately. Like you are some sort of Oracle or something. If someone has something to say they need to just say it.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

How long should it reasonably take for a guy like GRob to become a dominant tackle, given his combination of talent, inexperience, and coaching?

Also, was Saffold's abysmal Sunday an aberration, or should we be worried about him?

Well GRob came out very raw, but I would think that he should be showing signs of his dominant capabilities by now. Some have said that he is not taking the job seriously enough. I hope that gets fixed soon. Either way he was a risk based on his college career.

Saffold on the other hand.......I don't know what's gotten into him. He was very good at ORG before. Maybe it is because he is sidled with Barnes and Havenstien instead of two more experienced starters. Maybe he is trying to do too much.

 

[CoachO]

Not a shot at you. Just posters referring to your comments to validate their own opinions. Seen a bit of that lately. Like you are some sort of Oracle or something. If someone has something to say they need to just say it.

You seem to have some sort of issue with it. Not sure why that would bother you.

It may just be that there are some who appreciate my POV and reference it because they think I bring something to the table.

 

[DCH]

Well GRob came out very raw, but I would think that he should be showing signs of his dominant capabilities by now. Some have said that he is not taking the job seriously enough. I hope that gets fixed soon. Either way he was a risk based on his college career.

Saffold on the other hand.......I don't know what's gotten into him. He was very good at ORG before. Maybe it is because he is sidled with Barnes and Havenstien instead of two more experienced starters. Maybe he is trying to do too much.

Well, a lot of posters (myself included) pinned much of Barksdale's struggles last year to being next to Davin Joseph and Scott Wells, so you may have a point on Saffold. But he blocked well week 1... they all blocked at least OK in week 1.

Also I want to note that I'm not denigrating GRob in any way, just trying to determine what a proper expected timetable should be so I can set personal expectations for the player and line better.

 

[CoachO]

Well GRob came out very raw, but I would think that he should be showing signs of his dominant capabilities by now. Some have said that he is not taking the job seriously enough. I hope that gets fixed soon. Either way he was a risk based on his college career.

Saffold on the other hand.......I don't know what's gotten into him. He was very good at ORG before. Maybe it is because he is sidled with Barnes and Havenstien instead of two more experienced starters. Maybe he is trying to do too much.

There's an awful lot of "maybes" in your theories. Sounds like you are over reacting to ONE game.

Me, I think I'm gonna let things play out and see where things are in a couple of months. I didn't have many expectations of this unit given their overall youth and inexperience.

I don't think reacting week to week is the way to go. But that's just me.

 

[Merlin]

I think some of the posts here have summed it up very well: Boudreau is a good OL coach. I'll add that he's not a big part of the run game scheme with Fisher's staff, at least I have not read that he is. Callahan is given more responsibility no doubt.

One thing fans aren't talking about here is Boras. He was elevated to run game coordinator under Cigs was he not? And the run game has sucked 2 games in a row. Maybe that move was too much placating him for not getting the OC jog and not enough making sense. Time will tell but THAT is what we should be questioning right now.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

You seem to have some sort of issue with it. Not sure why that would bother you.

It may just be that there are some who appreciate my POV and reference it because they think I bring something to the table.

Believe it or not, I value your point of view too. But I don't agree with everything you say. You personally are not my issue. Posters using your name to make their viewpoint sound more substantial? Well yeah. If someone has a point of view then they should just say it. They don't have to agree with me, nor I with them. Putting your name on it doesn't make them more right. In fact if they can convince me on their own merits it is more convincing than dropping names. Once that happens they lose credibility.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

There's an awful lot of "maybes" in your theories. Sounds like you are over reacting to ONE game.

Me, I think I'm gonna let things play out and see where things are in a couple of months. I didn't have many expectations of this unit given their overall youth and inexperience.

I don't think reacting week to week is the way to go. But that's just me.

Then why are you reading this thread? There was a question posed and I gave my point of view. Now you are saying I am reacting to one game. Guess what. Boudreau has been on this team for 4 years now. If he was on this team for one summer, sure that would be reacting to one, or two games.

I get that you want to wait and see with this current unit. I don't think we have a choice do we? Boudreau is the coach and the OLine is very young. But what does that have to do with someone asking if Boudreau is a good line coach?

 

[LACHAMP46]

I'm watching the game...I'll watch it again, but I don't see all these Major breakdowns by the O-Line...In fact, they look better than last week in some aspects...Washington's defense looks better than Seattle...flying around...Backs look slow...Foles looks...Foles-y

 

[DCH]

I'm watching the game...I'll watch it again, but I don't see all these Major breakdowns by the O-Line...In fact, they look better than last week in some aspects...Washington's defense looks better than Seattle...flying around...Backs look slow...Foles looks...Foles-y

That is a good point, too... and they mostly shut down Miami's run game in week 1 despite losing.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I'm watching the game...I'll watch it again, but I don't see all these Major breakdowns by the O-Line...In fact, they look better than last week in some aspects...Washington's defense looks better than Seattle...flying around...Backs look slow...Foles looks...Foles-y

I have not rewatched it yet. Foles seemed to under more pressure against Washington. But yeah the Rams didn't look ready. Backs did look slow. The running lanes were not there though.

 

[Irish]

Good play calling and playing to personnel's strengths can help cover up glaring weaknesses.

I am not convinced Schottenheimer and Cignetti are capable of changing a game plan once it blows up in their faces. If you have athletic O lineman who would be better at running a zone blocking scheme, its a coach's responsibility to tailor his gameplan to better suit his players. Wishing that a playbook will be successful and telling yourself over and over and over again that your way is the only way to do something are not too different from one another when you have a defense lined up on the other side of you who's only job is to make you do a bad job.

 

[CoachO]

I am reading this thread. And posted MY thoughts on the OP. But since I question your thoughts and comment on my interpretation of what you said, somehow you question my reason for reading the thread to begin with.

I get chastised a lot for being overly sensitive when people disagree with my POV. But it seems like you are guilty of that very thing in this particular case.

As far as evaluating Boudreau THIS YEAR, I do in fact think it's impossible to base anything off of two games.

As far as holding him accountable in his tenure since Fisher brought him back, I honestly believe to be able to objectively evaluate his coaching ability, one has to look at the entire set of conditions he has been forced to deal with.

I have always subscribed to the old adage when measuring a coach's merit... you ask the question... Can he take the opponent's team and beat you with it as opposed to the other coach taking his team and beat him?

In other words, Coach Callahan has been mentioned frequently in this thread.

If you give Boudreau the Washjngton o-line and let Callahan "coach" the Rams unit as it currently stands, who "wins"?

My point being, for anyone to try to compare the personnel of the unit that Callahan has to work with in Washington with what Boudreau has in STL, IMO its just not an apples to apples comparison.

Bottom line for me, good players make good coaches look great. Bad players can make good coaches look average.

Good coaches can take cast off players like a Barry Richardson or Joe Barksdale and find a way to coax career years out of them. Shellie Smith, Chris Williams Adam Goldberg all were short term fixes when pressed into action.

They can take players like Tim Barnes or Mike Person and develop them into NFL caliber starters.

But the best coaches in the league will always have a difficult time dealing with the injuries that have plagued this team over the course of the past few years. I maintain that if Boudreau would have been able to work with a HEALTHY unit of J. Long, Robinson, Wells, Saffold, Batksdale for 16 games last year, no one would be questioning his coaching ability. But when forced to play the guy listed as the #11 man on your roster. Well good luck. Even the great Bill Callahan would not look so good.

 

[DCH]

Hey @CoachO, any thoughts on a reasonable timetable of growth from the young'uns on the line? Like... how long should we expect it take GRob to get to a consistent level of good play (not talking his "total 100% potential," but rather a point where his "down" plays are still consistently OK and his "up" plays are close to his dominant potential)?

What would you expect a timetable for Havenstein to be, in terms of learning how to deal better with speed rushes and fancy defensive line moves? He's holding up OK, but obviously there's holes in his game, as one would expect...

Seems like Jamon Brown is playing quite well, which is great... for whatever reason he reminds me of Jahri Evans.