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By Nick Wagoner/Senior Writer
http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-eve ... 5195aaa8d1
MOBILE, Ala. – In hoping to follow in the footsteps of his father Marty and become a NFL coach, Brian Schottenheimer needed to start somewhere.
That somewhere just so happened to be on one of the NFL’s most veteran coaching staffs in St. Louis way back in 1997. The young Schottenheimer worked for then Rams coach Dick Vermeil on a team that had only recently moved to St. Louis two years prior.
Vermeil gave Schottenheimer a shot as an offensive assistant, working with offensive coordinator Jerry Rhome. As the low man on the totem pole, it was Schottenheimer’s job to do, well, whatever he was told.
“Yeah Frank Gansz, Mike White, guys like that,” Schottenheimer said. “It was terrific. It was a great experience for a young guy like myself that was still wanting to learn about the profession and kind of be a sponge and absorb all of the great coaching techniques and teaching styles that those guys had. It was terrific, and I couldn’t have asked for a better start. Even growing up around a successful head coach, it was great to be under some different guys because I think there’s so many great styles in this league and having been under so many different great teaching styles, I’ve been able to kind of add and subtract things I like from each guy and it was a great way to start off a career.”
In a way, Schottenheimer’s journey into the upper reaches of the coaching profession came full circle Monday when the Rams formally announced Schottenheimer had accepted the job of offensive coordinator under recently hired head coach Jeff Fisher.
Things haven’t changed much at the Russell Training Center, a place Schottenheimer said he knows well from his one-year stint with the team 14 years ago. He can’t recall much about where he lived or spent his time away from the building because, as a youngster in the profession, he didn’t get much time away from the building.
Schottenheimer actually isn’t much different from Fisher, who served as Rams defensive coordinator back in 1993. Upon interviewing for the Rams’ offensive coordinator job last week, Schottenheimer realized he and Fisher have plenty more in common.
“I was extremely excited to sit down and get a chance to possibly work with Coach Fisher,” Schottenheimer said. “Obviously, we all know his track record for success. I’ve gone against him a number of times when he was in Tennessee and I just, I like his beliefs. He and I, I think, have a lot of the same philosophies. He’s a guy that’s done it at such a high level for such a long time that I was thrilled to get a chance to spend some time with him. And once we sat down and visited, it became a no-brainer for me that this was a guy I wanted to work for.”
After waiting a week or so and interviewing former Oakland head coach Hue Jackson, Fisher opted for Schottenheimer, who brings a philosophy similar to Fisher’s and six years of experience as an offensive coordinator with the New York Jets with him.
Schottenheimer’s offenses were integral in the Jets’ back to back appearances in the AFC Championship game in 2009 and 2010. That 2009 group led the NFL in rushing with an average of 172.3 yards per contest.
The philosophy Schottenheimer shares with Fisher is one that places and emphasis on running the ball and controlling the line of scrimmage as well as protecting the quarterback.
“We want to have a system that is very flexible,” Schottenheimer said. “I do believe in this: I do believe number one, you’ve got to take care of the football. We want to be balanced. We want to have a physical running game, but we want to be able to keep people off balance with play-action and run-action attack. I think the big thing in terms of the running game and one of the things we were able to do early on in New York is the ability to have a physical mentality, that no matter what front people were in, there’s eight-man front, nine-man front things like that, that, ‘Hey we’re going to run the football. We’re going to find a way to get movement by being physical and by being exact with our fundamentals and our fits and things in the running game.’
“In terms of the passing game, I think I talked a little bit about the play-action, run-action attack, and that will be, the term we use all the time, quite honestly, is sameness. Make the runs and the passes kind of look the same. But it all starts in the passing game with protection. The quarterbacks need to be upright. This is a league anymore where pass rushers are getting bigger, faster and stronger. That’s getting harder and harder, but again I think it all comes down to some main beliefs of take care of the football, be physical, protect the passer, and then do what your personnel does best.”
Schottenheimer takes the reins of an offense that struggled mightily in 2011, finishing 31st in the league in total offense by posting just 283.6 yards per game and last in the league in scoring with 12.1 points per contest.
In hiring Schottenheimer, the Rams are now on their third offensive coordinator in as many seasons. And Schottenheimer is a proponent of the “digit” system, an offense that will bear resemblance to what Mike Martz and before him, Don Coryell brought to St. Louis.
That offense is unlike what Josh McDaniels did last year and also quite different from what Pat Shurmur’s West Coast system looked like in 2010.
“It’s certainly going to be different,” Schottenheimer said. “The funny thing is, obviously in league circles we all have the same plays. The terminology is certainly different, but it’s a situation where you’ve been around a lot of systems like I have, I can translate a lot of things. I know some of the things that Josh was doing. I know some of the things that Sam did his first year under Pat Shurmur, so I can kind of translate a lot of those languages. It will be certainly different. It’s more of the digit system type of terminology, although we use more concepts than numbers anymore. But it kind of has that background under Don Coryell, Norv Turner, things like that. But I think the most important thing is to not get caught up in terminology.”
The task of installing yet another offense on young quarterback Sam Bradford figures to be difficult but at least this year Bradford and Schottenheimer will have a full offseason to work together and get up to speed.
That lack of an offseason and a shortened training camp combined with injuries made things extremely difficult for Bradford in 2011. But Schottenheimer sees the potential in his young quarterback, potential that was reinforced to him when the pair sat down to talk on Monday.
“We had a great visit,” Schottenheimer said. “I was blown away with how excited he is about the upcoming year and he just seems like a terrific young man. I obviously spent a little time looking at him when he was coming out of college and things like that. But we had a very nice visit and I’m thrilled to have a guy like that that we can build around. . Obviously, I’ve been around a lot of young quarterbacks, but I think this guy’s got a chance to be real special.”
Likewise, Schottenheimer is also high on the presence of running back Steven Jackson. Although he hasn’t had the chance to meet Jackson yet, he’s long admired Jackson from afar and believes he has plenty left in the tank.
All told, Schottenheimer finds himself in a situation much like newly hired defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. Both have work to do but they’re also more than happy to get to work and do it in a familiar place.
“I tell you what, I really am thrilled,” Schottenheimer said. “I’m so excited about this opportunity. I’m excited about working for Coach. I kind of grew up in the Midwest being in Kansas City so I love this area, thrilled about that. I’m the type of person that you get excited about change. Change is exciting, so I’m really looking forward to it. It’s been a lot of fun kind of, again, working through the process of putting together a staff and getting to know Jeff and some of the other guys and then getting a chance to meet Sam, so I am thrilled and I’m very, very excited. Again, I think there is very, very good things to come for this organization and I just hope I can do my part to help.”
http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-eve ... 5195aaa8d1
MOBILE, Ala. – In hoping to follow in the footsteps of his father Marty and become a NFL coach, Brian Schottenheimer needed to start somewhere.
That somewhere just so happened to be on one of the NFL’s most veteran coaching staffs in St. Louis way back in 1997. The young Schottenheimer worked for then Rams coach Dick Vermeil on a team that had only recently moved to St. Louis two years prior.
Vermeil gave Schottenheimer a shot as an offensive assistant, working with offensive coordinator Jerry Rhome. As the low man on the totem pole, it was Schottenheimer’s job to do, well, whatever he was told.
“Yeah Frank Gansz, Mike White, guys like that,” Schottenheimer said. “It was terrific. It was a great experience for a young guy like myself that was still wanting to learn about the profession and kind of be a sponge and absorb all of the great coaching techniques and teaching styles that those guys had. It was terrific, and I couldn’t have asked for a better start. Even growing up around a successful head coach, it was great to be under some different guys because I think there’s so many great styles in this league and having been under so many different great teaching styles, I’ve been able to kind of add and subtract things I like from each guy and it was a great way to start off a career.”
In a way, Schottenheimer’s journey into the upper reaches of the coaching profession came full circle Monday when the Rams formally announced Schottenheimer had accepted the job of offensive coordinator under recently hired head coach Jeff Fisher.
Things haven’t changed much at the Russell Training Center, a place Schottenheimer said he knows well from his one-year stint with the team 14 years ago. He can’t recall much about where he lived or spent his time away from the building because, as a youngster in the profession, he didn’t get much time away from the building.
Schottenheimer actually isn’t much different from Fisher, who served as Rams defensive coordinator back in 1993. Upon interviewing for the Rams’ offensive coordinator job last week, Schottenheimer realized he and Fisher have plenty more in common.
“I was extremely excited to sit down and get a chance to possibly work with Coach Fisher,” Schottenheimer said. “Obviously, we all know his track record for success. I’ve gone against him a number of times when he was in Tennessee and I just, I like his beliefs. He and I, I think, have a lot of the same philosophies. He’s a guy that’s done it at such a high level for such a long time that I was thrilled to get a chance to spend some time with him. And once we sat down and visited, it became a no-brainer for me that this was a guy I wanted to work for.”
After waiting a week or so and interviewing former Oakland head coach Hue Jackson, Fisher opted for Schottenheimer, who brings a philosophy similar to Fisher’s and six years of experience as an offensive coordinator with the New York Jets with him.
Schottenheimer’s offenses were integral in the Jets’ back to back appearances in the AFC Championship game in 2009 and 2010. That 2009 group led the NFL in rushing with an average of 172.3 yards per contest.
The philosophy Schottenheimer shares with Fisher is one that places and emphasis on running the ball and controlling the line of scrimmage as well as protecting the quarterback.
“We want to have a system that is very flexible,” Schottenheimer said. “I do believe in this: I do believe number one, you’ve got to take care of the football. We want to be balanced. We want to have a physical running game, but we want to be able to keep people off balance with play-action and run-action attack. I think the big thing in terms of the running game and one of the things we were able to do early on in New York is the ability to have a physical mentality, that no matter what front people were in, there’s eight-man front, nine-man front things like that, that, ‘Hey we’re going to run the football. We’re going to find a way to get movement by being physical and by being exact with our fundamentals and our fits and things in the running game.’
“In terms of the passing game, I think I talked a little bit about the play-action, run-action attack, and that will be, the term we use all the time, quite honestly, is sameness. Make the runs and the passes kind of look the same. But it all starts in the passing game with protection. The quarterbacks need to be upright. This is a league anymore where pass rushers are getting bigger, faster and stronger. That’s getting harder and harder, but again I think it all comes down to some main beliefs of take care of the football, be physical, protect the passer, and then do what your personnel does best.”
Schottenheimer takes the reins of an offense that struggled mightily in 2011, finishing 31st in the league in total offense by posting just 283.6 yards per game and last in the league in scoring with 12.1 points per contest.
In hiring Schottenheimer, the Rams are now on their third offensive coordinator in as many seasons. And Schottenheimer is a proponent of the “digit” system, an offense that will bear resemblance to what Mike Martz and before him, Don Coryell brought to St. Louis.
That offense is unlike what Josh McDaniels did last year and also quite different from what Pat Shurmur’s West Coast system looked like in 2010.
“It’s certainly going to be different,” Schottenheimer said. “The funny thing is, obviously in league circles we all have the same plays. The terminology is certainly different, but it’s a situation where you’ve been around a lot of systems like I have, I can translate a lot of things. I know some of the things that Josh was doing. I know some of the things that Sam did his first year under Pat Shurmur, so I can kind of translate a lot of those languages. It will be certainly different. It’s more of the digit system type of terminology, although we use more concepts than numbers anymore. But it kind of has that background under Don Coryell, Norv Turner, things like that. But I think the most important thing is to not get caught up in terminology.”
The task of installing yet another offense on young quarterback Sam Bradford figures to be difficult but at least this year Bradford and Schottenheimer will have a full offseason to work together and get up to speed.
That lack of an offseason and a shortened training camp combined with injuries made things extremely difficult for Bradford in 2011. But Schottenheimer sees the potential in his young quarterback, potential that was reinforced to him when the pair sat down to talk on Monday.
“We had a great visit,” Schottenheimer said. “I was blown away with how excited he is about the upcoming year and he just seems like a terrific young man. I obviously spent a little time looking at him when he was coming out of college and things like that. But we had a very nice visit and I’m thrilled to have a guy like that that we can build around. . Obviously, I’ve been around a lot of young quarterbacks, but I think this guy’s got a chance to be real special.”
Likewise, Schottenheimer is also high on the presence of running back Steven Jackson. Although he hasn’t had the chance to meet Jackson yet, he’s long admired Jackson from afar and believes he has plenty left in the tank.
All told, Schottenheimer finds himself in a situation much like newly hired defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. Both have work to do but they’re also more than happy to get to work and do it in a familiar place.
“I tell you what, I really am thrilled,” Schottenheimer said. “I’m so excited about this opportunity. I’m excited about working for Coach. I kind of grew up in the Midwest being in Kansas City so I love this area, thrilled about that. I’m the type of person that you get excited about change. Change is exciting, so I’m really looking forward to it. It’s been a lot of fun kind of, again, working through the process of putting together a staff and getting to know Jeff and some of the other guys and then getting a chance to meet Sam, so I am thrilled and I’m very, very excited. Again, I think there is very, very good things to come for this organization and I just hope I can do my part to help.”