Some Howard Balzer
all posts originally from the rampager listserv; formatted/edited by zn
BALZER: Very few were saying Spagnuolo was a bad coach last season and going into this year as the team was making progress. But this year, the roof falls in and it's on the head coach and many blame him. As I noted before, does anyone actually believe Gruden, Fisher, or whoever would have had a significantly better record this year with what has happened to this team? Lest anyone forget, the Titans were 6-10 last season.
The irony of it all is that had Jackson not been injured in the win over Dallas in 2008, the Rams probably would have won some more games, and Haslett would have been hired.
This year, there might be more head coaching changes than there have been in a while, as owners that shut down the game in March and didn't care whether their teams were prepared for the season, then fire coaches for not winning. Now, there will be numerous changes going into an offseason where the rules have changed and offseason programs/OTAs have been cut back. That means less time to learn systems.
Perhaps the big mistake Spagnuolo made was changing offensive systems in a lockout situation, but I've been told McDaniels was forced on Spagnuolo. Others have heard that, too.
Who would have forced McD on Spags and why?
BALZER: I have heard who it supposedly was, but I don't have enough to go public with that. The "why?" would be the non-football geniuses believed McDaniels could weave magic and be more explosive on offense without the talent to do that.
I wonder who among us will guess who will be the next McCarthy, Tomlin, John Harbaugh, Payton, etc.
BALZER: Not to mention Andy Reid, Mike Smith, Lovie Smith, Jim Schwartz, Gary Kubiak, etc., etc. What has Mike Shanahan done in Washington? The bottom line is this: Whoever is hired is a crapshoot, and most coaches that get to the point of being hired as head coaches are good coaches. So often, though, a lot of the results are out of a coach's control in a league where it's very difficult to win, and the injury factor is huge.
Assuming a change is made, I believe it should be someone that will run the offense. That way, there will at least be three years of offensive continuity with Bradford, and if it works, there will be even more continuity beyond the three years. I'd say Fisher if I knew who his offensive coordinator was going to be. I'd want it to be someone like Norv Turner that probably won't get hired away as a head coach after one or two years if the offense progresses.
As for "hot" assistants, the Carolina offensive coordinator, Rob Chudzinski, was the coordinator in Cleveland that actually made Derek Anderson look like he could play. He's done an excellent job in his first year with the Panthers. I do have to admit I don't know his personality or his head coaching leadership ability. A coach still has to have that. Linehan has proven to be a heckuva offensive coordinator, but he wasn't a good leader for the entire team.
what about AJ Smith? He had some very good drafts in SD, but also fired Mart Schottenheimer after a 14-2 season(!) and replaced him with Norv Turner(LOL) of all people. He also let Michael Turner and Darren Sproles walk and thoroughly alienated some players over contracts, notably Vincent Jackson.
BALZER: Smith is a strong personality that can rub people the wrong way, and the firing of Schottenheimer was about their personal relationship.
The guy I would consider is Scot McCloughan, who was the personnel man with the 49ers that built that team, but was let go because of some personal issues that I'm told he has corrected.
Chucky would definitely bring a lot of spotlight to the Rams and he would be a good choice IMO for the Rams and for Bradford.
BALZER: Gruden was hired to take over a winning program. He had a losing record after his first season and didn't win another playoff game. . His overall record after the Super Bowl years, including two opening-round playoff losses was 45-53. What quarterback(s) did he develop? Is that worth $6-$7 million a year? Gruden was not liked or respected by a lot of players. That could actually negatively affect free agency. Generally, coaches don't sell tickets.
Bucs 10-6 in 2010, bad season, so Dungy suddenly became a bad coach. Colts 26-10 under Caldwell before this season. Lose their quarterback, and several defensive players, and he also became a bad coach. As Vermeil often said, "I became a lot better coach when I got better players."Sports is an environment where there's a stunning amount of fire the coach mentality. I just hope those that subscribe to that have the same standards in their own jobs. But I doubt it.
Did he create buzz today with the shear rumor that the Rams would hire him? I say yes.
BALZER: Yes, you are right. It would create a buzz. I agree. What I should have said is, so what? Hiring someone for "the buzz" is not a good reason for hiring someone.
The scariest thing in all of this is that John Shaw is counseling Kroenke.
Without a name hire, the dome will be half full.
BALZER: The selling tickets deal is vastly overrated. Dome half full? So, about 25,000 tickets won't be sold without a "name" hire. I seriously doubt it. I wonder if Kroenke will want to spend $6-$7 million a year for five years on a "name" coach. Here's an interesting question: How many games do people realistically believe the rams would have won this year with the same team and the same issues they faced?
Heck, for the two years after having a Super Bowl teams, the Bucs under Gruden went 7-9 and 5-11.
I would prefer Fisher to Gruden. I just wonder who his offensive coordinator would be.
The last recycle HC hire the Rams chose with a name was Dick Vermeil
BALZER: And most everyone wanted him run off after two poor seasons.
He was an OC for two years and those who assume he'll open it up one day with better personnel are just guessing because there is little evidence of what he will or won't do.
BALZER: Actually, there is evidence with Shurmur. It's not guessing. When Clayton played, they threw the ball downfield to him. They obviously did to Alexander when he got on the field.
I think I would like to see a WCO back. Maybe that will change with who we sign/draft, but this team seems to play better on offense with a more controlled and tight offensive scheme. (too bad it can be soooo boring!)
BALZER: I am always intrigued when systems are labeled boring. Were the 49ers during their great times boring? Are the Packers boring? Were the Eagles during the last decade boring? Most of the time, offenses are boring because of the personnel. Better personnel and offensive line protection allows any system to open things up and be not boring.
Actually, the worst thing that might have happened to the Rams last season was Alexander making the big plays he did to significantly win three games. Had the Rams won four or five games and not challenged for the division title, it would have been viewed as decent incremental progress with a rookie quarterback and young offensive tackles. Shurmur might not have been hired as a head coach, and the offense would have stayed the same. Expectations wouldn't have been as high.
Just a thought.
Look at what martz did. but if you break it down. the rams went 10-6, 14-2, 7-9, 12-4, 8-8, and finally 5-11 in his last year. (i know that he was out part of his last season and vitt was the interim coach). the rams were on that slippery downward slope by 2005.
what is hardly mentioned is that martz inherited vermiel's team and if you look at those drafts from 97-99 and see all the players that the rams signed and kept which were integral parts of the championship team, then it's easy to see that after vermiel left, the rams made horrible personnel decisions
BALZER: Martz made some personnel mistakes. However, to pin it all on him is ignoring other things that happened.
* Management saying they couldn't afford to sign London Fletcher.
* Management saying safeties shouldn't be high draft picks, so Jimmy Kennedy was selected instead of Troy Polamalu.
* Letting Grant Wistrom leave because of a $500,000-$1M difference in a signing bonus
Those are a couple that immediately come to mind. In addition, Martz wanted the club to hire a pro personnel director and they wouldn't. He did take some flyers on some guys (Crouch, Travis Scott) that didn't work. However, most of the later-round picks are done by the scouting department. Very rarely does a head coach have much say over those picks. There were also numerous good picks.
Whatever he did doesn't come close to the horrors of the drafts with Linehan/Zygmunt. That's more the reason than any why the team is where it is now. Look at successful teams and you will see players in that 5-8 experience range that came in the draft. But the Rams have hardly any of them (Jackson, Bartell). The 2006 and 2007 drafts were brutal for the Rams, especially '06 when they had five picks in the first three rounds and none are with the team. Only Dominique Byrd is even in the league, only because he was signed this week by the Redskins. But he has done nothing in the league.
In 2005, BTW, the Rams were 6-10, and they were 2-3 when Martz got sick. After that, Bulger got hurt, as did Jamie Martin, and they had to start Ryan Fitzpatrick. Bulger had a 94.4 passer rating when he was injured. Bruce was also injured for a six games that season.
Oh dang.
