Rams hire new QB coach

...and his name is Dick Curl. Seriously, you're going with "Dick", huh? Not Rich, or Richard? Dick Curl?

I'm not the only one who snickered like an 11-year-old when I heard the new coach's name, am I?

But seriously, Dick Curl? Baseball fans are certainly familiar with a long-time pitching coach, now with the Cincinnati Reds, named Dick Pole. Your last name's "Pole", then absolutely, go with "Dick" as your first name. Coach Curl, though, really ought to go with Richard.

Anyway, Coach Curl, who the Chiefs have already super-efficiently expunged from their website, was Kansas City's QB coach going back to 2006. And no, Brodie Croyle certainly hasn't burst on the scene there the way Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco did for their teams this year. But with Croyle going down for the 2008 season the first week (which pretty much got ignored because Tom Brady went down in the same game), the Chiefs decided to throw 2nd-year man Tyler Thigpen (with all of six career attempts) into the fire, and I thought he did a pretty respectable job, especially the last nine weeks. Sure, he was only 27th in the NFL in passer rating, but you know who that 76.0 rating beats? You know who Thigpen's 18 TDs vs. 12 INTs whips?

Yep, Marc Bulger, who finished 2008 with a 71.4 passer rating, 11 TDs and 13 INTs in a very similar number of attempts (440 to Thigpen's 420). I think Thigpen's development is a plus on Coach Curl's resume.

Curl coached the Jets RBs and TEs from 2003-05, not that I'm going to give him credit for Curtis Martin. But Anthony Becht had certainly his best pro season in 2003 when Curl was Jets TEs coach.

Curl coached in NFL Europe for TEN FREAKING YEARS, including seven as offensive coordinator of the Barcelona Dragons, which is where Steve Spagnuolo would have met him. Though the Rams website says Curl was in Barcelona from 1991-97, Wikipedia says Barcelona didn't field a team in 1993 or 94. Huh. After going 5-5 in the regular season, the Dragons won the 1997 World Bowl behind the heroics of World Bowl MVP Jon Kitna. Other Dragons of note who would have played on Coach Curl's offense: Kelly Holcomb and Casey Weldon. (To answer your next question: no, Lawrence Phillips did not become a Dragon until 1999.)

At Boston College in 1990, Curl would have coached QBs Glenn Foley and Willie Hicks. Foley was a three-year (at least) starter at BC and 7th round pick of the Jets in 1994. Foley was a backup for six years, mostly with the Jets, with a 2-7 career record and a passer rating of 67.2. Curl coached QBs at Rutgers (there's that New Jersey tie again!) for most of the 80s. Given the terrible history that football program had up until about 2000, it's no surprise there wasn't a Rutgers QB drafted in that period.

He's no Mike Martz - he doesn't take 4th-stringers or grocery clerks and turn them into gold - but Coach Curl's had a hand in developing Kitna, Holcomb and Thigpen, lower-level QB talents who have had in some cases extended bursts of high-level play in the NFL. That's pretty much what the Rams have right now with Bulger.

Is this an exciting hire? Nah. And I can't see drafting a QB with a high pick and turning him over to Curl when Curl has no record for developing such a prospect. But Curl's been coaching 46 years, and his recent success with Thigpen says there's a chance he gets Bulger back on the right track. With apologies for the faint praise, he's not Larry Marmie.

RamView's grades for the Rams' coaching hires so far:
HC - Steve Spagnuolo - B+
OC - Pat Shurmur - B+
DC - Ken Flajole - A-
WR - Charlie Baggett - A-
LB - Paul Ferraro - C-
QB - Coach Curl - C+