Newt Gruden

It looks like the Rams' coaching search is going to bear resemblance to the Republican primary campaign. Every few days, somebody new takes the lead, which inspires everyone to take their first real close look at the candidate, which exposes a bunch of warts and knocks him back down into the pack.

Giving Jon Gruden the microscope treatment yesterday leaves RamView wanting somebody else. He put Oakland on the path to Super Bowl XXXVII, won that same game with the Buccaneers and got the Bucs into postseason a couple of other times. But he had a losing record with the Bucs after XXXVII, and neither his Raider run nor his Buc run ended well. He'll bring your team swagger, but he's also volatile. And then there's the whole RG3 flirt on MNF. I'd have to insist the Rams' next head coach be committed to building an offense around Sam Bradford.

Then there's Gruden's whole record with QBs. Is he really the QB guru ESPN poses him as by letting him hang out with all the QB draft prospects in the spring? I don't see where he's taken a young QB like Bradford to the next level, or even had the opportunity. The only place he was ever a QB coach was... SEMO. He made his mark as the Packers' WR coach under Humgrum, then as the Eagles' OC, before Donovan McNabb was drafted. His main QB there would have been Koy Detmer. His QBs as head coach have been Rich Gannon, Brad Johnson, Brian Griese. Hey, if he's the Dave Duncan to journeyman QBs, that's great. Does that match the Rams' needs well enough?

I'd also have to fear that Gruden is more than just a bit of a weasel coach, as TMQ puts it. Why would he sign a 5-year extension with ESPN only to jump back into coaching before it ever kicked in? Didn't he owe it to ESPN to at least delay his decision until February or so? Would have given him plenty of time to kick the NFL coaching tires if he wanted to. Picture this situation: Gruden coaches here in 2012, the Rams go 4-12, and in the offseason, the Notre Dame job opens up. Where do you think Chucky's going? I'll be honest; I don't trust the guy.

Further mucking up the Gruden candidacy is the latest report by Jason LaCanfora for NFL Network. On Total Access last night, he said he had spoken to people close to Gruden who say he has no intention of returning to coaching, not this year, anyway. They claim he's "married" to the ESPN job. Of course, he did have a fling on the side with the University of Miami last year...

So Gruden stumbles backward in RamView's coaching horse race. This is going to happen a lot. Someone's going to be linked to the Rams, they sound great, then we find a bunch of reasons not to want that person as HC. I'm about to do the same thing to Jeff Fisher.

Lots of rumors, arguments and counterarguments are going to be flying around. Hitch on and enjoy the ride as long as possible.

Also, if Gruden = Newt, who would be Ron Paul? Would Dennis Green be an insane enough analogy?

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