There will be a "home game" in London, and a "home game" in St. Louis where the Dome will be full of Cheeseheads.
I thought this was the kind of crap Jeff Fisher said he was trying to avoid.
-$-
Friday, January 20, 2012
Spagnuolo to Saints and other coaching moves
Congratulations to Steve Spagnuolo, who has agreed to take the defensive coordinator's job with the Saints. I'm glad the Rams do not play the Saints next season.
The only two of Spagnuolo's assistants I would have tried to keep on the Rams have taken similar jobs elsewhere, as reported on STLToday. Brendan Daly will coach Jared Allen and the rest of the defensive line for the Vikings; Sylvester Croom will coach Maurice Jones-Drew and the rest of the RB's for Shahid Khan's Jagwires.
-$-
More ex-Rams on the move in the coaching ranks:
* Greg Olson has joined the Jagwires as QB coach.
* Former Rams DB Rod Perry has been caught up in the coaching purge in Indianapolis. He had been a special defensive assistant.
-$$-
The only two of Spagnuolo's assistants I would have tried to keep on the Rams have taken similar jobs elsewhere, as reported on STLToday. Brendan Daly will coach Jared Allen and the rest of the defensive line for the Vikings; Sylvester Croom will coach Maurice Jones-Drew and the rest of the RB's for Shahid Khan's Jagwires.
-$-
More ex-Rams on the move in the coaching ranks:
* Greg Olson has joined the Jagwires as QB coach.
* Former Rams DB Rod Perry has been caught up in the coaching purge in Indianapolis. He had been a special defensive assistant.
-$$-
Advantages of the Rams playing in London
1 - Season ticket costs just went down 10% for the next three years.
2 - The Rams' bye week will come reliably right in the middle of the season.
3 - Could accommodate future Dome renovation plans... in the massively unlikely event a plan to upgrade the Dome is worked out, and the Rams end up having to play home games in Columbia or someplace during re-construction, why not minimize the number of home games? And take a nice European getaway in the process? Best of both worlds!
4 - Closest the Rams will get to a spotlight game on TV next season, unless they pull a 1999.
More when I think of them.
-$-
2 - The Rams' bye week will come reliably right in the middle of the season.
3 - Could accommodate future Dome renovation plans... in the massively unlikely event a plan to upgrade the Dome is worked out, and the Rams end up having to play home games in Columbia or someplace during re-construction, why not minimize the number of home games? And take a nice European getaway in the process? Best of both worlds!
4 - Closest the Rams will get to a spotlight game on TV next season, unless they pull a 1999.
More when I think of them.
-$-
RamView post #1,000
from the August 28, 1999 game summary
All hope is not lost. The Rams still have Bruce, Holt and Hakim. They still have Faulk, who will be very, very dangerous once he steps up. The defense is, and has been, good enough to win games. The Rams can now either come together as a team in wake of the Green injury or fall apart. The confidence the players have shown this year makes me think it will be the former.
I need to get back to that.
-$-
All hope is not lost. The Rams still have Bruce, Holt and Hakim. They still have Faulk, who will be very, very dangerous once he steps up. The defense is, and has been, good enough to win games. The Rams can now either come together as a team in wake of the Green injury or fall apart. The confidence the players have shown this year makes me think it will be the former.
I need to get back to that.
-$-
Still think the Rams aren't moving?
The Rams have a new home stadium for the next three years!
Wembley Stadium. In London.
Kevin Demoff announced to season ticket holders last night that the Rams will play the Patriots in London on October 28th. Not only that, they have already agreed to play games there in 2013 and 2014. (Ha! Bernie Miklasz notes that the agreement runs out just in time for the Dome lease to run out. So the Rams don't lose a home game in 2015, when they're back in L.A.)
I know Stan Kroenke owns a soccer team in London. I know the Buccaneers have played there several times and are not a threat to move from Tampa. I know the Bills farm out a couple of games to Toronto every year while managing to be mostly left out of the rumors for franchises about to move. None of those teams have a stadium lease about to run out and an owner who won't commit so much as a syllable of lawyer-speak to trying keep his team where it is for the long-term.
Oh well, at least season tickets just got 10% cheaper, unless you're a die-hard committed to attend every home game. A right cheeri-o to you.
Yes, even I can find the bad news in just being handed a great excuse to go to England the next three years.
-$-
Wembley Stadium. In London.
Kevin Demoff announced to season ticket holders last night that the Rams will play the Patriots in London on October 28th. Not only that, they have already agreed to play games there in 2013 and 2014. (Ha! Bernie Miklasz notes that the agreement runs out just in time for the Dome lease to run out. So the Rams don't lose a home game in 2015, when they're back in L.A.)
I know Stan Kroenke owns a soccer team in London. I know the Buccaneers have played there several times and are not a threat to move from Tampa. I know the Bills farm out a couple of games to Toronto every year while managing to be mostly left out of the rumors for franchises about to move. None of those teams have a stadium lease about to run out and an owner who won't commit so much as a syllable of lawyer-speak to trying keep his team where it is for the long-term.
Oh well, at least season tickets just got 10% cheaper, unless you're a die-hard committed to attend every home game. A right cheeri-o to you.
Yes, even I can find the bad news in just being handed a great excuse to go to England the next three years.
-$-
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Rams interview Hue Jackson for OC
The Rams have interviewed former Raiders head coach and OC Hue Jackson for the currently-still-open offensive coordinator role here. The Raiders went 8-8 under Jackson last season. They were in the top 10 in scoring offense (22.4 ppg) and total offense with Jackson as the team's OC in 2010, 2nd in the league in rushing, 23rd in passing. Jackson is said to prefer a power running offense and a lot of play-action. (Slight plus)
In one season as Atlanta's offensive coordinator in 2007, the Falcons were 29th in scoring (16.2 ppg), 23rd in total yards, 26th in rushing, 18th in passing. That team, which finished 4-12, had Joey Harrington at QB, with a RB-by-committee of Warrick Dunn and... Jerious Norwood. (EHH)
Jackson was the Redskins' offensive coordinator in 2003 under Steve Spurrier. Offensively, those Redskins were 21st-23rd in about everything, scoring 17.9 ppg. That team was quarterbacked by Patrick Ramsey and Elizabeth Hasselbeck's husband Tim, and their leading rusher was...........
TRUNG CANIDATE! (EHH)
In 2001-02, Jackson was Redskins RBs coach. Their leading rusher was an already-entrenched Stephen Davis. '02 was Ladell Betts' rookie year. He ran for 300 yards and somebody named Kenny Watson ran for 500. The Skins averaged 4.3 and 4.0 ypc under Jackson. They were 8th in the league in rushing in '01, 13th in '02. (PLUS)
More of Jackson's resume:
2008-09: Ravens QB coach, Joe Flacco's first two seasons (PLUS)
2004-06: Bengals WR coach, pretty much the height of the Chad JOHNSON / TJ Houshmandzadeh years, with Chris Henry also developing as a promising receiver (PLUS)
1997-2000: USC offensive coordinator, most of it in the unsuccessful Paul Hackett era. Team averaged 25.75 ppg over that time and went 25-23. He was also RB coach for two seasons and QB coach for two seasons, including Carson Palmer's sophomore year. No notable pro RB talent emerged from those teams, and Palmer won the Heisman two years after Jackson left USC for the Redskins. (EHH)
1996 Cal offensive coordinator under Steve Mariucci. QB was Pat Barnes, who threw 52 completions to a freshman tight end named Tony Gonzalez. Bears went 6-6 but averaged 31.8 ppg. (PLUS)
1992-95 Jackson was Sun Devils QBs coach for Jake Plummer's junior season. He was RBs coach for three years before that. No notable pro RB talent from those teams. (Slight plus)
So:
Jackson has worked with several young QBs (Plummer, Palmer, Flacco) who went on to be successful. You have to like that for Sam Bradford.
He's done pretty well at establishing a running game at each of his pro stops, though, even at Oakland, almost always with the RBBC approach. His offensive style should suit Steven Jackson well, though the substitution style probably won't.
I like Jackson a little better for the Rams' OC job than Brian Schottenheimer, though nowhere near enough to get into even a warm discussion over it. I think he's consistently better at establishing a successful running game where he's been, and that Bradford's more like the QBs Jackson has worked with than the QBs Schottenheimer has (successfully) worked with. Jackson did throw his Raiders players under the bus after this season, which seems to have been the spark that lit his firing, and is a significant minus.
As in B-minus.
-$-
In one season as Atlanta's offensive coordinator in 2007, the Falcons were 29th in scoring (16.2 ppg), 23rd in total yards, 26th in rushing, 18th in passing. That team, which finished 4-12, had Joey Harrington at QB, with a RB-by-committee of Warrick Dunn and... Jerious Norwood. (EHH)
Jackson was the Redskins' offensive coordinator in 2003 under Steve Spurrier. Offensively, those Redskins were 21st-23rd in about everything, scoring 17.9 ppg. That team was quarterbacked by Patrick Ramsey and Elizabeth Hasselbeck's husband Tim, and their leading rusher was...........
TRUNG CANIDATE! (EHH)
In 2001-02, Jackson was Redskins RBs coach. Their leading rusher was an already-entrenched Stephen Davis. '02 was Ladell Betts' rookie year. He ran for 300 yards and somebody named Kenny Watson ran for 500. The Skins averaged 4.3 and 4.0 ypc under Jackson. They were 8th in the league in rushing in '01, 13th in '02. (PLUS)
More of Jackson's resume:
2008-09: Ravens QB coach, Joe Flacco's first two seasons (PLUS)
2004-06: Bengals WR coach, pretty much the height of the Chad JOHNSON / TJ Houshmandzadeh years, with Chris Henry also developing as a promising receiver (PLUS)
1997-2000: USC offensive coordinator, most of it in the unsuccessful Paul Hackett era. Team averaged 25.75 ppg over that time and went 25-23. He was also RB coach for two seasons and QB coach for two seasons, including Carson Palmer's sophomore year. No notable pro RB talent emerged from those teams, and Palmer won the Heisman two years after Jackson left USC for the Redskins. (EHH)
1996 Cal offensive coordinator under Steve Mariucci. QB was Pat Barnes, who threw 52 completions to a freshman tight end named Tony Gonzalez. Bears went 6-6 but averaged 31.8 ppg. (PLUS)
1992-95 Jackson was Sun Devils QBs coach for Jake Plummer's junior season. He was RBs coach for three years before that. No notable pro RB talent from those teams. (Slight plus)
So:
Jackson has worked with several young QBs (Plummer, Palmer, Flacco) who went on to be successful. You have to like that for Sam Bradford.
He's done pretty well at establishing a running game at each of his pro stops, though, even at Oakland, almost always with the RBBC approach. His offensive style should suit Steven Jackson well, though the substitution style probably won't.
I like Jackson a little better for the Rams' OC job than Brian Schottenheimer, though nowhere near enough to get into even a warm discussion over it. I think he's consistently better at establishing a successful running game where he's been, and that Bradford's more like the QBs Jackson has worked with than the QBs Schottenheimer has (successfully) worked with. Jackson did throw his Raiders players under the bus after this season, which seems to have been the spark that lit his firing, and is a significant minus.
As in B-minus.
-$-
Rams report, 1/19: Titans force reboot of GM search
In a round of front-office promotions made yesterday, the Tennessee Titans have promoted Ruston Webster to general manager and Lake Dawson to director of player personnel. Dawson and Webster appeared to be the top two names on the Rams' GM list, so the moves by the Titans very likely will prevent Jeff Fisher and the Rams from picking off any members of their front office.
Les Snead of the Falcons is the only candidate left the Rams have interviewed who hasn't taken a new job. The Rams had interviewed former Eagles DPP Ryan Grigson, but he took the open GM job with the Colts.
With the Jeff Fisher Friends, Family and Power Plan in place now at Rams Park, don't look for the prominent available GMs like Bill Polian or Jerry Angelo to get any play at all, but the Rams are at a minimum going to need to do some more interviews. Candidates of interest to the team that haven't been heard from yet are Big Dead DPP Steve Keim, Dolphins DPP Brian Gaine, Colts DPP Tom Telesco and Jets VP of college scouting Joey Clinkscales.
-$-
Recent transactions involving former Rams:
* Steve Spagnuolo has interviewed for the DC jobs in New Orleans and Indianapolis. The Saints job seems a lot more likely for Spags as the Colts don't have a head coach at the moment.
* Nolan Cromwell has been hired by Pat Shurmur as a "senior offensive assistant." Cromwell on the Browns' staff plus Greg Little may equal the most dropped passes in NFL history.
* Jamie McCoy, who I believe was in this year's training camp as a fullback, signed a futures contract with the Steelers.
* Phil Trautwein signed with the Saints.
* Mike Martz announced his retirement.
-$$-
The Rams tried out kickers Garret Lindholm and Clint Stitser last week. Doesn't mean Josh Brown has to be worried, though I'm at the point where I wish he did.
-$$$-
Weekend schedule:
I'm going to attempt to break down this weekend's TWO college all-star games. The East-West Shrine Game is on the NFL Network at 3 Central Saturday. The NFLPA All-Star Game is on the CBS Sports Channel, iirc, at 5 Central Saturday.
Having decided after several years that my extended play-by-plays are dumb exercises, I'm just going to do post-game summaries of Sunday's conference championships. Since I'm picking the Patriots and the Giants, congratulations in advance to the Harbaugh family.
-$$$$-
Les Snead of the Falcons is the only candidate left the Rams have interviewed who hasn't taken a new job. The Rams had interviewed former Eagles DPP Ryan Grigson, but he took the open GM job with the Colts.
With the Jeff Fisher Friends, Family and Power Plan in place now at Rams Park, don't look for the prominent available GMs like Bill Polian or Jerry Angelo to get any play at all, but the Rams are at a minimum going to need to do some more interviews. Candidates of interest to the team that haven't been heard from yet are Big Dead DPP Steve Keim, Dolphins DPP Brian Gaine, Colts DPP Tom Telesco and Jets VP of college scouting Joey Clinkscales.
-$-
Recent transactions involving former Rams:
* Steve Spagnuolo has interviewed for the DC jobs in New Orleans and Indianapolis. The Saints job seems a lot more likely for Spags as the Colts don't have a head coach at the moment.
* Nolan Cromwell has been hired by Pat Shurmur as a "senior offensive assistant." Cromwell on the Browns' staff plus Greg Little may equal the most dropped passes in NFL history.
* Jamie McCoy, who I believe was in this year's training camp as a fullback, signed a futures contract with the Steelers.
* Phil Trautwein signed with the Saints.
* Mike Martz announced his retirement.
-$$-
The Rams tried out kickers Garret Lindholm and Clint Stitser last week. Doesn't mean Josh Brown has to be worried, though I'm at the point where I wish he did.
-$$$-
Weekend schedule:
I'm going to attempt to break down this weekend's TWO college all-star games. The East-West Shrine Game is on the NFL Network at 3 Central Saturday. The NFLPA All-Star Game is on the CBS Sports Channel, iirc, at 5 Central Saturday.
Having decided after several years that my extended play-by-plays are dumb exercises, I'm just going to do post-game summaries of Sunday's conference championships. Since I'm picking the Patriots and the Giants, congratulations in advance to the Harbaugh family.
-$$$$-
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