Chip Rosenbloom has overhauled the Rams' front office and turned it over to Billy Devaney.
Devaney has overhauled the head coach's office, putting Steve Spagnuolo in charge.
And as I've detailed earlier this week, Spagnuolo has overhauled the coaching staff.
For the St. Louis Rams, it's a whole new era in the front office and on the sideline.
With the opening of free agency on February 27th, the new era for the Rams on the field begins.
The big questions will be the futures of the last stalwarts of the Super Bowl XXXIV champions: Orlando Pace and Torry Holt. Their large cap numbers make them attractive targets for the unsentimental knife of the NFL capologist. Other veterans throughout the team are likely cut targets, though not as significant monetarily or historically as those two St. Louis all-time greats.
Another key date is next Thursday, the 19th: teams have to use their franchise tags by that date. This most likely affects O.J. Atogwe but could factor into negotiations with Ron Bartell as well. The front office should be very busy the next week securing the future of the Ram secondary.
But Pace, Holt, Atogwe and Bartell are far from the only players the Rams will be making decisions on in the coming days. With that in mind, RamView will start a position-by-position breakdown of the team and available free agents, while hoping to offer helpful advice on what the Rams need to do, and might actually do, on the field to turn the tide of the past few seasons.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Thoughts on Arizona / Warner / Boldin
Arizona's already becoming an strong favorite to keep the Super Bowl loser jinx going. You know, the one where the team that loses doesn't even make the playoffs the next season. Both offensive and defensive coordinators gone? Possibly followed by Anquan Boldin? Maybe even Kurt Warner? Forget about it. Though rumors are circulating that the Big Dead are going to interview Mike Martz.
Good God. Martz would kill Kurt Warner for sure this time. Retire, Kurt, retire!
When Warner does retire, he seems a good bet to be the one guy who'll actually retire to spend time with his family. He's made plenty of money and won't have to work again after football and he's the very personification of family values. But if he does choose to work again after his playing days, I would love to hear from him in a broadcasting booth. He knows the league, knows the players, breaks down plays as well as anybody in any TV booth right now, and has great positive energy that always sounds good on TV. Kurt didn't even sound that down in the losing locker room after the Super Bowl. I think he'd be ideal for TV. But I doubt he'll ever feel the urge to give it a try.
If Boldin does manage to force the Big Dead into trading him, who else is rooting for him to go to Kansas City and a reunion with sideline shouting match partner/new Chiefs HC Todd Haley? It makes every bit of sense on paper. The Chiefs are $30 million under the cap and badly need a WR to play alongside Dwayne Bowe. From Arizona's standpoint, they'd be trading Boldin outside the conference and should get a -very- good draft pick in return. But I'll predict Boldin ends up in Jacksonville if he gets traded. They're in a similar cap position, and unlike Tennessee and Buffalo, also in that $25-30 million cap neighborhood, they've proven willing to spend big, though BADLY, on the WR position in the past. After Reggie Williams, Jerry Porter, Dennis Northcutt, and Matt Jones have all pretty much come up bust, Jagwire Nation must want to get its WR situation right for once.
Good God. Martz would kill Kurt Warner for sure this time. Retire, Kurt, retire!
When Warner does retire, he seems a good bet to be the one guy who'll actually retire to spend time with his family. He's made plenty of money and won't have to work again after football and he's the very personification of family values. But if he does choose to work again after his playing days, I would love to hear from him in a broadcasting booth. He knows the league, knows the players, breaks down plays as well as anybody in any TV booth right now, and has great positive energy that always sounds good on TV. Kurt didn't even sound that down in the losing locker room after the Super Bowl. I think he'd be ideal for TV. But I doubt he'll ever feel the urge to give it a try.
If Boldin does manage to force the Big Dead into trading him, who else is rooting for him to go to Kansas City and a reunion with sideline shouting match partner/new Chiefs HC Todd Haley? It makes every bit of sense on paper. The Chiefs are $30 million under the cap and badly need a WR to play alongside Dwayne Bowe. From Arizona's standpoint, they'd be trading Boldin outside the conference and should get a -very- good draft pick in return. But I'll predict Boldin ends up in Jacksonville if he gets traded. They're in a similar cap position, and unlike Tennessee and Buffalo, also in that $25-30 million cap neighborhood, they've proven willing to spend big, though BADLY, on the WR position in the past. After Reggie Williams, Jerry Porter, Dennis Northcutt, and Matt Jones have all pretty much come up bust, Jagwire Nation must want to get its WR situation right for once.
Super Bowl ads
This had to be the suckiest year for Super Bowl ads ever since people started paying attention to them. Can we stop going over the top in the media with Super Bowl commercial coverage, by the way? Since Super Bowl 32, most of the games have been close and terrific, putting the lie to the notion that the ads are the best part of the game. Especially this year. There wasn't that much that was very funny, and I really hate the E-Trade baby gimmick. I guess I was the only one who liked the Coke ad best, the one with all the insects who steal the guy's soda bottle. I found it clever, highly imaginative and highly interesting visually. Maybe a summertime ad didn't register well with folks watching TV in February.
Special teams analysis
Al Roberts had the Rams' special teams on an upward path last year, and I'd thought he was worth retaining as coach of that unit. But he wasn't rehired, and Rick Gosselin's annual special teams ratings show the Rams STs have/had a lot of work to do. The Rams did improve to 17th in the NFL under Roberts according to Gosselin's ratings, where I'm certain they ranked last previously. However, last year's special teams continued to rank last in kickoff coverage (surprisingly, since they allowed no TDs) and in average starting field position, which is a little unfair because the defense never stopped anybody and the offense didn't put together that many long drives, but also has to stem from special teams penalties and poor kickoff returns.
Gosselin also indicates the Rams had the worst FG percentage defense in the NFL. Opponents made 96.8% of their FG attempts against the Rams last year. What the hell does that even mean, other than the Ram defense probably allowed a ton of short FG attempts? What is a team supposed to do on special teams to improve here, outbid the Browns for LeBron? But there's not much doubt that the Rams still have a lot of work to do, especially in every aspect of the kickoff game: returning, blocking and covering.
And yes, disgustingly, the Buffalo Bills under Bobby April, who was more useless here than Drew Bennett is now, had the league's best special teams in 2008, for the third time in five years. Screw you, April. Never has a supposed guru of something football-related been more useless than April was here for three years, and that includes Al Saunders last year.
New special teams coach Tom McMahon's challenge here clearly is to get those kickoff teams working in better order and in rapid fashion.
Gosselin also indicates the Rams had the worst FG percentage defense in the NFL. Opponents made 96.8% of their FG attempts against the Rams last year. What the hell does that even mean, other than the Ram defense probably allowed a ton of short FG attempts? What is a team supposed to do on special teams to improve here, outbid the Browns for LeBron? But there's not much doubt that the Rams still have a lot of work to do, especially in every aspect of the kickoff game: returning, blocking and covering.
And yes, disgustingly, the Buffalo Bills under Bobby April, who was more useless here than Drew Bennett is now, had the league's best special teams in 2008, for the third time in five years. Screw you, April. Never has a supposed guru of something football-related been more useless than April was here for three years, and that includes Al Saunders last year.
New special teams coach Tom McMahon's challenge here clearly is to get those kickoff teams working in better order and in rapid fashion.
Rams coaching staff review, part 3
The Rams' coordinators for 2009:
* Offense: Pat Shurmur. The late Fritz Shurmur's nephew was hired away from Philadelphia, where he was QB coach. Not a bad record there, where he helped develop Donovan McNabb and also coached up Chad Lewis into a Pro Bowl TE. And as I also mentioned in my previous post on Shurmur, it looks like the Andy Reid coaching tree is going to plant the West Coast offense here in River City. All the more reason to draft Michael Crabtree, guys. RamView grade: B+.
* Defense: Ken Flajole. Flajole comes to the Rams from Carolina, where he was LB coach and developed young players like Will Witherspoon, Dan Morgan, Thomas Davis and Jon Beason into stars. He also ran an aggressive, ball-hawking secondary in Seattle. All of which I've mentioned previously. RamView grade: A-.
* Special teams: Finally, the Rams' special teams coach has been named, and he is Tom McMahon. I'll speculate on why Al Roberts ended up not being worth keeping as special teams coach, despite RamView's endorsement, in a bit in another post. McMahon was Atlanta's special teams assistant the last two years, and even though that's his only pro experience, that's almost all I need to hear. NFL.com puzzlingly does not offer defensive stats on special teams, but I know the Falcons just set the all-time record for fewest punt return yards allowed in a season. They were also 10th in kickoff return yardage and ranked 10th overall in Rick Gosselin's year-end special teams ratings. But back to that punt return stat. Combine that with the fact that Donnie Jones is coming off the 2nd-best season EVER by a punter and was already the Rams' one potent weapon. Put him on a unit that can really cover punts, and he's a lethal weapon in the all-important field position battle. Jones might lose a couple yards a punt, but good coverage will make it all back by pinning opponents deeper more often. Seriously, how often were Rams opponents backed up on their goal line last season? It didn't happen that often. McMahon's biggest test will be if he can become the first Rams special teams coach in eight years to put together a decent blocking scheme on kickoff returns, but RamView is enthusiastic about his hiring for the time being. RamView grade: B+.
For the most part, Steve Spagnuolo has done an excellent job bringing in successful coaches from successful programs, if you will. There's no Larry Marmies here, meaning, everybody's got some level of pro success. Sure, there's an amount of crony hiring going on, though certainly nothing that'd top Billy Devaney hiring old buddy Spagnuolo to be head coach in the first place. And even so, even the cronies who have been hired are at least experienced and successful cronies where they've been. The one exception may be TE coach Frank Leonard, not that I can name any other TE coach in the NFL, or the Rams' last one, for that matter.
In particular, Spagnuolo has hired well-qualified, experienced hands to run the offense, the side of the ball he doesn't specialize in, and is likely to take a hands-off approach there, while I expect him to work closely with the defensive coaches to put his stamp on the Rams defense. The stamp that has made the Giant defense a feared force in the league.
I have to say I like how this new era for the St. Louis Rams is taking shape so far.
* Offense: Pat Shurmur. The late Fritz Shurmur's nephew was hired away from Philadelphia, where he was QB coach. Not a bad record there, where he helped develop Donovan McNabb and also coached up Chad Lewis into a Pro Bowl TE. And as I also mentioned in my previous post on Shurmur, it looks like the Andy Reid coaching tree is going to plant the West Coast offense here in River City. All the more reason to draft Michael Crabtree, guys. RamView grade: B+.
* Defense: Ken Flajole. Flajole comes to the Rams from Carolina, where he was LB coach and developed young players like Will Witherspoon, Dan Morgan, Thomas Davis and Jon Beason into stars. He also ran an aggressive, ball-hawking secondary in Seattle. All of which I've mentioned previously. RamView grade: A-.
* Special teams: Finally, the Rams' special teams coach has been named, and he is Tom McMahon. I'll speculate on why Al Roberts ended up not being worth keeping as special teams coach, despite RamView's endorsement, in a bit in another post. McMahon was Atlanta's special teams assistant the last two years, and even though that's his only pro experience, that's almost all I need to hear. NFL.com puzzlingly does not offer defensive stats on special teams, but I know the Falcons just set the all-time record for fewest punt return yards allowed in a season. They were also 10th in kickoff return yardage and ranked 10th overall in Rick Gosselin's year-end special teams ratings. But back to that punt return stat. Combine that with the fact that Donnie Jones is coming off the 2nd-best season EVER by a punter and was already the Rams' one potent weapon. Put him on a unit that can really cover punts, and he's a lethal weapon in the all-important field position battle. Jones might lose a couple yards a punt, but good coverage will make it all back by pinning opponents deeper more often. Seriously, how often were Rams opponents backed up on their goal line last season? It didn't happen that often. McMahon's biggest test will be if he can become the first Rams special teams coach in eight years to put together a decent blocking scheme on kickoff returns, but RamView is enthusiastic about his hiring for the time being. RamView grade: B+.
For the most part, Steve Spagnuolo has done an excellent job bringing in successful coaches from successful programs, if you will. There's no Larry Marmies here, meaning, everybody's got some level of pro success. Sure, there's an amount of crony hiring going on, though certainly nothing that'd top Billy Devaney hiring old buddy Spagnuolo to be head coach in the first place. And even so, even the cronies who have been hired are at least experienced and successful cronies where they've been. The one exception may be TE coach Frank Leonard, not that I can name any other TE coach in the NFL, or the Rams' last one, for that matter.
In particular, Spagnuolo has hired well-qualified, experienced hands to run the offense, the side of the ball he doesn't specialize in, and is likely to take a hands-off approach there, while I expect him to work closely with the defensive coaches to put his stamp on the Rams defense. The stamp that has made the Giant defense a feared force in the league.
I have to say I like how this new era for the St. Louis Rams is taking shape so far.
Rams coaching staff review, part 2
Your 2009 St. Louis Rams offensive position coaches:
* Quarterbacks: RamView has already reviewed new QB coach Dick Curl and made copious fun of his name. RamView grade: C+.
* Running backs: Sylvester Croom has joined the Rams as running backs coach. He just stepped down as head coach at Mississippi State. Prior to that job, you'd hear a lot of talk that he was one of the NFL's best assistant coaches, a great running back coach and a prime candidate for an NFL head coaching job. He coached Barry Sanders at Detroit, Ahman Green at Green Bay and I'm pretty sure Jerious Norwood played for him at State. I believe Croom represents an absolutely outstanding hire by Steve Spagnuolo. He'll make Steven Jackson better and is just the guy to develop a good backup for Jackson as well. I pity the rest of the NFL. The Rams have Sylvester Croom, and after bowing out at MSU, he has something to prove. The rest of the league better watch out. RamView grade: A+.
* Wide receivers: RamView has also previously reviewed new WR coach Charlie Baggett, and I'm enthusiastic that he's a good coach to work with the Rams' young receiving corps, which will include Michael Crabtree if I get my way in the 2009 draft. RamView grade: A-.
* Offensive line: Steve Spagnuolo has retained Brian Loney from Scott Linehan's staff as offensive line coach. The Ram line was a disaster early in the season, and apparently nobody is ever going to get Alex Barron to move on the right snap count, but the line protected Marc Bulger very well the last quarter of the season and was getting Steven Jackson some room to run as well. Let's hope Loney gets the Ram line moving upward from there. He'll be assisted by another holdover from Linehan's staff, Art Vandelay, though Vandelay hasn't coached o-line in the NFL and didn't produce much of anybody as a long-time college o-line coach. And oh, yeah, it's Valero. RamView grade: B.
* Tight ends: Though it hasn't been officially announced, it appears Frank Leonard will be assigned the job of making Joe Klopfenstein an NFL superstar. His only experience coaching TEs in his 25-year career, though, was the last two years at Kansas State. No all-pros from there recently that I'm aware of. He's considered to have a keen eye for talent because he was a scout for New England, and honestly, I don't know why he'd be at this position instead of having a role in the scouting department. I hardly believe two years at Kansas State qualifies one to be an NFL TEs coach. Art Vandelay would be better suited for this job; he's done it before in the NFL with solid results. Leonard's main qualification appears to be that he coached with Steve Spagnuolo at UConn nearly 20 years ago. His other qualifications are fine, but adding it all up, I don't get NFL TEs coach out of it. RamView grade: D+, because I really can't figure this one out. And oh, yeah, it's Valero.
TEs aside, a really funny thing I'm finding in my highly-amateurish grading of the Rams' new coaching staff is that I generally like the offensive coaches a lot more than the defensive coaches. That has me expecting that Spagnuolo is going to put his stamp on the Ram defense and let the Rams' offensive coaches coach.
Should be an effective setup.
On the way: part 3, the Rams' coordinators.
* Quarterbacks: RamView has already reviewed new QB coach Dick Curl and made copious fun of his name. RamView grade: C+.
* Running backs: Sylvester Croom has joined the Rams as running backs coach. He just stepped down as head coach at Mississippi State. Prior to that job, you'd hear a lot of talk that he was one of the NFL's best assistant coaches, a great running back coach and a prime candidate for an NFL head coaching job. He coached Barry Sanders at Detroit, Ahman Green at Green Bay and I'm pretty sure Jerious Norwood played for him at State. I believe Croom represents an absolutely outstanding hire by Steve Spagnuolo. He'll make Steven Jackson better and is just the guy to develop a good backup for Jackson as well. I pity the rest of the NFL. The Rams have Sylvester Croom, and after bowing out at MSU, he has something to prove. The rest of the league better watch out. RamView grade: A+.
* Wide receivers: RamView has also previously reviewed new WR coach Charlie Baggett, and I'm enthusiastic that he's a good coach to work with the Rams' young receiving corps, which will include Michael Crabtree if I get my way in the 2009 draft. RamView grade: A-.
* Offensive line: Steve Spagnuolo has retained Brian Loney from Scott Linehan's staff as offensive line coach. The Ram line was a disaster early in the season, and apparently nobody is ever going to get Alex Barron to move on the right snap count, but the line protected Marc Bulger very well the last quarter of the season and was getting Steven Jackson some room to run as well. Let's hope Loney gets the Ram line moving upward from there. He'll be assisted by another holdover from Linehan's staff, Art Vandelay, though Vandelay hasn't coached o-line in the NFL and didn't produce much of anybody as a long-time college o-line coach. And oh, yeah, it's Valero. RamView grade: B.
* Tight ends: Though it hasn't been officially announced, it appears Frank Leonard will be assigned the job of making Joe Klopfenstein an NFL superstar. His only experience coaching TEs in his 25-year career, though, was the last two years at Kansas State. No all-pros from there recently that I'm aware of. He's considered to have a keen eye for talent because he was a scout for New England, and honestly, I don't know why he'd be at this position instead of having a role in the scouting department. I hardly believe two years at Kansas State qualifies one to be an NFL TEs coach. Art Vandelay would be better suited for this job; he's done it before in the NFL with solid results. Leonard's main qualification appears to be that he coached with Steve Spagnuolo at UConn nearly 20 years ago. His other qualifications are fine, but adding it all up, I don't get NFL TEs coach out of it. RamView grade: D+, because I really can't figure this one out. And oh, yeah, it's Valero.
TEs aside, a really funny thing I'm finding in my highly-amateurish grading of the Rams' new coaching staff is that I generally like the offensive coaches a lot more than the defensive coaches. That has me expecting that Spagnuolo is going to put his stamp on the Ram defense and let the Rams' offensive coaches coach.
Should be an effective setup.
On the way: part 3, the Rams' coordinators.
Rams coaching staff review, part 1
So much to post, so little time...
Steve Spagnuolo pretty much finished up hiring the coaching staff the last couple of weeks while yours truly was caught up in the throes of the winter flu and a crush at work. To try to catch up, I'll do a three-part review on everybody who's on board for 2009, starting with the defensive position and strength coaches:
* Defensive line: Brendan Daly. Daly's most important experience is that he's coached the Vikings defensive line since 2006. The Rams website is quick to point out the Vikings had the league's best run defense all three of those years. They also went from 30 sacks (25th in NFL) in 2006 to 38 (8th) in 2007 to 45 (4th) in 2008. Compare that to the Rams' 34/31/30. It would certainly be short-sighted not to mention that Daly won't have Pat Williams, Kevin Williams or Jared Allen here. But unmistakably, Daly has worked with defensive lines that accomplish everything you want a defensive line to do. RamView grade: A-.
* Linebackers: RamView's already offered a review of new LB coach Paul Ferraro. Until I know better, his primary qualification appears to be that he was HC Steve Spagnuolo's college roommate. RamView grade: C-.
* Secondary: UPDATE (2/9): The Rams have hired Clayton Lopez as their new cornerbacks coach.
It appears previously-hired defensive assistant Andre Curtis will coach the Rams' safeties. Curtis is another extremely green member of the Rams' coaching staff, with just three years in the pros. His primary qualification at this time appears to be that he worked for Spagnuolo in New York. Lopez has coached DBs the last three years with... THE DETROIT LIONS. Yes, there is a team with a lot of outstanding secondary play. He was DB coach at Oakland (another fantastically successful football team) in 04-05 and assistant DB coach in Seattle in 02-03. Well, at least Lopez has coached Nnamdi Asomugha, (which I just spelled correctly WITHOUT looking up!) because I cannot imagine why in THE BLUE HELL you would raid DETROIT's staff for position coaches. Detroit the last three years with Lopez on the staff: 2008 - 27th in pass defense, 32nd (i.e. DEAD LAST) in INTs; 2007 - 31st in pass defense, 14th in INTs; 2006 - 25th in pass defense and in INTs. What exactly is the thought process that says, yes, I've got to have THAT guy? Is Spagnuolo trying to fill up his defensive staff with questionable hires to make himself look better? I am really puzzled on the coaches he's hired to run the back seven.
RamView grade: D.
* Strength coaches: Rock Gullickson and Chuck Faucette. Faucette is the assistant coach and a holdover from Scott Linehan's staff. Spagnuolo says it's "evident" that Faucette is valuable in the weight room. Everything I know about strength coaches is what I see on NFL Network at the NFL Combine, so to me, that means he's good at being a spotter and yelling things like "Hup!" and "Shoot this thing!". Gullickson and his awesome first name come to the Rams after three years with the Packers and six with the Saints. So that's funny; he worked with Jim Haslett but comes here after Haslett's gone. A little more weird irony: he was at Louisville the first year Scott Linehan was offensive coordinator there. Oddly, and unlike most of this staff, there's no time Gullickson and Spagnuolo worked together, though Rock did put in three years at Rutgers.
Do I know if the Packers or Saints of the Rock Gullickson Era were particularly well-conditioned or strong teams? Nope. I do like that he was strength coach at Texas for five years. That's one of those college programs I'm convinced knows what they're doing in a weight room. Therefore, Gullickson knows what he's doing in there. The Rams in recent years have been a team of repeated
injuries and a team that gets outmuscled constantly at the line of scrimmage. There were rumors that Dana LaDuc's training regimen was weirdly better-suited for hockey players than football players. The best training innovation at Rams Park the last three years, installing a sand pit to run in to strengthen ankles and cut down on the Rams' ridiculous number of ankle sprains, didn't come from the training staff; it came from center Brett Romberg. Christie Brinkley would be an upgrade for the Rams as a strength coach. Actually, it would be fun if the Rams would try that, or infinitely more awesomely, Chuck Norris.
RamView doesn't know Rock Gullickson from Tim or Tom Gullickson, but the change in strength coach by itself merits no worse than a B grade.
Next post: the offensive position coaches.
Steve Spagnuolo pretty much finished up hiring the coaching staff the last couple of weeks while yours truly was caught up in the throes of the winter flu and a crush at work. To try to catch up, I'll do a three-part review on everybody who's on board for 2009, starting with the defensive position and strength coaches:
* Defensive line: Brendan Daly. Daly's most important experience is that he's coached the Vikings defensive line since 2006. The Rams website is quick to point out the Vikings had the league's best run defense all three of those years. They also went from 30 sacks (25th in NFL) in 2006 to 38 (8th) in 2007 to 45 (4th) in 2008. Compare that to the Rams' 34/31/30. It would certainly be short-sighted not to mention that Daly won't have Pat Williams, Kevin Williams or Jared Allen here. But unmistakably, Daly has worked with defensive lines that accomplish everything you want a defensive line to do. RamView grade: A-.
* Linebackers: RamView's already offered a review of new LB coach Paul Ferraro. Until I know better, his primary qualification appears to be that he was HC Steve Spagnuolo's college roommate. RamView grade: C-.
* Secondary: UPDATE (2/9): The Rams have hired Clayton Lopez as their new cornerbacks coach.
It appears previously-hired defensive assistant Andre Curtis will coach the Rams' safeties. Curtis is another extremely green member of the Rams' coaching staff, with just three years in the pros. His primary qualification at this time appears to be that he worked for Spagnuolo in New York. Lopez has coached DBs the last three years with... THE DETROIT LIONS. Yes, there is a team with a lot of outstanding secondary play. He was DB coach at Oakland (another fantastically successful football team) in 04-05 and assistant DB coach in Seattle in 02-03. Well, at least Lopez has coached Nnamdi Asomugha, (which I just spelled correctly WITHOUT looking up!) because I cannot imagine why in THE BLUE HELL you would raid DETROIT's staff for position coaches. Detroit the last three years with Lopez on the staff: 2008 - 27th in pass defense, 32nd (i.e. DEAD LAST) in INTs; 2007 - 31st in pass defense, 14th in INTs; 2006 - 25th in pass defense and in INTs. What exactly is the thought process that says, yes, I've got to have THAT guy? Is Spagnuolo trying to fill up his defensive staff with questionable hires to make himself look better? I am really puzzled on the coaches he's hired to run the back seven.
RamView grade: D.
* Strength coaches: Rock Gullickson and Chuck Faucette. Faucette is the assistant coach and a holdover from Scott Linehan's staff. Spagnuolo says it's "evident" that Faucette is valuable in the weight room. Everything I know about strength coaches is what I see on NFL Network at the NFL Combine, so to me, that means he's good at being a spotter and yelling things like "Hup!" and "Shoot this thing!". Gullickson and his awesome first name come to the Rams after three years with the Packers and six with the Saints. So that's funny; he worked with Jim Haslett but comes here after Haslett's gone. A little more weird irony: he was at Louisville the first year Scott Linehan was offensive coordinator there. Oddly, and unlike most of this staff, there's no time Gullickson and Spagnuolo worked together, though Rock did put in three years at Rutgers.
Do I know if the Packers or Saints of the Rock Gullickson Era were particularly well-conditioned or strong teams? Nope. I do like that he was strength coach at Texas for five years. That's one of those college programs I'm convinced knows what they're doing in a weight room. Therefore, Gullickson knows what he's doing in there. The Rams in recent years have been a team of repeated
injuries and a team that gets outmuscled constantly at the line of scrimmage. There were rumors that Dana LaDuc's training regimen was weirdly better-suited for hockey players than football players. The best training innovation at Rams Park the last three years, installing a sand pit to run in to strengthen ankles and cut down on the Rams' ridiculous number of ankle sprains, didn't come from the training staff; it came from center Brett Romberg. Christie Brinkley would be an upgrade for the Rams as a strength coach. Actually, it would be fun if the Rams would try that, or infinitely more awesomely, Chuck Norris.
RamView doesn't know Rock Gullickson from Tim or Tom Gullickson, but the change in strength coach by itself merits no worse than a B grade.
Next post: the offensive position coaches.
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