Remember the Mike Martz years? The old saying is “you get a little good with the bad” right? Well that’s exactly what that era in Rams’ history was. You had the “Greatest Show on Turf” years when we dominated the league... but we also had times when you had to ask yourself what the hell is Mike doing? He is an offensive genius and I cannot deny him that.
Then came along Scott Linehan. A complete change from Martz, Linehan was calm, cool, and collective. After years with the Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins, Scott had finally landed his first head coaching gig EVER. Expectations where high and the fans were looking for the glory years once more. Trust me, I was one of them.
Well that was then and this is now. Now Scott Linehan is fired. Last week Monday, Chip Rosenbloom gave Linehan the (expected) boot. Scott Linehan took control of an 8-8 team in 2006, and was fired September 29, 2008, after the team started the season 0-4 following a 3-13 performance the previous season. Linehan’s combined Rams’ record halts at 11-25 in three years. He was 1-1 in the playoffs, playing both games in his first season in ’04.
His firing was inevitable following a 0-4 start in which the Rams’ were arguably the worst team in the NFL. Losses to the Eagles (38-3), the Giants (41-13), the Seahawks (37-13), and the Bills (31-14) brought the combined score to umm about 116-29... making us the team with the worst offense and defense in the NFL J. It was so bad that I was convinced that Mizzou could beat them. The Rams’ have lost 17 of their past 20 games (8 in a row), most of them being absolute blow outs. During the Week 4 game against the Bills, signs even read “Congress: Bail out the Rams!!!”
It was no doubt that the Rams’ wanted Scott out as well. Two days after Linehan benched team QB Marc Bulger, Bulger and RB Steven Jackson publically ripped Linehan. Jackson saying, “I just don't like it at all. There are more people that can take the blame for this. I don't think it's fair that one person takes the blame. You don't put your head guy, the general, the staple center, and you bench him with no excuse. It's not right,” and Bulger reportedly saying, “I can’t and won’t ever play for that man again.” So now, Scott, you have your two biggest stars tired of you, what else could go wrong…. except for being fired!
Since then, Bulger (Rams’ highest paid player ever) has regained his job and will be starting Week 6. Speaking of, the road ahead is not easy. The Rams play the 4-1 Washington Redskins this week, followed by the 4-1 Dallas Cowboys the week after.
Linehan needed to be fired but he is not the only one. The team can also blame recent drafts, as well, for the recent suckiness. This year’s past draft was the best I have seen in a long time for the Rams after drafting future stars Chris Long, Donnie Avery, Justin King, and Keenan Burton but before that the drafts were awful. Sure, in 2007 we got Adam Carriker who has turned out to be not half bad but we also drafted Brian Leonard? Jon Wade? Who is he? In 2006, (the punk who always gets us pentalized) Tye Hill? Joe Klopfenstein? Claude Wroten? Again in 2005, Alex Barron is not playing like a 1st rounder three years ago. The rest of that draft class you ask? There are no current starters besides Barron. These guys are supposed to be really good by now! What’s going on, front office?
Back to the Linehan being fired... Who took his spot? Good ole Jim Haslett. Our former Defensive Coordinator who allowed 116 points! Hooray! Now, don’t get me wrong... I kinda like the guy but that sentence just does not sound right, “Defensive Coordinator who allowed 116 points!” I am just saying, some have a legitimate excuse to think he is the wrong man for the job. Believe it or not, Rosenbloom actually insists that Jimmy is, in fact, not the Interim coach but the full time, all out coach of the Rams. With Haslett taking the reins, former assistant coach and LB coach Rick Venturi will now take the Defensive Coordinating job.
In a recent St. Louis Post Dispatch interview with Haslett, they discuss a variety of things Haslett is going to change off the field to create more discipline that really impressed me. Take a look:
You’ve already made some interesting decisions. You wanted the bushes trimmed around the practice field, and you wanted some boxes and stuff cleared out of the lobby. Why?
“[…] The main lobby is not a holding center for boxes and stuff. If you are a guest and you walk in, the main lobby is the first thing you see. You don’t have stuff thrown all over your living room – boxes and garbage thrown around. And when the players walk onto the field, the bushes are about 10 feet high – they’re overgrown and there are weeds. That doesn’t mean you’re going to win or lose games, but I think it’s the appearance that, hey, this is a nice organization […].”
Also, you’ve taken the benches out of the indoor practice facility. Why?
“We are not sitting on benches. We’re not sitting on helmets. This is not the Greatest Show on Turf anymore where guys could just sit around and get up and practice. We’re not that type of team anymore. […] I don’t want guys sitting on helmets. I don’t want guys sitting on the railings. Sitting on bags. Sitting on the benches. You’re only out here for two hours. Concentrate on what you’ve got to do, and I don’t think we need to sit down.”
What is your general football philosophy? How do you go about the business of winning games?
“First of all, you’ve got to have good players. You’ve got to have the right type of players. I like guys that are tough, hard-nosed guys. That like playing the game. I don’t think you draft guys now unless they love the play the game. The money should not be an issue. On the field, I think field position’s big in the National Football League. You have to play well enough on defense. You’ve got to know what you have on offense. You’ve got to know what kind of players you have. Can you score a lot of points? Are you a grind-it-out football team? There’s more than one way to skin a cat. […].”
You can see the rest of this interview at www.stltoday.com.
For me, that is the best attitude the guy could have. He thinks outside of the box and knows what needs to be done off the field as well as on it in order to win football games. The dude knows what he is doing and has been in this situation before. In 2000, Haslett was hired in New Orleans to try and rejuvenate a 3-13 team the year before. Not only did he improve the team, he led them to a 10-6 record, their first ever playoff win, and a ton of accolades for himself including the AP Coach of the Year.
Who knows how this will all play out. Haslett has the swagger and the right mindset to turn the talent we have into some victories. We may be worse than before, or we just might decide to stop jacking around and get something done with this season before it’s too late.
Justin Hulsey
StLDieHard24@gmail.com
Then came along Scott Linehan. A complete change from Martz, Linehan was calm, cool, and collective. After years with the Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins, Scott had finally landed his first head coaching gig EVER. Expectations where high and the fans were looking for the glory years once more. Trust me, I was one of them.
Well that was then and this is now. Now Scott Linehan is fired. Last week Monday, Chip Rosenbloom gave Linehan the (expected) boot. Scott Linehan took control of an 8-8 team in 2006, and was fired September 29, 2008, after the team started the season 0-4 following a 3-13 performance the previous season. Linehan’s combined Rams’ record halts at 11-25 in three years. He was 1-1 in the playoffs, playing both games in his first season in ’04.
His firing was inevitable following a 0-4 start in which the Rams’ were arguably the worst team in the NFL. Losses to the Eagles (38-3), the Giants (41-13), the Seahawks (37-13), and the Bills (31-14) brought the combined score to umm about 116-29... making us the team with the worst offense and defense in the NFL J. It was so bad that I was convinced that Mizzou could beat them. The Rams’ have lost 17 of their past 20 games (8 in a row), most of them being absolute blow outs. During the Week 4 game against the Bills, signs even read “Congress: Bail out the Rams!!!”
It was no doubt that the Rams’ wanted Scott out as well. Two days after Linehan benched team QB Marc Bulger, Bulger and RB Steven Jackson publically ripped Linehan. Jackson saying, “I just don't like it at all. There are more people that can take the blame for this. I don't think it's fair that one person takes the blame. You don't put your head guy, the general, the staple center, and you bench him with no excuse. It's not right,” and Bulger reportedly saying, “I can’t and won’t ever play for that man again.” So now, Scott, you have your two biggest stars tired of you, what else could go wrong…. except for being fired!
Since then, Bulger (Rams’ highest paid player ever) has regained his job and will be starting Week 6. Speaking of, the road ahead is not easy. The Rams play the 4-1 Washington Redskins this week, followed by the 4-1 Dallas Cowboys the week after.
Linehan needed to be fired but he is not the only one. The team can also blame recent drafts, as well, for the recent suckiness. This year’s past draft was the best I have seen in a long time for the Rams after drafting future stars Chris Long, Donnie Avery, Justin King, and Keenan Burton but before that the drafts were awful. Sure, in 2007 we got Adam Carriker who has turned out to be not half bad but we also drafted Brian Leonard? Jon Wade? Who is he? In 2006, (the punk who always gets us pentalized) Tye Hill? Joe Klopfenstein? Claude Wroten? Again in 2005, Alex Barron is not playing like a 1st rounder three years ago. The rest of that draft class you ask? There are no current starters besides Barron. These guys are supposed to be really good by now! What’s going on, front office?
Back to the Linehan being fired... Who took his spot? Good ole Jim Haslett. Our former Defensive Coordinator who allowed 116 points! Hooray! Now, don’t get me wrong... I kinda like the guy but that sentence just does not sound right, “Defensive Coordinator who allowed 116 points!” I am just saying, some have a legitimate excuse to think he is the wrong man for the job. Believe it or not, Rosenbloom actually insists that Jimmy is, in fact, not the Interim coach but the full time, all out coach of the Rams. With Haslett taking the reins, former assistant coach and LB coach Rick Venturi will now take the Defensive Coordinating job.
In a recent St. Louis Post Dispatch interview with Haslett, they discuss a variety of things Haslett is going to change off the field to create more discipline that really impressed me. Take a look:
You’ve already made some interesting decisions. You wanted the bushes trimmed around the practice field, and you wanted some boxes and stuff cleared out of the lobby. Why?
“[…] The main lobby is not a holding center for boxes and stuff. If you are a guest and you walk in, the main lobby is the first thing you see. You don’t have stuff thrown all over your living room – boxes and garbage thrown around. And when the players walk onto the field, the bushes are about 10 feet high – they’re overgrown and there are weeds. That doesn’t mean you’re going to win or lose games, but I think it’s the appearance that, hey, this is a nice organization […].”
Also, you’ve taken the benches out of the indoor practice facility. Why?
“We are not sitting on benches. We’re not sitting on helmets. This is not the Greatest Show on Turf anymore where guys could just sit around and get up and practice. We’re not that type of team anymore. […] I don’t want guys sitting on helmets. I don’t want guys sitting on the railings. Sitting on bags. Sitting on the benches. You’re only out here for two hours. Concentrate on what you’ve got to do, and I don’t think we need to sit down.”
What is your general football philosophy? How do you go about the business of winning games?
“First of all, you’ve got to have good players. You’ve got to have the right type of players. I like guys that are tough, hard-nosed guys. That like playing the game. I don’t think you draft guys now unless they love the play the game. The money should not be an issue. On the field, I think field position’s big in the National Football League. You have to play well enough on defense. You’ve got to know what you have on offense. You’ve got to know what kind of players you have. Can you score a lot of points? Are you a grind-it-out football team? There’s more than one way to skin a cat. […].”
You can see the rest of this interview at www.stltoday.com.
For me, that is the best attitude the guy could have. He thinks outside of the box and knows what needs to be done off the field as well as on it in order to win football games. The dude knows what he is doing and has been in this situation before. In 2000, Haslett was hired in New Orleans to try and rejuvenate a 3-13 team the year before. Not only did he improve the team, he led them to a 10-6 record, their first ever playoff win, and a ton of accolades for himself including the AP Coach of the Year.
Who knows how this will all play out. Haslett has the swagger and the right mindset to turn the talent we have into some victories. We may be worse than before, or we just might decide to stop jacking around and get something done with this season before it’s too late.
Justin Hulsey
StLDieHard24@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment