Interesting forecast for the Rams future

[JdashSTL]

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Well Jason La Canfora said we could make a run at Fisher, so I guess the one thing we can draw from these different reports is were probably going after an experienced HC if Spags is let go.

...

I just dont care much for AJ Smith. They had multiple players holdout during the season last year, and we all know about the Vincent Jackson reports before the trade deadline. It clearly hurt the team because it was 2 of their better players that missed quite a few games. I think some people might like that approach, but I cant imagine that Charger fans were happy with him about it.

I know he has the track record of success and the Chargers have been a solid team for years. He can build a good roster, but that team has always underachieved in the playoffs and in the regular season in recent years. They should still be dominating the AFC West. Its just hard to overlook the recent stuff that has happened to that team. At the end of the day, Id honestly have no problem with him as the GM simply based on his track record tho.

 

[Lesson]

Fisher is the definition of mediocre and Gruden didn't too well after his SB in Tampa.

And Smith? There's a reason why he is called The Lord Of No Rings.

 

[bluecoconuts]

I still want Spags here another year.

If, if, he is to go this would be the GM/HC team that I hate the least... But I'm still not throwing a party over it. At least not yet, I'll get behind whoever is leading this team but I'd need to know who is taking over as the OC and DC (since I would assume Josh is out as well as Flajole) and position coaches... Also what scheme will we be running on offense/defense.

If he is correct and we get Smith and Gruden, I would have faith in them though.



However, didn't Gruden say he was staying with MNF for the next few years a few weeks ago?

 

[Anonymous]

Could you name the 10 pro-bowlers?

Also, going back to 2007, tell me who their big hits in the draft are.

Larry English? Craig Davis? Vaughn Martin? Anthony Waters? Donald Butler?

 

[HitStick]

Fisher is the definition of mediocre and Gruden didn't too well after his SB in Tampa.

And Smith? There's a reason why he is called The Lord Of No Rings.

Grudens demise was the result of having no draft picks which forced Tampa to pay for over priced free agents resulting in cap hell. His last year was desimated by injuries (much like spags)

Aj smith drafts players that help produce a top offense and top defense ALMOST every year. The rings come from coaching. That falls on Norv.

 

[Ram Quixote]

You want a Zygmunt/Linehan relationship at Rams Park next year? Bring in Smith. Smith has an ego that breeds dysfunction, and after what we escaped 3 years ago, I'm not interested in that drama.

Gruden? I'm taking Selassie's word on that guy. No way. Fisher? Another hard nosed coach with a mediocre track record. The only ex-coach I'd even consider at this point is Dungy, and he's retired.

 

[steferfootball]

I'll miss you spags. I hope he does well in Phili, and I will root for him there if this happens. I think Phili is really a great destination for him anyways.

I am not a fan of Gruden. I like him as a commentator, but he has never developed a QB, and hasn't really accomplished much - aside from being carried by Tony Dungy's defense. Not a fan of Fisher either.

I just hope all these reports are wrong, and we actually give Spags a fair shot.

 

[ljramsfan]

If this were to go down, I have questions:

For Gruden: Was the personnel issues with their GM at the time and holding on 40 million under the cap? Did TB not want to pay players? Does he want to develop the young players?

For Smith: Does he sign the talent and expect the coach to coach the players? Does the coach have a say in personnel?

There are prolly more, but they have ups and downs. Who know what these franchises (TB and SD respectfully) did make them fail at their certain positions?

 

[Lesson]

Fisher is the definition of mediocre and Gruden didn't too well after his SB in Tampa.

And Smith? There's a reason why he is called The Lord Of No Rings.

Grudens demise was the result of having no draft picks which forced Tampa to pay for over priced free agents resulting in cap hell. His last year was desimated by injuries (much like spags)

Aj smith drafts players that help produce a top offense and top defense ALMOST every year. The rings come from coaching. That falls on Norv.

The 2006 Chargers should have had a ring. They were that good. But then his stubborn ass fired Schottenheimer after a 14-2 season and hired Norv.

 

[Lesson]

If this were to go down, I have questions:

For Gruden: Was the personnel issues with their GM at the time and holding on 40 million under the cap? Did TB not want to pay players? Does he want to develop the young players?

For Smith: Does he sign the talent and expect the coach to coach the players? Does the coach have a say in personnel?

There are prolly more, but they have ups and downs. Who know what these franchises (TB and SD respectfully) did make them fail at their certain positions?

As mentioned previously, Gruden failed due to bad management by Allen at GM. McKay left for Atlanta in December of 2003(I'd be okay with him as GM over Smith, but that's a different story).

I don't understand the hype around Smith, per se. He can get talent, sure, but what has he done with it?

 

[Anonymous]

If this were to go down, I have questions:

For Gruden: Was the personnel issues with their GM at the time and holding on 40 million under the cap? Did TB not want to pay players? Does he want to develop the young players?

For Smith: Does he sign the talent and expect the coach to coach the players? Does the coach have a say in personnel?

There are prolly more, but they have ups and downs. Who know what these franchises (TB and SD respectfully) did make them fail at their certain positions?

As mentioned previously, Gruden failed due to bad management by Allen at GM. McKay left for Atlanta in December of 2003(I'd be okay with him as GM over Smith, but that's a different story).

I don't understand the hype around Smith, per se. He can get talent, sure, but what has he done with it?

Gruden the Great failed cause of others? Looked to me like he failed all on his own.

 

[Lesson]

If this were to go down, I have questions:

For Gruden: Was the personnel issues with their GM at the time and holding on 40 million under the cap? Did TB not want to pay players? Does he want to develop the young players?

For Smith: Does he sign the talent and expect the coach to coach the players? Does the coach have a say in personnel?

There are prolly more, but they have ups and downs. Who know what these franchises (TB and SD respectfully) did make them fail at their certain positions?

As mentioned previously, Gruden failed due to bad management by Allen at GM. McKay left for Atlanta in December of 2003(I'd be okay with him as GM over Smith, but that's a different story).

I don't understand the hype around Smith, per se. He can get talent, sure, but what has he done with it?

Gruden the Great failed cause of others? Looked to me like he failed all on his own.

I think he's a mediocre HC at best who has the potential to be good with a strong FO.

 

[brokeu91]

You want a Zygmunt/Linehan relationship at Rams Park next year? Bring in Smith. Smith has an ego that breeds dysfunction, and after what we escaped 3 years ago, I'm not interested in that drama.

Gruden? I'm taking Selassie's word on that guy. No way. Fisher? Another hard nosed coach with a mediocre track record. The only ex-coach I'd even consider at this point is Dungy, and he's retired.

That's an excellent point. Smith is sort of known for rubbing people the wrong way. Maybe, it will be a moot point, because Demoff is so good at being a face of the franchise, that Smith doesn't need that as much.

While Smith may have brought in some talent, they have never won anything. Yes, they've had great teams, but what happens after they lose in the playoffs has to be frustrating to Chargers fans. With the talent they've had, they should have won a superbowl by now. You can blame the coaching, but then why keep a coach who can't win with the talent given. Shouldn't Smith have done something there too?

 

[Angry Ram]

You want a Zygmunt/Linehan relationship at Rams Park next year? Bring in Smith. Smith has an ego that breeds dysfunction, and after what we escaped 3 years ago, I'm not interested in that drama.

Gruden? I'm taking Selassie's word on that guy. No way. Fisher? Another hard nosed coach with a mediocre track record. The only ex-coach I'd even consider at this point is Dungy, and he's retired.

I agree. Both overrated, overhyped.

Keep Spags or hire a cooridnator that will be with the team for a long, long time.

 

[brokeu91]

Here's Bernie's take on it:

I hope you all had a swell holiday weekend. Back to work for me. We begin with another edition of Necessary Roughness ...

* I don't know what to make of the latest round of rumors concerning the futures of GM Billy Devaney and head coach Steve Spagnuolo. If the San Diego Chargers fire GM A.J. Smith, is he headed to St. Louis to take over the Rams' football operation? Will Smith bring Jon Gruden or Jeff Fisher as head coach? With one game left in the Rams' season, we should know soon enough. My best guess is that the speculation is most likely originating from Los Angeles, home of off-the-books Rams adviser John Shaw, who is tight with Chargers' president/owner Dean Spanos.

Just for fun, a few thoughts on this:

1. Gruden is a TV star, so any connection to the Rams' job will set off an elevated state of arousal. And Gruden did win a Super Bowl in his first season as Tampa Bay coach, taking over a talented team built by Tony Dungy. But after going 12-4 and winning it all to cap the 2002 season, Gruden went 45-51 in Tampa Bay and was fired following the 2008 season. So what kind of head coach is he, really?

2. If Smith, as reported, is buddies with Gruden and Fisher ... then why wouldn't the Chargers just retain him as GM and have him hire Gruden or Fisher to replace Norv Turner? If Spanos fires Smith after the season, he'll owe Smith around $2.2 million per season through 2014.

3. Smith had a sequenece of excellent drafts to build the Chargers and gets credit for that. But Smith seemingly has been losing his golden touch. Smith fired Marty Schottenheimer after a 14-2 season in 2006 and chose Norv Turner as head coach. Though Turner's overall record in San Diego (48-31) looks pretty good on paper, the Chargers have underachieved. The problem used to be flopping in the playoffs; now the Chargers aren't even getting there. This is their second consecutive season of failing to make the playoffs under Turner.

In the 2009 draft Smith sought a linebacker and picked Larry English over Clay Matthews. (English has started four games for the Chargers; Matthews is a dominating star at Green Bay.) There have been other early-round busts including WR Buster Davis, a first-round pick in 2007. Smith also let RBs Michael Turner and Darren Sproles leave through free agency.

4. Another issue with Smith in San Diego is his combative style. His abrupt sacking of Schottenheimer is one example. But the Chargers have been mired in very public, very hostile, contract negotiations with a number of star players including QB Philip Rivers. Smith even went as far as publicly ripping franchise great LaDainian Tomlinson through the media.

As Chargers WR Vincent Jackson told FoxSports.com recently: "If you look at the great teams, the Steelers, the Colts, the Patriots -- everybody's on board, everyone's going together. I'm not sure if we're the only team that deals with (animosity from the GM) but it's something that's been around. I'd like to think it hasn't been a distraction for most guys."

In a recent, informal poll done by the San Diego Union-Tribune, 82 percent of respondents said Smith should be fired.

5. All of that said, Smith as a GM and Gruden / Fisher as head coaches have gotten a lot more done than the Rams' current football regime in Earth City. We just wanted to point out a few things about them.

Moving On...

* Craziest Rams rumor I've heard in recent days? Spagnuolo stays and Mike Martz comes back as offensive coordinator. I don't think so. Put down the bong, OK?

* One theory being circulated is this: if owner Kroenke doesn't make major changes, it's a sign that he wants to kill off fan interest in St. Louis as a prelude to moving the team to LA. I don't think I buy that. Los Angeles won't support bad football, so if Kroenke plans to flee, he'd better fix the franchise before heading to SoCal.

Moving On ...

* If Spagnuolo is fired after the season, he'll take an unpleasant distinction with him: the worst record by a Rams coach in franchise history, minimum of 20 games. Spagnuolo is 10-37 for a winning percentage of .213. You have to go back to 1937-1938 to find a lesser record; Hugo Bezdek went 1-13. And we're not including interim coaches such as Jim Haslett or Joe Vitt. Among Rams' head coaches that had at least 20 games on their records, here's how it looks at the bottom:

-- Spagnuolo, 10-37, .213

-- Bob Waterfield, 9-24, .273 (1960-62)

-- Scott Linehan, 11-25, .306 (2006-08)

-- Harland Svare, 14-31, .311 (1962-65)

-- Rich Brooks, 13-19, .406 (1995-96)

Interesting to note that three of the five worst coaching records have been attained (if that's the word) in St. Louis. And yet the fan support remains relatively robust.

Moving On ...

* Peter King of SI.com and NBC made a point when he discussed the appeal of the Rams' head-coaching job: among the attractive features is plenty of salary-cap space to be used on roster improvements after the 2012 season. The Rams, right now, would have about $40 million in cap space before the 2013 season. That could change a little, but still. The other attributes correctly listed by King: (A) the presence of a young franchise QB in Sam Bradford; (B) excellent position in the 2012 NFL draft. If the Rams lose to the 49ers on Sunday they'll have the No. 1 or No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 draft. And that pick can be bartered in exchange for multiple draft choices that would speed up the rebuilding process.

Thanks for reading ...

-Bernie

 

[-X-]

Another issue with Smith in San Diego is his combative style. His abrupt sacking of Schottenheimer is one example. But the Chargers have been mired in very public, very hostile, contract negotiations with a number of star players including QB Philip Rivers. Smith even went as far as publicly ripping franchise great LaDainian Tomlinson through the media.

Sounds great. And Chuckie is a coach who could (by comparison) have no friends on the team. Solid wish-list. :roll:

 

[ramsince62]

[textarea]Written by
Kevin Acee

7:54 p.m., Dec. 26, 2011

Looking more like Smith will join Turner out the door
ANALYSIS: Spanos has decisions to make on coach, GM

It will be a dizzying week atop the Chargers power structure, and the possibilities only keep getting more intriguing.

The first order of business for team president Dean Spanos is whether to retain General Manager A.J. Smith.

Spanos is expected to reveal his decision on whether to keep Smith by the middle of next week. It is believed, based on numerous conversations with league sources over the past month, that head coach Norv Turner will be fired regardless of who is the general manager.

Further, should Smith be fired in San Diego, he is expected to have opportunity elsewhere.

People familiar with Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s plans said Monday that Kroenke is waiting for Spanos to make a move on Smith. If Smith is available, league and agent sources strongly indicated that Smith will be hired as Rams’ general manager and bring along Jon Gruden as head coach.

Sources said Gruden has decided to return to coaching in 2012 and that his current employer, ESPN, is already preparing for his departure.

Spokesmen for ESPN and the Rams declined comment on Monday night.

Smith also declined comment when asked both about his future employment or his association with Gruden.

Sources who spoke Monday did so on the condition they not be identified. Those sources in a position to know Smith’s possible plans would not or could not say what he would do for a head coach if still in San Diego.

League sources have said for weeks that Kroenke plans to clean house after the season, firing both head coach Steve Spagnuolo and General Manager Billy Devaney. League sources also said this week that it is all but certain that Spagnuolo will join Andy Reid’s staff in Philadelphia as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator. Devaney, who was the Chargers Director of Player Personnel from 1990-2000, will not be a candidate in San Diego.

It is well-known in league circles that the relationship between Smith and Gruden is a solid one. The friendship began in the late 1990s when Gruden was head coach of the Oakland Raiders and was introduced to Smith by Smith’s closest friend, Bruce Allen, then the Raiders’ senior executive.

League and agent sources said recently that Smith has expressed his ongoing faith in Turner. However, Smith has also repeatedly said that five years is a “good test” for finding out the direction a head coach can take a team.

Turner is 48-31 in five seasons as head coach, but after back-to-back seasons have resulted in the Chargers missing the playoffs, it is possible Smith could decide he has to move in another direction. Moreover, he could be led in that direction by Spanos.



Even more certain than Turner’s fate is that of defensive coordinator Greg Manusky. Sources have long indicated the team views his hiring as a “mistake,” and the lack of answers in Detroit on Saturday sealed Manusky’s fate.

Turner, for his part, is aware of the likelihood of his being let go. Yet he vowed Monday to go about business as usual even as the Chargers’ season finale at Oakland has no real ramifications.[/textarea]


Thoughts?

I would love the move personally......need to hard nose proven winners into this organization. I mean the last time we had a HC who took no shit and didn't have many friends on the team we won the Super Bowl

Well I hate to be an "I told you so", but I've been suggesting and "hinting" about Chuckies return and my preference it be to the Rams for over the past 6 weeks . Obviously, my comments don't make it so, but these latest "rumors" do make things intreging. :hehe:

 

[bluecoconuts]

I wouldn't really count Wes Welker. He snagged him as a UDFA as a rookie, and cut him after the first game. He didn't see the potential there and the Dolphins got him for free. Then he went to the Pats for a second rounder and a 7th rounder and blew up.

 

[Selassie I]

Interesting how Bernie believes that "The speculation is most likely originating from LA, home of Off-The-Books Rams Advisor john shaw.


When will the stench of shaw finally be erased from this franchise ?

 

[-X-]

Interesting how Bernie believes that "The speculation is most likely originating from LA, home of Off-The-Books Rams Advisor john shaw.


When will the stench of shaw finally be eruased from this franchise ?

Upon death.