Shaw finds his man By Jim Thomas ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Wednesday, Jan. 18 2006 Scott Linehan has reached the goal line. And unless he fumbles in his meeting with owner-chairman Georgia Frontiere, he will be the next head coach of the Rams.Linehan, the offensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins, emerged from the second round of interviews this week as the choice of team president John Shaw to succeed Mike Martz as the Rams' head coach."I think he would be our recommendation," Shaw said Wednesday night.All that remains is for Linehan, 42, to meet with Frontiere and receive her blessing. Linehan was believed to be en route to Frontiere's Arizona home on Wednesday night. Could Frontiere reject the Linehan "nomination?"It's possible, but not expected. In fact, there were reports Wednesday evening in Minnesota, where Linehan worked with the Vikings from 2002 through 2004, that Linehan had informed friends that he had the Rams job.Still, with several details and some logistics to be ironed out, the Rams might not make an official announcement until Friday.Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera closed with a flourish, with a strong interview Wednesday in Los Angeles that impressed Rams owner-vice chairman Stan Kroenke, as well as Shaw and president of football operations Jay Zygmunt.But while Rivera was flying back to Chicago following his interview, Linehan was headed to Arizona to meet with Frontiere.As late as Wednesday night, many observers and some Rams coaches believed that San Diego offensive coordinator Cam Cameron was the Rams' choice. But that proved to be an elaborate smokescreen, either to drive down the price for Linehan or as a favor for the Spanos family, which owns the Chargers and is very close to Shaw.The subterfuge worked so well that Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer began making calls to find a new offensive coordinator.On Wednesday night, Shaw declined to rank the three finalists."I think we felt that all three candidates brought something unique to the table," Shaw said.Since the ouster of Martz on Jan. 2, it took Shaw only 17 days to come up with a coach, following a series of interviews in Chicago, New York, St. Louis and Los Angeles. In all, seven candidates were interviewed in person, with an eighth - Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt - interviewed on the phone last week.Cameron, Linehan, and Rivera made the cut to finalist status. What happened to the others?Gregg Williams, who would have been a prime candidate in St. Louis and several other cities, was quickly taken off the market when Washington re-signed him to a lucrative three-year contract extension to remain as assistant head coach-defense.Dallas defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer was unimpressive in his interview.New York Giants defensive coordinator Tim Lewis was bright and glib but seemed to lack a vision for what he would do with the team.Fresno State head coach Pat Hill was energetic but seemed too entrenched in the college ranks to make the leap to the NFL at this stage of his career.Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Jim Fassel, the former Giants head coach, was more of a known quantity and was viewed as a safe choice if any of the front-runners faltered.Whisenhunt's candidacy was done in as much by Pittsburgh's upset victory over Indianapolis last Sunday as anything; the Rams didn't want to wait any longer to pick their head coach.Despite plenty of speculation to the contrary, Rams interim head coach Joe Vitt and Kansas City offensive coordinator Al Saunders never became serious candidates.With the exception of Hill, Shaw avoided considering coaches who were currently coaching in college. And with the exception of Hill, 54, and Fassel, 56, all of the other candidates interviewed were in their 40s.When overtures to a pair of older defensive gurus were unsuccessful - Philadelphia defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, 64, and Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, 65 - Shaw seemed to lock into bringing in a fresh face as the team's next coach. Someone who could energize Rams Park with a fresh approach.The one noticeable detour on Shaw's path was away from a defensive-oriented head coach. That was Shaw's preference going in, but Rivera was the only defensive coordinator among the three finalists.But it quickly became apparent that it would be easier for an offensive-oriented coach to hire a veteran coach as his defensive coordinator, than vice versa. The pool of potential hires as defensive coordinator include veterans Jim Bates, Dom Capers, Ted Cottrell and **** Jauron.This seemed to work in Linehan's favor, and against Rivera, in the first round of interviews. Linehan had a deep list of potential staff hires on the defensive side of the ball. Rivera did not have an exhaustive list of potential staff hires on the offensive side of the ball. That's one reason Linehan emerged as the front-runner following the first round of interviews.Following the Bears' 29-21 loss to the Panthers on Sunday, Rivera spent a lot of time working on potential staffing - particularly on the offensive side of the ball - in preparation for his second interview with the Rams.Despite Rivera's impressive work in LA on Wednesday, it wasn't enough to overtake Linehan, who has only four years of coaching experience in the NFL.
Whether you liked Mike Martz as a head coach, I can't imagine how Bulger and Holt would materially benefit from any change on the offensive coaching front. Martz IS an offensive genius and also wasn't afraid to throw the ball 40 times a game. Linehan may ultimately be good for the Rams, but I simply don't know how you can project Bulger and Holt to be better than they've been; and probably they'll take a slight step back as Linehan emphasizes a more balanced approach.
see my bust thread
I think the primary way a first-time head coach is successful is if he's had a chance to learn from an ultra-disciplined mentor. While Linehan had that in 2005 unders Saban, it was only for a year. No way is Linehan more prepared for an NFL head coaching job than Childress, who has been Reid's right hand man for half a decade. Let's not forget, the Eagles were widely considered the model NFC franchise over that time.
