How long will it take for us to see fans around the EJD with signs like that?
Josh McDaniels, the 34 year old Barberton, Ohio native, has been hired by the Rams as their offensive coordinator. As a die hard Rams fan, I have to admit that this hire makes me feel all weird inside. On one hand, I have the "real" media telling me that McDaniels is an amazing offensive mind and that Sam Brad will flourish under him. On the other hand, he worked with the supremely hated New England Patriots, and just put Bronco fans through their worst season in recent memory. He was fired from his first head coaching job after starting the most recent Broncos season 3-9, one year after wrapping up his first season in Denver 8-8 despite starting 6-0. Not impressive. Now, he was damned impressive replacing Charlie Weis over in New England, even leading the Pats offense with Matt Cassel at the QB spot, but how can I appreciate anything done by those cheating tea tossers?
And speaking of cheating, guess who got busted for filming the San Francisco 49'ers practice in London? That's right, McDaniels. I guess he learned more from Bill Belichick than he'd be willing to admit. McDaniels was fined for that incident, but much like the case against the Pats for filming the Rams 2001 Super Bowl practice, it was largely forgotten.
With all of that being said, I haven't even gotten to the real reason I'm a little concerned about the hiring. Problems with players. Shortly after being hired in January 2009, there was an alleged trade offer from the New England Patriots, looking for a Jay Cutler for Matt Cassel deal straight up. Cutler, angry about the situation and the leaking of the story to the media, requested a meeting with McDaniels, himself, and the team owner. After nothing could be resolved in the meeting, Cutler went to the media to say that he didn't trust McDaniels. Less than a month after that, he was traded to the Bears for Kyle Orton and picks (guess which QB is still alive in the playoffs?). McDaniels hadn't won anything, and the organization was already siding with him over their starting QB. At the end of his first season, controversy surrounded McDaniels again, as he benched Pro Bowl WR Brandon Marshall for undisclosed disciplanary reasons. Whatever the reasons, Marsall was promptly traded to the Dolphins once the 8-8 season ended.
One of the main reasons that the Rams found any "success" in 2010 was because of team chemistry. A goofy looking QB, a rag tag group of receievers, and a seriously underrated defense came together as a team and put together a "good" season by STL standards. With McDaniels coming aboard as OC, and rumors that the deal almost didn't get done because of issues concerning control of the team and player personnel, I'm worried that the chemistry might get ready to fade away. I like my Rams, with their workman like, team strong approach, and it would kill me to see the offense turn into a bunch of douche-tard full-of-themselves wallet-chain-wearing metrosexuals thanks to our new OC.
The key is Steve Spagnuolo. Now that our head coach has some wins under his belt, can he keep control of this team and keep issues between players and Josh McDaniels at a minimum? Can he keep our OC from hiring a camera man to engage in cheating? If Spags stays well in charge, and McDaniels is left to coaching the offense and calling their plays, I think we'll see something exciting. If McDaniels is left to his own devices, acting as some kind of wild and unstoppable dictator, it's just not going to work.
So, will we see Ram fans holding signs like the one pictured above at the EJD? Probably some day. But hopefully it'll happen after a couple of Super Bowl titles.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
2 comments:
I don't particularly love McDaniel, but I wouldn't be so hard on him either.
I think that at this point in his career, he's not quite ready to be a successful head coach - maybe after a few more seasons as a coordinator he can be there. As an Offensive Coordinator, I think history is definitely on his side.
You look at guys like Brandon Marshall who have seemingly always been problems in the clubhouse. I would expect Marshall to be pushed out the door at Miami rather quickly. I would also think Super Bowl ring or not, Cutler will be out of Chicago in a couple years.
By the way, did you know that one of your assistant head coaches is named Dick Curl?
I didn't, but that's the best thing I've heard all day.
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