Rivera, Rams are set for second interview

By Jim Thomas

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

01/17/2006

Rams Rivera

Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera (right), working here with coach Lovie Smith, is scheduled to meet today with Rams president John Shaw.

(Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)

 

Cam Cameron and Scott Linehan have completed their second round of interviews with the Rams. That leaves only Ron Rivera to be interviewed among the three finalists for the Rams' head-coaching job. And Rivera will get his second audience with team president John Shaw today in Los Angeles.

 

Barring an unexpected hitch, the Rams' next head coach could be in place by Friday, or even as early as Thursday.

 

Linehan, Miami's offensive coordinator, was considered the front-runner for the job following the first round of interviews. Rivera, the Chicago Bears' defensive coordinator, was believed to be a close second. Cameron, the San Diego Chargers' offensive coordinator, was a late entry into the Rams' coach search and a surprise survivor into one of the three finalist spots.

 

Cameron, 44, has been with the Chargers since 2002. Previously, he was head coach at Indiana University (1997-2001); quarterbacks coach for the Washington Redskins (1994-96); and assistant coach at the University of Michigan (1984-93).

 

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/st...2C?OpenDocument

According to Clark Judge at CBS Sportsline, Linehan is the guy.

 

Expect the St. Louis Rams to make an announcement on their next head coach shortly -- probably by Friday and no later than Monday. And expect that head coach to be Miami Dolphins' assistant Scott Linehan.

 

League sources confirmed that Linehan, the Dolphins' offensive coordinator, is the choice of an organization that Wednesday completed its second round of interviews by consulting with Chicago defensive coordinator Ron Rivera.

 

Linehan and San Diego offensive coordinator Cam Cameron had their second interviews earlier.

 

Originally, the Rams were expected to hire a defensive assistant, largely because of problems the club had on that side of the ball this year (only Houston allowed more points). But the more club executives tossed around the idea the more they decided an offensive head coach might be the ticket -- largely because they believed they could straighten out the league's 30th-ranked defense by choosing a candidate from a reservoir deep with solid defensive coordinators. That decision, of course, will belong to Linehan, but look for someone like Jim Bates, who was the Packers' defensive coordinator last year, or the New York Jets' Donnie Henderson to be among the candidates.

 

But there's another reason St. Louis opted for an offensive assistant. When you look at the Rams, you find their best players generally are on one side of the ball -- and, no, it's not defense. It's with an offense that former coach Mike Martz built into one of the league's most productive units before departing in the middle of this season with a heart infection.

 

Linehan, 42, initially was considered a long-shot candidate because he has only four years of NFL experience. But his name emerged in recent weeks as the Rams started combing the league for offensive assistants, talking to, among others, Cameron, Baltimore's Jim Fassel and Pittsburgh's Ken Whisenhunt.

 

Linehan is young, smart, dynamic and imaginative. The Rams were impressed with how he managed the Minnesota offense when the Vikings had Randy Moss and Daunte Culpepper. Linehan enhanced his standing by winning this season with Gus Frerotte as his quarterback, though that's probably more a testament to the job done by head coach Nick Saban.

 

But look what the Dolphins accomplished: With Frerotte and Sage Rosenfels as their passers, they ranked in the upper half in many offensive categories and finished in the middle (16th) in scoring. Sure, they were blanked by Cleveland, but they responded by finishing with six straight wins.

 

Now look what happened when Linehan joined Minnesota in 2002 after 13 seasons of coaching at the college level. In his three years as an offensive assistant there, the Vikings never ranked lower than fourth in overall offense and were the league's second-ranked passing unit in 2004 when quarterback Daunte Culpepper threw 39 touchdown passes, a franchise record.

 

St. Louis is desperate for some of that production. The Rams believe they have the necessary talent in players like running back Steven Jackson, quarterback Marc Bulger and wide receiver Torry Holt. But they also believe they lost something last year when the organization was shredded by friction between Martz and the front office.

 

The Rams want their high-scoring offense back. And they want to return to winning. They believe Linehan gives them the chance.

 

 

 

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9173717

Linehan for sure now

Continuing the runaway trend toward hiring first-time head coaches, the St. Louis Rams have chosen Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Scott Linehan as the successor to the deposed Mike Martz and Wednesday night entered into contract discussions with him.

 

Barring a hangup in negotiations, which is not likely, Linehan will be introduced as the Rams' head coach by the end of the week. Team and league sources as well as a source close to Linehan confirmed to ESPN.com that the Dolphins assistant had been offered the job.

 

Scott Linehan

Al Messerschmidt/WireImage.com

The Dolphins' offense ranked seventh in the AFC under Scott Linehan this past season.

 

The choice of Linehan came Wednesday evening after St. Louis officials concluded the last interview with the three finalists, a meeting with highly regarded Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera. All three finalists -- Linehan, Rivera and San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator Cam Cameron -- had traveled to Los Angeles this week for the follow-up interviews.

 

It is believed the decision came down to Linehan over Cameron, as Rams officials had come to believe in the last few days that a coach with an offensive background would best fit their team. Rivera met last week with the Rams and, while he was said to have been impressive, he was not as detailed as the others in his ideas for staffing.

 

The consensus around the NFL earlier Wednesday was that Linehan and Cameron were very close in the running as the Rams continued to deliberate the strengths and weaknesses of all the candidates. During an informal brainstorming session among team officials last week, Linehan rated as the most impressive candidate.

 

Despite reports that Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Al Saunders might be a late entry into the St. Louis coaching derby, Rams sources said he was not interviewed.

 

In all, the Rams interviewed seven candidates. The only candidate with previous head coaching experience was Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Jim Fassel, the onetime head coach of the New York Giants.

 

Linehan, 42, has only been in the NFL four seasons, serving as offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings (2002-04) and then the Dolphins (2005). He is regarded as a bright and creative offensive mind, a coach who favors the power running game linked to a vertical passing attack.

 

Before joining the Minnesota staff, Linehan had a 14-year career in the college ranks.

 

The Rams will become the sixth team to hire a first-time head coach rather than one with prior experience. Of the seven teams that have chosen new coaches in the past week -- including the Detroit Lions, who will introduce former Tampa Bay defensive line aide Rod Marinelli as their new coach on Thursday -- only the Chiefs' Herman Edwards had previously been an NFL head coach.

 

Per ESPN

this is not good for team dolphins