And Spagnuolo definitely has to improve in some areas, including game management and in coaching up his assistants. (I don’t know if this is a good staff of assistants; a couple of people I respect in the NFL tell me that it isn’t.)
The PD's Bernie Miklasz on Spags. The behind the scenes talk about assistants is interesting. Hmmm...
3 months ago
VanRam
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i wouldn't read too much into this
i trust spags. if he thinks his assistants are bad, he’ll replace them. if he thinks his assistants are good, he’ll keep them.
jd is legend for Cardinals' closer 2010!!
by stlcardinalsfang on Nov 2, 2009 1:51 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
People would also tell you
That Bernie Miklasz isnt exactly a good source of things football. I like Bernie, but I don’t exactly trust his suspicions or his grasp of football.
by gomer7 on Nov 2, 2009 1:53 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Bernie's not the one saying it.
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
by Tackle Box on Nov 2, 2009 7:59 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
that is very true
But to his defense it’s his first time being a head coach in the NFL. Hopefully as any well seasoned head coach realizes what works and what doesn’t i don’t think the staff should be fired right after this season. Shurmur is in his first year as being a offensive coordinator he’s learning what works as well. Same with flajole no one can agree they are doing great but along with jason smith they’re making rookie mistakes I think if we bring in a little more talent and give them a reasonable ammount of time to state why they should be here they will work out (hopefully).
by keeperskillz24 on Nov 2, 2009 1:54 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
exactly
and remember, spags was a coordinator before he was coach. he should know what a good coordinator is and what a bad one is.
jd is legend for Cardinals' closer 2010!!
by stlcardinalsfang on Nov 2, 2009 2:01 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
A good coordinator won't improve Chris Long one bit
A good line coach will
Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.
by CoachConnors on Nov 2, 2009 7:41 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Combining the two
would be even nicer.
You don't seem to want to accept the fact you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. In *St. Louis* his job was to dispose of enemy personnel. To kill! Period! Win by attrition. Well, *Steven Jackson* was the best.
by 3k on Nov 2, 2009 9:34 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Rare is the man who can do everything
Sure. In the old days they did. But of course, as you give people more responsibility, they have less time to dedicate to each thing. That’s why you see a lot of HC’s who don’t even call the plays on game day. You may decide later that you want an OC who can just concentrate on schemes, X’s & O’s, the opposition’s scheme..on and on
Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.
by CoachConnors on Nov 2, 2009 9:39 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
well said, keeper...
we can be frustrated by the way the season is going, (and most of us are), but it’s impossible to fairly judge this group until the season is over and we can look back and see where they did well and what didn’t work…I just hope Spagnoulo gets the chance…we all remember that Mike Shanahan was run out of Oakland without a real chance to grow into a decent head coach: that opportunity came in Denver. Not saying Spags will turn into another Shanahan, but we’ll never know unless he has a chance to grow and learn and bring his kind of players in here.
by tbell61 on Nov 2, 2009 2:04 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
he'll get it right
spags will do well give him and the team time
by brians rams on Nov 2, 2009 2:37 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Off Topic...
Steven Jackson: 165 Carries, 784 Yards, 24 Catches, 186 yards, 1 TD
Adrian Peterson: 163 Carries, 784 Yards, 19 Catches, 189 yards, 9 TDs
2 Fumbles lost by each.
Besides the discrepancy in TDs, I find it scary that our boy is pretty much toe for toe with ESPN’s darling with the offensive talent that he has around him. Actually, not scary. Amazing.
He’s also getting better every week. How high can SJax go? He’s currently on pace for 1,940 total yards, and that’s not considering the increases he’s had the last two weeks (assuming he continues to improve). What were our preseason predictions again? Because anything over 1800 was already amazing in my eyes, and at the rate he’s improving, he may very well go over 2,000. Simply outstanding.
"I was just letting the shots fly. You know, I don't leave any bullets in the chamber."
"Everything negative- pressure, challenges- is all an opportunity for me to rise."
-Kobe Bryant
A mantra for all athletes.
by TrojanRam on Nov 2, 2009 2:48 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
rookie coordinators
maybe that’s not who the sources in question are citing, but I’d think rookie coordinators like Shurmur and Flajole get a little cushion too. I know, none of us have been 100% with Shurmur’s playcalling so far, but I don’t know that it’s time to get his resignation.
Turf Show Times
by VanRam on Nov 2, 2009 3:03 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
This makes complete sense to me
Spagnuolo made his mark as a D coordinator, a system guy. The coach responsible for teaching players how to play is not the DC, it’s the position coach. This makes Chris Long’s struggles completly understandable. I had just come to think he’s not getting the training he needs this week, watching against the Lions. This makes perfect sense to me
Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.
by CoachConnors on Nov 2, 2009 7:35 PM CST via mobile reply actions 0 recs
Being in the NFL Doesn't Guarantee They Know Everything About Football
You would be surprised to learn how many people get in a little over their heads, even in pro sports.
I knew a guy who played in the NFL (who shall remain nameless, but he’ll know who he is by this story) who coached pop warner level football with me. Because he played in the NFL, including for the “local” team, he was very respected. He was a D lineman and found himself coaching what was mostly high school freshman for a couple years while he explored job opportunities at the pro level.
Said coach was a good enough guy, and he had a lot of tricks. But he also didn’t know much beyond what was immediately in front of him. Read: D tackle play.
One day, after a long run play, he pulled aside a player I had been watching closely and talked to him about what went wrong. The problem? Player was not a D Tackle. He was a DB.
Anyway, coach goes on to tell him how in the open field you must read the running back’s eyes so you can see where he’s looking to go. “He won’t look one way and go another…look him right in the eyes, son.”
Player was a good soldier, shook his head, ok coach. Coach feels good about helping a young player and walks back to the D line.
Me and another coach immediately went over to player and told him to disregard that, you know better than that, you do not look at a running back’s eyes or you will get shifted all over the field. You look at his stomach because that’s the one place he can’t fake. You want to see where his body is going next? Look at his stomach, aim for him there.
Nobody wanted to confront the other coach, no body wanted to get into a “Who know’s what” contest with an NFL’er. But the point was discreetly made to the DB’s that they will follow the teachings of the DB coach.
Now, where this guy is now is not the point, the point is being in the NFL doesn’t automatically mean you know how to teach a position. Even high school freshmen. I know for a fact there are some coaches there that are great teachers, and there are some that are in over their head.
Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.
by CoachConnors on Nov 2, 2009 8:00 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
good comment coach
Really well written and interesting. But to comment on the position coaches i really think they’re doing something that isn’t right. Granted we do not have the most talented bunch but thier are things you can help. I watched Chris Long try to out run the lineman thinking he was going to beat him with his speed around the corner but at this level its very hard to do that. I could be wrong but little problems such as this have to be dealt with individually sometimes. Because a team is only as strong as its weakest player, So what do you do help that player out and make your team less weak.
by keeperskillz24 on Nov 2, 2009 9:09 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Position Coaches Are Assistants
Bernie says he was told by “people I respect in the NFL” that it wasn’t a very good group of assistants. I think Long’s lack of development is evidence that the teachers of his position are not advising him well.
They should be able to teach him the details of how to play. Small, minute, details….drilling the right things over and over and over. And just because Spags was a good coordinator doesn’t mean that he can excel as a position teacher if it came down to it, or recognize that flawed teaching is taking place. (Maybe he can, but being a DC is a system job not a skills job)
Furthermore, Long using the same move almost exclusively and his
lack of quickness are 2 seperate things most likely the responsbility of 2 seperate poeple — a position coach and a strength and conditioning coach. (I am the latter)
The NFL world is chock full of guys that dominated on physical ability at the NCAA level and never had to develop great skills (or the other way around), and who get to the NFL and struggle when they play against more experienced players who either were always both skilled and physically gifted, or have had time to develop.
Its a classic problem that requires good teaching, and I would bet money that whoever Bernie respects in the NFL is telling him exactly the same thing I finally figured out. Gag. Sometimes I guess I blindly believe as a fan or just don’t want to believe my eyes, but I should’ve known in August when Chris Long was always last off the line that there were issue with the assistants.
Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.
by CoachConnors on Nov 2, 2009 9:32 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
If I remember correctly, wasn’t one of the “cons” for Chris Long when he was coming out of college was that he peaked and that he didn’t have ideal quickness (but made up for it with his level of determination and motor)?
He never seemed like a guaranteed talent, but someone who had to be coached up. I still think he has the capability to do well…but they need to find someone who can help him or he’s going to be gone in a few years..
I believe in 2010
by ram_rod on Nov 2, 2009 11:11 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
My feelings exactly. He's not uncoachable or dumb, and he works hard (but on what?)
He isn’t a big physically dominating players, he is just a little undersized. Power rushing the LT backwards and hoping to move him out of the way so he can cut inside and grad the QB who’s stapping up in the pocket will not work.
Considering that, we can project his success would come from being better skilled rather than better strength. He better train on short rep max power, burst, and flexibility as though as the things that make a large man quicker. Yes, max reps on max weight (with a legit but brief rest/recovery time) in the weight room make you have a better burst and quicker first step.
If he’s doing any roadwork or longer sprint interval runs that say 300 meters, than he needs to stop immediately, as those hings will sap his burst (recall I said “work on the right things”). Heavy work with nice long recovery time is the anser here.
I’m absolutely sure, would bet my reputation, on a comprehensive stretching program – approx 1 hour, 2 times a day – would be the fastest easiest way to improve his (or anyones, yours, whoever) over all athleticism and aid in his agility, which in turn helps him change direction more quickly than a 310 pound 6’7 LT or even a 6’5 265 pound TE (at least in the trenches if not in the 10 yeard out route….leave that to a LB to cover.
He’s obviously never going to be a brute force bull rusher, and assuming he doesn’t ’roid up, and he can use his small size as an advantage if he works on developing a real quick first step, and can plant and burst in other directions, in combination with good handwork to shed blocks
I wish I could have just 3 or 4 weeks with him, you’d see a guy first off that D line instead of last most of the time. At that point I’d be trusting the position coach (D line specific) the drill his footwork and arm action over and over and over again until he wa sick of it.
Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.
by CoachConnors on Nov 2, 2009 11:56 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
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