Given their relative inexperience as coordinators, I assumed that the coaches on the St. Louis Rams would not be given much consideration for the various coaching jobs opening up around the league. I was wrong. Rams' offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur will interview for the Cleveland Browns' coaching job on Thursday of this week, according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer.
ESPN's Adam Schefter adds that he could be the favorite. Cleveland and team president Mike Holmgren will also interview Falcons OC Mike Mularkey and have requested to interview Giants DC Perry Fewell.
Shurmur's uncle Fritz was Green Bay's defensive coordinator when Holmgren coached the team, so the two should be familiar with each other. Pat Shurmur, as you know, worked for Andy Reid in Philly, Reid having worked for Homlgrem himself in Green Bay. Shurmur runs the kind of West Coast offense that Holmgren makes a trademark of his teams.
He came under lots of fire from fans and the media in St. Louis for what some saw as too conservative of an approach to the offense. Just how conservative Shurmur was because of head coach Steve Spagnuolo, easing in a rookie QB and the lack of talent leaves room for considerable debate. However, it's safe to assume that all those factors had a hand in an oft-criticized offensive game plan for the Rams.
The real question I have in this is just what kind of impact changing offensive coordinators would have on Sam Bradford in what would be just his second season? Shurmur, the former Eagles QB coach, played a big role in bringing along the Rams' first overall pick and likely rookie of the year this season. Switching coordinators this early in a career has had negative repercussions for others teams and QBs. Bradford seems to have a good head to match the talent, so maybe he'd be just fine. Still, it's a question worth pondering should Shurmur get an offer to coach in Cleveland.