Is St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke ready to clean house at Rams Park or not? Last week, a report from Kevin Acee at the San Diego Union Tribune cited league sources who said that Kroenke was compiling a list of prospective general managers and ready to fire Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo. In today's Post-Dispatch, Jim Thomas references "league sources familiar with Kroenke" who say the Silent Stan has yet to make such a decision regarding the Rams' future.
Whether Kroenke has made up his mind or not at this point, the rest of the schedule looms large for the future of Spagnuolo, Devaney and others at Rams Park. Wins beyond today's game against the Cardinals will be hard to get for a team that rarely seems to have the answers necessary to win even the most evenly matched games. Factor in the injuries, and it looks next to impossible to save anyone's job with a win or improved play.
Curiously, in Thomas' article he notes that continued improvement from the defense could save Spagnuolo. However, the head coach is responsible for the performance of the entire team, and Spags has final say on who stays and who goes on the 53-man roster, not Devaney. Defensive improvement with nothing to show from the offense means Spagnuolo hasn't done his job as a head coach to make sure the offense is improving.
As for Devaney, it's a mixed bag. Thomas points to several big hits from his drafts and free agent moves like James Laurinaitis, Chris Long and Harvey Dahl. Those successful acquisitions are notable, but under Devaney the Rams have missed on so many later picks (coaching is partly to blame for its failure to develop prospects) and other free agent moves (Ben Leber anyone?) that injuries have exposed the Rams lack of depth, the kind of depth that should be coming from those middle and late-round picks along with the cheaper free agent moves.
Spags and Devaney may technically have six more games to make the case for their continued employment in their current positions, but it's a uphill climb. If Kroenke isn't thinking about changes on top of his NFL organization, he probably should start doing so...before the fans make changes in their ticket buying and television viewing habits.