Over the past two days, it's been all but certain among the chattering classes that Jon Gruden would be the next head coach of the St. Louis Rams. One single report out of San Diego linked Gruden with San Diego Chargers' General Manager A.J. Smith as a package deal that Stan Kroenke would bring in to replace the failed three-year effort of Steve Spagnuolo and Billy Devaney. This morning, that report is being walked back by Pro Football Talk.
As we've said since these rumors began floating around, take it all with a healthy dose of skepticism. Rumors like this get floated for many reasons. PFT cites a source who says that Smith could be behind the Gruden rumors, an attempt to save his own skin in San Diego while trying to get Spanos to offer Gruden the head coaching job.
More telling, and something else we hinted at in the midst of all this talk, is that PFT's source said Gruden and Smith is stretch because of their egos.
Another nugget from the PFT report flies in the face of something Peter King said earlier in the week about St. Louis being the most attractive head coaching job in the league.
Either way, few believe that he’ll be the coach of the Rams. Multiple sources have indicated that Gruden won’t be inclined to coach in St. Louis, for a variety of reasons (including but not limited to the climate).
Are they talking about the climate as in the weather? The climate as in the building at Rams Park? Probably a little bit of both. Stan Kroenke is a wealthy man, but he can't do anything about the former. However, he has to use his ample resources to do something about the later or another 7-9 season might be the best this team has to hope for in the future.
We took a deeper look at Gruden and how his past might translate for the Rams yesterday. Keep up with all the coaching rumors @TurfShowTimes on Twitter. And get lots more from our Facebook page.