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With the dust barely settled on the Los Angeles Rams train wreck 2016 regular season, the search for the Head Coaching vacancy has picked up steam over the past 24 hours. While fans are clamoring for another big name head coach, the Rams have focused on lower profile assistant coaches to this point.
There are two clear categories here: coaches who the Rams have requested to interview and one who has been connected to the job, but not formally contacted for an interview.
Interviews Requested by Rams:
Schefter is on top of it!
Rams, Jags and Bills all expected to interview Cardinals offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin for their head coaching job, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 1, 2017
Rams are requesting permission today to interview Jaguars' interim HC Doug Marrone for their HC job, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 2, 2017
Rams have requested permission to interview Washington OC Sean McVay, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 2, 2017
Rams now have requested HC interviews w/ Buffalo's Anthony Lynn, and New England coordinators Matt Patricia and Josh McDaniels, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 2, 2017
Rams also requesting HC interview with Falcons OC Kyle Shanahan, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 2, 2017
There’s a definite trend here. All assistant coaches and all but one is an offensive coach. I’m not saying that an offensive coach immediately fixes a Rams offense that was beyond dismal, but it sure as hell can’t hurt after five years of Fisherball.
Sean Payton
This is focused more on speculation than anything else. There appears to be mutual interest between the Rams and Payton, but with limited draft capital a trade may be hard to pull off.
However, given Payton’s prior success in New Orleans and Rams Owner Stan Kroenke’s incredibly deep pockets, one has to wonder if there is fire causing all of this smoke.
John Fassel
I feel for Fassel. His special teams units have been excelling under his guidance, but he inherited a dismal team as interim head coach. Given the need for a culture change, I’m not sure Bones will be given a fair shake for the Rams coaching vacancy.
Hell, I’m not even sure he’ll be given a fair shake to keep his coordinator gig - which is sad given his excellence in recent years. If only as a footnote, he deserves to be mentioned here.