Rams seek interview with Adam Gase
By Nick Wagoner | ESPN.com
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/
EARTH CITY, Mo. — After a last-minute change of heart by the San Francisco 49ers left Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase without their head-coaching position, he’s quickly become one of the hottest commodities on the coaching market.
And the St. Louis Rams apparently moved quickly to express interest Thursday morning, as ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported the Rams have requested an offensive coordinator interview with Gase.
Gase would obviously have plenty of appeal for the Rams, and they are absolutely doing the right thing by seeking an interview with him. While some like to solely credit Peyton Manning for Denver’s offensive success, Manning often points to Gase as one of his favorite coaches and speaks highly of Gase at every turn. With Gase in charge of the offense, the Broncos set NFL offensive records in 2013 and finished second in the league in scoring and fourth in total offense in 2014.
The question isn’t whether Gase would be a good hire so much as it is whether the Rams can land him. In that regard, there is no shortage of competition.
The 49ers reached out to Gase to make him offensive coordinator after passing him over for the head-coaching job, and the Broncos spent time with Gase on Wednesday discussing their head-coaching job. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders have also expressed at least some level of interest in Gase for their offensive coordinator openings.
And it’s the Atlanta Falcons that seem to loom largest in this. The Falcons have already interviewed Gase for their head-coaching job, and though it appears they prefer either Detroit defensive coordinator Teryl Austin or Seattle defensive coordinator Dan Quinn for that job, both coaches have expressed interest in bringing in Gase as offensive coordinator. To that end, the Falcons are expected to put in a formal interview request with Gase for the offensive coordinator position.
Clearly, that might just be a matter of housekeeping since Atlanta has already talked to him and knows him from the interview for the head-coaching job. With a quarterback in Matt Ryan and other talented young pieces like receiver Julio Jones and offensive lineman Jake Matthews in place in Atlanta — combined with the Rams’ potential relocation hovering over the franchise to go with a coaching staff that needs to win in 2015 — the Falcons would seem to be the more appealing job.
Of course, if the Rams’ re-hiring of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams last year taught us anything about the coaching carousel, it’s to never rule anything out. Things can always change, so we can’t categorically say the Rams won’t be a player here.
But where things stand now, it would seem things will indeed have to change for the Rams to have a chance to land Gase
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Grits
