Thomas: Boras’ profile with Rams grows

Boras’ profile with Rams grows

By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/boras-profile-with-rams-grows/article_51c2320d-0a2b-5752-8f9d-2f06b88ed115.html

Throughout his NFL coaching career, a career that’s about to enter its 12th season, Rob Boras has been a foot soldier. One of those behind-the-scenes guys who doesn’t say much but shows up and does his job.

He’s never been a campaigner or a politician — you know, one of those types always looking for his next job. But somehow he quickly earned the respect of Rams coach Jeff Fisher.

Every offseason since Fisher arrived in St. Louis in 2012, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer applied for a job somewhere, and Boras’ name always came up at Rams Park as a possible successor.

This offseason, Schottenheimer actually left, taking the coordinator’s job at the University of Georgia. Boras came within a whisker of replacing Schottenheimer, but that job ultimately went to Rams quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti.

“Through the whole process, during that month or whatever it was, just the communication, the honesty, you trust Coach Fisher,” Boras said. “He has a plan. And so there’s a personal disappointment but you’re excited about the opportunity to move forward.

“You can’t let those minor things be setbacks. Just like you talk to your players about all the time. You’ve got to move on.”

Boras came out of the process with a nice consolation prize. He will continue coaching Rams tight ends but also has the additional title of assistant head coach/offense.

Although it’s not the coordinator’s job, Boras suddenly has a higher profile. Until the coordinator job search and aftermath, the only times he had gotten a mention in the Post-Dispatch in three seasons with the Rams were when his house was broken into, and when he embarrassingly suffered a calf injury on the practice field, which resulted in much teasing from the coaching staff.

“I’ve gotta find a better way to get my name out there,” Boras joked.

He can do that in his new role by helping to get an under-producing offense going under a new coordinator (Cignetti) and a new starting quarterback (Nick Foles).

“Rob’s going to have a lot more input, I’ll put it that way, as far as which direction we go,” Fisher said. “Particularly because I was really impressed with his presentations and his thoughts (during the interview process).”

Fisher made those remarks at the Feb. 12 news conference in which Cignetti was formally introduced as the new offensive coordinator. Fisher was more expansive on Boras’ new duties at the NFL owners meetings last month.

“Rob really does an outstanding job, particularly in our running game and creation of the running game, and then pairing the running game up with the play-action passing,” Fisher said. “That’s where Rob, I think, his value is. So he’s expanded that. He’s working closely with Cig and the rest of the staff. It’s a collective effort.”

In an interview this week with the Post-Dispatch, Boras said the nature of his new job title is still evolving.

“It’s really just to be able to help Cig and Coach Fisher in different areas, schematically as well as talking to players and such,” Boras said.

Even before Cignetti was formally announced as the team’s new OC, he and Boras and the rest of the offensive staff had been working on the new playbook. Simplifying it, pruning the terminology that was used for three seasons under Schottenheimer while evaluating what went well and what didn’t in 2014.

“Cig has a very definite vision, and it’s not very far from where we’ve been,” Boras said. “Now we’re going to be adding some more schemes that he’s brought to us. And obviously, just organizing it and putting it into our terms, and seeing what’s gonna work with our personnel. That has really kind of been the process.”

Boras said that process is nearing completion — the playbook is close to being a finished product.

“I would hate to put a percentage on it, but yeah, it’s dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s,” Boras said. “We’re just cleaning it up a little bit right now before the players get back.”

That time is almost at hand, because the players return for the start of the team’s offseason conditioning program Monday.

Boras, 44, was born in suburban Chicago. In college, he was a four-year starter at center at NCAA Division III DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. Football aside, the plan was to go to law school after completing his undergraduate degree.

But along the way, Boras couldn’t help but notice how much fun DePauw coach Nick Mourouzis had on a daily basis.

“He never had a bad day in his life,” Boras said. “The guy’s energy and enthusiasm was just contagious. About my third year in (at DePauw), I’m like, ‘You know what, if I could do this for the rest of my life, I’d be the happiest person on earth.’’’

When he called his parents to tell them he was getting into coaching, and not going to law school, they took the news much better than expected. At age 21, fresh out of school, Boras was named offensive line coach at DePauw.

“I was gonna give it two years and see if I liked it,” Boras said.

That was 1992.