John DeFilippo’s Flexibility Key to Cleveland Browns Offense

10/12/2015

http://www.scout.com/nfl/browns/story/1598415-john-defilippo-s-flexibility-key-to-browns-o

As we all expected, the Cleveland Browns have the 9th ranked scoring offense in the NFL. Offensive Coordinator John DeFilippo, and his flexibility is key to the team.

You read that correctly, the Cleveland Browns currently had the 9th most points scored in the NFL. (The number is clearly skewed a bit since 6 teams have had a bye week but they have not.)
Prior to the season, the Browns, and their fans, believed the team would win with a great defense and solid run game. The assumption was that the team would only win games that were low scoring. Without a big time wide receiver or tight end (something most fans still are pissed off about), scoring was expected to be tough.
Instead, the Browns have scored 118 points, more than vaunted offenses such as the Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys and Indianapolis Colts. All 5 of those teams were expected to have great offenses and yet have less points than the Browns while playing the same number of games (5).
While Josh McCown is rightfully getting a lot of credit for the team’s performance yesterday. While many still have high hopes for Johnny Manziel, McCown has cemented himself as the team’s starter.
John DeFilippo, the Browns new offensive coordinator, should be getting the same heaping of praise today. Mike Pettine’s reported first choice last season for the OC position, Kyle Shanahan was the Front Office/Ownership selection, Coach Flip has shown why quickly. While Flip is young, 37 years old, his learning curve has been quick.
The biggest thing we have seen from Flip’s offense is flexibility. While Pettine and GM Ray Farmer built the team to win on the ground, Flip hasn’t just stuck to the run game. Instead, Flip has learned his personnel and the flow of the game to make the proper adjustments needed to compete.
Throwing out the New York Jets game when McCown was hurt after leading a great long drive, the Browns have been competitive in every game. They beat the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens while losing by a touchdown or less against the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers.
Taking the Jets game out of the equation, the Browns have a positive point differential of +7.
Against the Titans, with Manziel at the helm, Flip only threw the ball 15 times while the rushing offense ran for over 110 yards.
The next game, with McCown back in charge, the team struggled to run. Flip in turn threw the ball 49 times, keeping the Browns in the game.
Against the Chargers, a game that was close most of the day, the run game was better with 100 yards. McCown threw 8 times less than the week prior, completing 32 of 41 passes.
Yesterday, with the running game again struggling, Flip had McCown throw the ball 51 times. The Browns only garnered 83 total yards on the ground, 12 of which was on McCown runs.
Not only has Flip been flexible with the run, pass balance but with who is the focus of the pass game. Yesterday, 9 different players caught passes with Gary Barnidge, Duke Johnson, Travis Benjamin and Andrew Hawkins all catching at least 6 passes. That doesn’t allow defenses to focus their coverage on any one player.
Flip also uses multiple formations and motions to keep defenses from settling in. Three receivers left with none on the other side. Stacking receivers. Putting backs out wide. Not only do defenses not know which player to focus on but they don’t know where those players will be lining up.
While the Browns have struggled in the redzone this season, the Browns continue to score at a high rate. Last year the Browns only scored 299 points. Five games into the season the Browns have scored ~40% of last year’s total. This while dealing with a struggling run game, McCown injury and limited play calling for Manziel.
Coach John DeFilippo deserve a ton of credit for the performance of the Browns offense. His flexibility will be key to sustained success for the team. Now if only we could get Jim O’Neil to make good adjustments.

Browns OC candidate John DeFilippo compared to Adam Gase by Broncos QB coach

January 29, 2014

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2014/01/browns_oc_candidate_john_defil.html

NEW YORK — Broncos quarterbacks coach Greg Knapp, who oversaw Browns offensive coordinator candidate John DeFilippo for three years in Oakland, compared the young Raiders quarterbacks coach to another one of his associates the Browns sought to hire this year: Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase.

“Don’t let his age (35) fool you,” Knapp told cleveland.com at the Super Bowl media availability Wednesday. “He’s like Adam Gase. He’s got great knowledge and a great future ahead of him.”

Former Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who has six years’ experience as a coordinator, met with the Browns on Wednesday, and DeFilippo, who’s never been a coordinator in the NFL, will interview with them Thursday.

When Knapp was Raiders offensive coordinator in 2007-08, DeFilippo had the unenviable task of coaching troubled No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell, who flopped in the pros. It was later learned that Russell had tested positive for codeine even before the Raiders made him the top pick and gave him a $68 million contract, including $31.5 million guaranteed.

Russell went 0-1 as a rookie and 5-10 in 2008, but Knapp saw tremendous potential in DeFilippo — a Youngstown native — right from the start.

“When I was coordinator in Oakland, I said to him, ‘You’re the quarterback coach, and it’s your job to coach me out of the room,’ ” recalled Knapp. “He did that in a half a year’s time — and that was seven years ago, when he was really young.”

After the 2008 season, DeFilippo left Oakland to take over as quarterbacks coach of San Jose State, and earned the added duties of offensive coordinator in 2010. In his first year as coordinator, the Spartans jumped 32 places nationally in total offense from the previous year.

When Knapp returned to Oakland as coordinator in 2012, he brought DeFilippo back with him. That year, he coached Carson Palmer for most of the season and then former Buckeye Terrelle Pryor for the final game after Palmer was lost to a rib injury. In 2013, Pryor started nine games and won three after expected starter Matt Flynn flopped.

“He did a great job last year developing Terrelle Pryor during the offseason and he spent a lot of extra time talking to him about mechanics, on the field and in the classroom with him,” said Knapp. “John has that work ethic that you want as a coach in the NFL, and certainly as a play caller.”

DeFilippo was also forced to start undrafted rookie Matt McGloin for seven games last season after a concussion rendered Pryor ineffective. McGloin went 1-5, but largely because of the Raiders’ below-average defense, which finished 28th against the pass. McGloin threw for eight touchdowns, eight interceptions and a 76.1 rating.

“The quarterbacks really like John,” said Knapp. “He’s very personable, and it’s important to him that he has a relationship with the players, not just as a coach but a person-to-person relationship.”

Knapp cited DeFilippo’s football pedigree as his primary asset. His father, Gene DeFilippo was a former graduate assistant at the University of Tennessee, then coached offense at Youngstown State and Vanderbilt. The elder DeFilippo went on to become athletic director at Boston College, where he spent 15 years before retiring in 2012.

“John’s been around football all of his life,” said Knapp. “He’s the son of a coach/AD, and he’s a bright, young coach who has great knowledge of the game.”

DeFilippo also played quarterback at James Madison University and interviewed for their head coaching vacancy this offseason.

On the college level, DeFilippo coached quarterbacks at Fordham in 2000. He then went on to Notre Dame as a graduate assistant under Bob Davie in 2001 and Ty Willingham in 2002. He helped lead the Irish to an 8-0 start in 2002, with wins over No. 7 Michigan and No. 11 Florida State, and a Gator Bowl berth.

DeFilippo’s NFL coaching career began with the New York Giants in 2005, when he served as offensive quality-control coach on Tom Coughlin’s staff for two years. He helped the Giants to two postseason appearances, and New York posted a 19-13 regular-season record during his time there.

In 2009, as assistant quarterbacks coach for the Jets, he helped tutor rookie QB Mark Sanchez, who led the Jets to the AFC Championship in his first season as a pro. Browns coach Mike Pettine was Jets defensive coordinator at the time.

“John’s worked under a lot of good coaches, including Tom Coughlin,” said Knapp. “He’s been on enough offensive staffs and gameplanned with enough experienced coordinators that he has a good feel what it takes to help develop a gameplan and to execute it.”

Knapp said he has no doubt that DeFilippo is ready to call plays at the pro level.

“I have the utmost confidence in him,” he said. “He’d take charge in the classroom, and you’d see it on the field as well.”

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by Merlin

re: Flip… here’s a nice quote on him that speaks volumes to me because it is the heart of being a great coordinator at the NFL level:

“The one thing I learned about him very quickly when I hired him is just it’s the combination of passion and football intelligence,” coach Mike Pettine said. “When a play breaks down, he knows immediately why it happened. He’s very good at troubleshooting. He’s very good at understanding defenses and what they’re trying to take away and how to take advantage of it and how we can get our guys in the right position to make plays.”

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by jrry32

The top proven OCs aren’t going to be on the market. This is exactly who the Rams should be targeting. Took lemons and made lemonade this year in Cleveland. The Browns were a top 15 passing attack with talent that looked awfully similar to ours when McCown went down.

DeFilippo did an amazing job with their passing attack. The Browns weakness this year was the rushing attack. Which isn’t an issue for us.

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It’s early, but John DeFilippo doesn’t look like a rookie offensive coordinator for Cleveland Browns

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2015/10/its_early_but_john_defilippo_d.html

BEREA, Ohio – John DeFilippo didn’t get married until age 36.

Most football coaches are wed to their work, but few seem as willing to admit it as the new Browns offensive coordinator.

“I’m one of those guys who puts my job first,” DeFilippo told NEOMG in the summer. “A lot of people will say that’s wrong, but I knew what I wanted to do and I knew how to get there and I had to do it the right way.”

Time spent on 10 college campuses and inside six pro organizations has prepared the 37-year-old for the task of coordinating the NFL’s Isle of Misfit Toys. To the surprise of many outside the walls of Berea, DeFilippo hasn’t coached like a first-time pro playcaller.

The Browns (2-3) head into Sunday’s game against the Broncos ranked eighth in total offense and 13thin scoring. Quarterback Josh McCown and his unheralded supporting cast deserve much credit for executing the game plan, particularly over the past three weeks.

But DeFilippo, with the help of coach Mike Pettine, has quietly put the offense in good position thanks to his knowledge, confidence and willingness to adapt to circumstances. Whether it’s condensing the playbook for Johnny Manziel or tailoring a plan to an opponent, the coordinator has been as nimble and unflappable as a high-wire walker in the face of lakefront gusts.

“He sees the game, and when a play breaks down, he knows immediately why it happened,” Pettine said. “He is very good at troubleshooting and very good at understanding defenses and what they are trying to take away and how to take advantage of it and how we can get our guys in the right position to make plays.”

DeFilippo’s attack is not without shortcomings. The Browns aren’t efficient in the red zone. They don’t run the ball with any consistency. Their playmakers, save for Gary Barnidge, lack size and the recent trend of asking McCown to throw 45 to 50 times per game doesn’t seem sustainable.

But who in July thought the offense could excel behind the talents of McCown, Barnidge, Travis Benjamin and rookie Duke Johnson? John DeFilippo, that’s who.

He was McCown’s biggest backer in the organization from their days together in Oakland when so many criticized the free-agent signing. DeFilippo took one look at Benjamin running routes in the spring and said the returner needed to be more involved in the passing game. He’s made exceptional use of Barnidge’s soft hands (feet and thighs) and told anyone who would listen Johnson would become a match-up nightmare for opponents out of the backfield.

The Browns rank sixth in passing, averaging 289 yards per game, on the strength of a veteran quarterback who can make use of the entire playbook and a varied offense that employs multiple formations and lots of motion. They have scored on 16 of their last 26 possessions dating to halftime of the Raiders’ game.

“Like I said last week, I feel him getting better every week and doing a good job of adapting really to what the game needs as far as where we’re at offensively,” McCown said. “(He) does a good job of staying calm and working through the call sheet and trusting his preparation. That’s been huge for us, obviously.”

DeFilippo understood the skepticism surrounding his hiring. The Browns went from veterans Norv Turner and Kyle Shanahan to a coordinator who had only called plays for two seasons at San Jose State.

If not for Ray Farmer’s text messages and the front-office meddling, DeFilippo wouldn’t have the opportunity. But the NFL is all about taking advantages of chances. So far, so good for the assistant Pettine calls “a hot-blooded Italian,” one who likes his red wine and Hoyo De Monterrey cigars.

The Browns haven’t scored fewer than 20 points since the opener against the Jets when McCown was lost on the first series to concussion. He staunchly backed Pettine’s decision to roll with McCown even after Manziel beat the Titans with a pair of TD passes to Benjamin.

Can the offensive production continue? That’s unclear. Lets not forget the Browns also enjoyed a quick start last season before another bridge quarterback, Brian Hoyer, began to play down to his level.

The league’s top defense comes to town Sunday and formidable Rams and Cardinals units await the Browns over the next three weeks.

DeFilippo, however, has the short and intermediate passing game humming. The swing passes to the versatile Johnson and Isaiah Crowell supplement a rushing attack averaging just 88.4 yards.

Instead of grinding it out against the Ravens, a strategy that would have played into Baltimore’s favor, McCown threw the ball 51 times. The fact the Browns fell behind aided in the decision to stay aggressive through air. By game’s end, the Ravens’ defense was exhausted and the Browns found some success running the ball.

McCown finished with a franchise-record 457 yards passing.

“I know Josh is going to get heaped with praise, and it is well deserved, but I just think we functioned extremely well as a unit,” Pettine said.

That includes the man calling the plays.

DeFilippo has much to learn as he grows into the job. He won’t lack for effort, however. He has a strong work ethic and an understanding wife to thank for that

After disappointing 2015, Fisher’s Rams looking ahead

Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/after-disappointing-fisher-s-rams-looking-ahead/article_1fa8d3c8-99db-573b-96be-c8c3cca80b69.html

On a day traditionally known as Black Monday in the NFL, a day when many coaches and front offices execs get shown the door, Jeff Fisher is going nowhere.

Fisher seemed to be in a particularly good mood Monday at his season-ending news conference. You’d never know his Rams had just suffered a brutal season-ending loss to an inferior San Francisco team the day before.

“We were a field goal away from winning this football game,” Fisher said.

Or that he had just finished a 7-9 season, his fourth consecutive losing season since taking over in St. Louis in 2012. Instead, Fisher spoke like someone who knew he had the full backing of ownership, which apparently is the case.

“Looking back, two or three games, a couple missed field goals, a couple overtime games and things are different,” Fisher said. “But I believe in this team. I believe in the direction we’re going. I believe we’re building it right.”

Even so, Fisher expressed frustration that he hasn’t been able to get this team over the hump. He sincerely thought that 2015 would be the year.

“Yeah, I’m certainly disappointed,” Fisher said. “We had high expectations this year coming into this thing. We felt like we were built and equipped to compete in the division and make a run.

“Again, as every coach will tell you, injuries are not excuses. But we played most of the year without Rob Quinn (back), and Alec Ogletree (leg), and T.J. McDonald (shoulder). And then lost corners and had some issues up front with the offensive line, and then we had to make a change at the quarterback position.

“I think we’re in position to go now. I know no one looks forward to playing us. I know that.”

It’s well-documented that Fisher took over a franchise that was in terrible shape in 2012 — an NFL-record worst 15-65 in the five years preceding his arrival. But after an impressive 7-8-1 bounce-back to respectability in 2012, Fisher’s Rams have been stuck in neutral, going 7-9 in 2013, 6-10 in 2014 and 7-9 again this season.

“It’s taken time,” Fisher said. “It was not a good situation when we got here. We’ve had inconsistent quarterback play. We’ve started a number of quarterbacks.

“Our focus has been in the division, and to compete with the division. We’ve shown that we can do that — we just have to be more consistent outside the division.”

As for the potential relocation of the franchise, Fisher said he addressed the topic with the team Monday.

“I’ve been through this experience before,” Fisher said. “We have to take the approach, and with the assumption, that everything’s taking place here in St. Louis until we’re told otherwise.

“I don’t have any more information than you (reporters) do. I’ve chosen not to ask questions, so I can tell the truth when I’m asked questions.”

For now, Fisher and his staff are occupied with the normal season-ending chores: Wrap-up meetings, exit physicals for the players. Fisher hinted strongly Monday that there will be some coaching staff changes, changes that will be announced sooner rather than later — probably before the week’s out.

Moving forward, Fisher said that as things stand right now, Case Keenum is the team’s starting quarterback for 2016.

“I have confidence in Case,” Fisher said. “Case is an incomplete pass and a field goal away from potentially being 5-0 as a starter. Manages things well. He worked really well with Rob (Boras) and (Chris) Weinke over the last few weeks, and I feel good about his development. I think he’s got a chance to be a really good quarterback.”

Weinke is the team’s quarterbacks coach; Boras was offensive coordinator for the final four games.

Fisher said he has spoken with Nick Foles on the topic and assured him that he will be given a chance to compete for the job.

“There’ll be competition when we come back, and I think we have a promising young talent in Sean (Mannion) that will be in the mix as well,” Fisher said. “But Case is gonna come back as the starter.”

And Fisher said quarterback is a position the Rams will look at bolstering in the offseason, be it through the draft, free agency, or a trade.

“Of course it is,” Fisher said. “We’ll look at all of the positions, but we’ll look at that position as well.”

And if the Rams add a quarterback at some point in the offseason, that could be it for Foles in St. Louis.

Improving the offense will be a major point of emphasis this offseason after a year in which the Rams finished 32nd in total offense and scored fewer than 20 points in all nine losses.

In particular, Fisher said the team plans to add to its talent base outside at wide receiver.

Overall, Fisher said he was very pleased with the work of Boras as offensive coordinator, although he has yet to decide if that promotion will be permanent.

“Again, a blocked field goal away from winning four straight,” Fisher said. “Rob jumped in and took advantage of a very, very difficult situation. And I thought he handled it really well. I’ve had a number of players come by my office today saying, ‘We like Coach Rob.’

“I have not made a decision with respect to Rob. But Rob certainly is deserving of an opportunity to take this over because I thought he did a really good job.”

Defensively, the No. 1 area Fisher said he wants to improve is the run defense. In terms of free agency, there’s a lot of work to be done on that side of the ball, particularly in the secondary where Janoris Jenkins, Trumaine Johnson, Rodney McLeod and linebacker-safety hybrid Mark Barron are all scheduled for unrestricted free agency.

“We’ll start the evaluation process,” Fisher said. “Go back and we’ll discuss our restricted free agents, our unrestricted free agents, and prioritize things from a coaching perspective.”

On special teams, the biggest issue is what to do at place-kicker, where Greg Zuerlein struggled through a tough year.

“Greg’s been asked to do a lot of things, kick a lot of long field goals,” Fisher said. “Obviously, his numbers aren’t what we hoped they would be. We have confidence in him, but in all likelihood there’ll probably be some competition in camp next year, which will make him better.”

And that’s assuming Zuerlein, who’s scheduled for unrestricted free agency, is back with the team next season.

some follow up

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alyoshamucci

[on the Donald tipped pass]

I think Donald was aiming. Specifically, I think he maintained trying “not to hit it too hard” so that he wouldn’t lose control of it while batting it at Sims.

I think the rapid cognition thing is part of his mental makeup … just a processing speed that’s superior …

he looked like he beat the guy, realized it was a screen (then pivoted like a 100 pound ballerina) and started fading back … in balance, and as soon as he saw the QB toss the ball he went up … but THEN .. when he realized he couldn’t catch it but was going to be able to get a full hand on it .. it was like he froze in midair. It was like I could see him thinking “Just tip it like a volleyball” …

I swear his body language was all about specifically batting it softly to Sims. Crazy.

Ten Takeaways From the Rams’ 19-16 Loss to the 49ers

Randy Karraker

http://www.101sports.com/2016/01/04/ten-takeaways-rams-19-16-loss-49ers/

Next up for the Rams is filing for relocation from St. Louis to Los Angeles, after the franchise wrapped up their ninth straight losing season with a 19-16 overtime loss to a bad 49ers team Sunday in Santa Clara.

Most teams with four straight losing seasons under the same coach would be ready to announce a change at that position, but obviously this organization has more pressing issues on its mind.

At the end of the football Cardinals’ stay here in St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch ran a series of articles entitled “A Futile Franchise.” I’m here to tell you, the St. Louis Football Cardinals couldn’t compete with the St. Louis Rams in terms of futility. It’s not even close.

And with that, ten takeaways from Sunday’s loss to San Francisco, where they fired coach Jim Tomsula after they BEAT the Rams…

1) The gold standard for St. Louis football was the Greatest Show on Turf, so it’s always fun to compare the exploits of current Rams teams to them. My fun fact for the day is that the 2015 Rams offense had nine games in which they scored zero or one touchdown, giving them seven games with more than one touchdown. In 2000, Marshall Faulk’s MVP season, he played fourteen games, and had seven games HIMSELF in which he scored more than one touchdown.

The 2015 offense did have more overall TD’s than Faulk did in 2000…27 to 26.

2) The 7-9 season is Jeff Fisher’s fourth losing campaign in four seasons as Rams coach. In the Super Bowl era…and this season will bring us Super Bowl 50…only one coach has started his career with a team with four losing seasons and then received a fifth. That was David Shula with the Bengals, who had years of 5-11, 3-13, 3-13 and 7-9 from 1992-1995. After a 1-6 start in 1996, Shula was fired. As an amazing aside, the Minnesota Vikings started play in 1961, and that franchise has NEVER had four straight losing seasons. The Steelers last run of four straight losing years was an eight year run from 1964-1971. Since then, they’ve had seven losing seasons in 45 years. The Rams have had nine losing seasons in their last nine years.

3) Sunday marked the fourth time this season that the Rams went over 200 yards passing in a game. The 49ers finished the season with 2,966 yards passing and were 31st in the league in that department. The Rams had 2,574 yards through the air, 32nd in the league and nearly 400 yards shy of second-to-last. Their passer rating of 73.9 was dead last. All season long, the passing game was the Rams nemesis, and until they fix that with a different philosophy, some receivers and a quarterback, they’ll continue to have losing seasons.

4) Remarkably, with all of the turnover on the offensive line, they allowed a league-low eighteen sacks. While Nick Foles had some games early in which he was under duress despite not going down, the offensive line improved immensely over the last five games. According to Pro Football Focus, rookie right tackle Rob Havenstein was the only starting tackle in the NFL not to allow a sack all season, and guard Cody Wichmann came on strong. With Jamon Brown returning from his broken leg, the Rams should have a good nucleus up front. Rodger Saffold’s salary becomes guaranteed if he’s on the roster as of March 11, so expect him to be released with a $3 million cap savings by then.
chris long-3

A week five knee injury sidelined DE Chris Long for a portion of the 2015 season.

5) You may have seen former Pro Bowl offensive lineman LeCharles Bentley’s piece on Greg Robinson during the season. Bentley has a training facility in Scottsdale that’s utilized by many NFL offensive linemen during the off-season. I think Robinson would be well served to get in touch with him and head to Arizona for some training.

6) When considering what the defensive staff was able to accomplish despite the absence of Robert Quinn for the last half of the season, Alec Ogletree for the last three quarters of the season, and Tim McDonald, E.J. Gaines and Chris Long for varying amounts of time, they deserve kudos. The defense was terrific even with all of the injuries they incurred.

7) We often hear about too many voices being a distraction for players. Is it possible that the Rams have too many coaches? Fisher has 24 assistants, with three of those being strength coaches. Chris Weinke is the quarterbacks coach, and former NFL QB Jeff Garcia is an offensive assistant.

There are two offensive line coaches, two special teams guys, two, and perhaps three defensive backs coaches, two linebackers coaches, two defensive line coaches. I know in college we like to have a small student-to-teacher ratio. If a coaching staff is going to have to have that, they better be on exactly on the same page.

8) Trumaine Johnson and Janoris Jenkins are both headed toward free agency, and as D’Marco Farr has mentioned in The Fast Lane, both should be retained. It would make sense for the Rams to try to sign both, and if they can’t, at least sign one and franchise the other. Even with Gaines coming back, you can never have too many cornerbacks. It would be smart to keep your talent in house.

9) As it turned out, the Rams played eight games against playoff teams, winning three; two against Seattle and one at Arizona. They lost to Arizona at the Dome, and to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Minnesota and Green Bay. They were 5-3 at home and 2-6 on the road. Few of the peripherals that fit the profile of a playoff team were achieved by the Rams. There were some positives, like finishing 11th in turnover ratio and fifth in yards per rush. But being last in passing, 29th in scoring, last in 3rd down conversions, last in yards per game and 26th in yards per play don’t translate to making the playoffs these days.

10) If indeed this game was the last one played by the Rams representing St. Louis, the team will have had four winning seasons in 21 years here. St. Louis has stepped up with, relative to other NFL situations, a workable stadium plan, and under the circumstances fans have supported the franchise as well as could be expected. Back in 2011, Rams COO Kevin Demoff told us in The Fast Lane that “We (the Rams) want a global solution. Not just what the Rams need, but what is needed to move St. Louis forward as a region and as a city. If we’re going to have a 65,000-seat stadium downtown, let’s make sure it works for all parties involved. If it works for everybody, it should work for us.”

Well, the Stadium Task Force’s plan seems to work for the St. Louis and Missouri Governments. Demoff said in the same interview that “I think the criteria need to be what makes St. Louis a better place for our citizens, and a better place for everybody long term. As long as we use that as our guiding principle, how we can work together, how we can build something meaningful for everybody involved, then it shouldn’t really matter where it ultimately ranks (against other NFL stadiums).” Those are the words of the Rams’ representative, laying out their own principles (a personal or specific basis of conduct or management, according to Dictonary.com).

As the team approaches filing for relocation, especially if reports that they have no interest in St. Louis’ stadium plan are true, it’ll be interesting to see if they are people of their words (to hold to one’s promises). Nobody knows how it’ll turn out, but the Rams actions sure are contradictory to their words, aren’t they?

Five questions facing the St. Louis Rams this offseason

Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/25419/five-questions-facing-the-st-louis-rams-this-offseason

The St. Louis Rams finished the 2015 season Sunday with a record of 7-9 after a 19-16 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Here are five questions facing the Rams this offseason.

Where will the Rams play their home games in 2016? Before we get to the many offseason machinations involving free agency and the draft, we will likely (though not certainly) know which teams are relocating to Los Angeles. The Rams, San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders are all in the running. Teams can begin filing relocation papers Monday and key committees are expected to meet next week to discuss the home market proposals again. After that, there’s another round of owners meetings set for Houston on Jan. 12-13. There’s a real possibility that we’ll know after that meeting where the Rams’ future lies, at least for 2016. But until that’s decided, this is the cloud that looms over the rest of the team’s offseason business.

Will Jeff Fisher be retained as head coach? There are only a few coaches who have not had a winning season in their first four years with a team and were then brought back for a fifth. It has been exceedingly rare in today’s NFL, in which instant results are required. Fisher’s inability to put a consistently productive offense on the field has kept the Rams from taking the next step to a winning record or a postseason berth. But it looks unlikely that Fisher will be anything but the Rams coach again in 2015, unless he’s the one choosing otherwise. Owner Stan Kroenke seems more concerned with the move to Los Angeles than the product on the field and he doesn’t seem likely to pay Fisher nearly $7 million to not coach next season. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Fisher will get a short contract extension so that he doesn’t enter 2016 on the last year of his deal.

Should Rob Boras become the full-time offensive coordinator? Considering that Boras was put in a difficult position by taking over play-calling duties with just four weeks to go, he did a commendable job. The Rams’ offense didn’t take off or turn into a dominant force; in fact, most of the numbers were about the same. But with Boras at the helm, turnovers were down and scoring was up a little. Boras and Fisher have said they weren’t thinking big picture as they prepared for those four games, but one would think Boras put himself in position to keep the job moving forward. If nothing else, it would be difficult for Fisher to hire a proven upgrade for the position considering that there are other NFL jobs with better quarterbacks and more job security available. If Fisher stays, don’t be surprised if Boras keeps the job while the Rams make other changes to the coaching staff.

How can the Rams fix their offense? To be sure, the Rams have a lot of needs and just improving at quarterback probably won’t be enough to get them back into the postseason. But it still starts at the game’s most important position. There’s no obvious solution for them at quarterback so they’ll likely bring restricted free agent Case Keenum back, but they should still look for, at minimum, someone who can push him for the job. They still have a serious need for a legitimate No. 1 receiver who can consistently create separation and open up the field. More help on the offensive line, especially at center, would also be welcome.

Can the Rams keep their defense intact? There is no shortage of roster questions heading into the offseason, but some of the biggest ones come on the side of the ball where the Rams are best: the defense. Starters such as end William Hayes, cornerbacks Trumaine Johnson and Janoris Jenkins, linebacker Mark Barron and safety Rodney McLeod are all scheduled to become unrestricted free agents. Key backups like end Eugene Sims and defensive tackle Nick Fairley are also set to hit the open market and the Rams have to make a decision on end Chris Long’s future as he holds a 2016 cap number in excess of $14 million. If they want to improve the offense and keep the defense together, they’re going to have to make tough decisions, many of which will probably result in defensive subtractions.