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Rams New Coordinators?


rocky_rams

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There would be no "walking" where Waldron is concerned.  Coordinators typically sign 2-year contracts and he was just promoted last season, so he'd be under contract for next season unless we terminate said contract.

I don't see the point in firing him, as McVay is still going to be the one calling the plays and, almost certainly, designing the offensive gameplans.  If there was veteran "offensive consultant" type out there similar to the capacity to which Kubiak was brought into in Minnesota, who could offer a tweak or new perspective to McVay and his scheme that hasn't been explored yet, I'm all for it, but I'm failing to see a match in terms of someone who fits the bill and is available.  Maybe Jay Gruden, but he's likely to just go work with his brother in Vegas.  I suppose if somehow Marrone does end up going in Jacksonville, I wouldn't mind seeing DeFilippo to work with Goff and iron out some of his bad tendencies similar to how he did with Wentz (which is arguable).  Maybe Hudson Houck (who''s a USC alum and an LA native) if Garrett and his staff get the heave-ho in Dallas (could help add some tweaks to fine-tune the run game).  Or Norv (in an advisory capacity where he isn't the play caller, I think he, like Kubiak, could really excel in the sort of role, though I'm not sure how well the Air Coryell meshes with McVay preferred style of offense).

But honestly, I'm not firing Waldron, I'm augmenting him, because I don't really feel like getting rid of him achieves anything of substance other than create turnover for turnover's sake.

In terms of defense, count me in with the lot that won't shed a tear if Wade retires.  I'm not exactly confident in Barry as a successor, because I've seen what he can do as a DC in the past and didn't come away impressed.  I also don't feel like Barry is great at developing LB's, which is something we need to do.  It was something he struggled with in San Diego and Detroit plenty.  The one area I feel like he could improve us (but then, so could a number of potential coordinators) is moving us to more of a natural even front, since I feel like that caters to Donald's strengths better (not lining him up where he's more easily triple-teamed, but rather where a third guy has to uncover another rusher in order to get in on blocking him), and it's not like we have outstanding stand-up EDGE guys necessitating us sticking with an odd front.  I wouldn't be opposed (once we sort out the LB situation) to seeing more wide-9 looks, not too dissimilar from what Schwartz has been throwing out there in Philly (when they're healthy, which is rare), because, again, that's going to force other teams into either committing their OT's to blocking the guys coming wide off the edge (and affording less opportunity to put multiple guys on AD) or trying to block those guys with TE's and RB's (which we've seen how that works out for teams - including our own - in the NFL).

If we go to more that Bradley/Quinn/Richard (basically "Carroll") style 4-3 Under, we'd either need to re-sign Brockers or bring in a startable asset with some flexibility at DT because Donald would probably be switching back and forth between playing the 3-Tech and the 4-Tech (which is actually on the edge in that formation - it's where Joey Bosa typically plays and where Michael Bennett made his calling card).  We have guys that could probably do well in the LEO position there, but the rest of our LB corps is pretty lacking unless one of Okoronkwo or Ebukam kicks inside because Reeder looks like he'd project better as a SAM in that formation than a MIKE.

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I don't see us cutting Waldron loose. McVay is the OC. As for DC, I have a few thoughts:

1. Jim Leonhard DC Wisconsin - I think an interesting idea here would be to hire Leonhard and have Wade stay on as a defensive consultant. Basically, it's like what Houston did with Romeo Crennel and Mike Vrabel. Leonhard, who is a young guy, benefits from Wade's voice, but Leonhard is the DC. Leonhard runs an aggressive 3-4 that wouldn't require any real change to our personnel.

2. Aubrey Pleasant CB Coach Rams - Same idea as with Leonhard with Wade staying on as a senior assistant and Pleasant being promoted to DC. But man, I'd hate losing him as a CB Coach. He's incredible at his job.

3. Kris Richard PGC Cowboys - Richard is another incredible DB Coach. Personally, I liked him more than the other Seattle DCs because he's a lot more aggressive with his blitz packages and varied with his looks. His scheme would require some small personnel changes, but it wouldn't be significant. The biggest changes would be to the LB position.

4. Ron Rivera HC Panthers - I expect him to end up as a HC somewhere, but I figured I'd include him.

5. Andy Avalos DC Oregon - He's another guy who Wade could help mentor in his adjustment to the NFL. Avalos runs a base 3-4, but his scheme is multiple in nature. He was at Boise State from 2016 to 2018 and took over in Oregon this year. He's another up and comer. He's also from just outside Los Angeles (Corona, CA).

Why might Wade be willing to stay on to help ease the transition and mentor his replacement? His son, Wes, was hired as our TE Coach before this season. Considering the job Wes did with the TEs this year, I doubt McVay wants to let him go. And I imagine Wes probably wants to stay too. Makes sense to not burn the Wade bridge on McVay's end and for Wade to want to continue to be around his son.

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7 hours ago, Rrrrrrrams said:

joe barry will replace wade. it's a 90% done deal.
 

For at least a year or unless someone comes out of left field when Black Monday comes and staffs start getting the ax.

It's weird to me though because Barry has never been a Wade protege guy.  He has deeper ties to Marinelli.  Reggie Herring has always been the assumed guy that would take over a Wade-run defense, but we never brought Herring onto the staff (regrettably, I think he's a better LB coach than Barry is; we probably would have benefited from doing so).

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