Can a coach change and reinvent himself over one offseason and make it real instead of counterfeit?
Can he lose a locker room and get it back? Can he repair damaged relationships with his star players and get respect instead of sideline glares?
Can a coach transform himself from a mumbling speaker with no presence into a take-charge personality, capable of filling the room with his personality?
As he prepares for his third season, Rams coach Scott Linehan is still working on that dramatic makeover. And Linehan does come across as genuine, unless I'm being fooled, and Linehan is actually a better actor than his brother-in-law, Jim Caviezel, who famously played Jesus in Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ.
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Coach has a long way to go; when the footballs fly in real games, that's when we'll know whether any of this has made a difference. But after a 3-13 disaster in 2007, at least the players are inclined to buy some stock in the new Linehan.
And that represents progress for a beleaguered coach who may have been saved from dismissal by the late Rams owner Georgia Frontiere. As she neared the end of her battle with cancer, Frontiere instructed the team's key executives to retain Linehan as coach.
"We started clean,
" quarterback Marc Bulger told a group of reporters Friday at Rams Park. "We're not going to look back. I definitely reflected, and I think the coach did, most of the players did. We learned what we had to last year. But that was a couple of months ago. We're not going to learn anything more from 2007. We're going to move on and expect good things from this year.
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Linehan's offseason maneuvers were bold.
— He shook up his coaching staff, adding seven new assistants and casting aside some former associates.
— He recruited the high-profile Al Saunders to commandeer the offense. Saunders is installing a new offense, which will be more reminiscent of what we saw during the Rams' best years with Mike Martz (1999-2003). This is a popular switch for players who want a more aggressive and exciting attack.
— He bonded with new Rams vice president of personnel Billy Devaney and willingly ceded authority over choosing players in the NFL draft. The word around Rams Park is that Devaney has been a soothing, stabilizing influence on Linehan.
— Linehan has also put an emphasis on upgrading the team's character by dumping knuckleheads and seeking competitive, dedicated players in last month's draft.
— He has tried to cultivate an improved relationship with the media. Normally that is "who cares" kind of stuff, except that it means more in this situation. The coach is trying to improve his communication skills to get his message across to fans and players. Smart coaches and managers always use the media as a conduit.
Some Linehan moves were less obvious but made with clear intentions. Linehan flirted with former Redskins defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, which at Rams Park was widely interpreted as Linehan's way of delivering a signal to Rams defensive coordinator Jim Haslett. (Stop ripping the head coach behind the scenes.) And Linehan pushed for the signing of free-agent quarterback Trent Green, in part, to motivate Bulger.
So yes, the HC can play the political game.
And it is an important part of the job.
But Linehan isn't there yet.
Some of Linehan's bosses, while rooting for him to succeed, still wonder whether he can evolve into a truly effective leader.
The fan base largely remains skeptical.
Some of the players privately wonder (without malice) what Linehan's role will be. With Haslett leading the defense and Saunders taking charge of the offense, what's a head coach to do?
The team's decision to let franchise icon Isaac Bruce walk away as a free agent was upsetting to some veterans. Wideout Torry Holt has been making noise about wanting to finish his career with the Carolina Panthers (in his home state).
But the bottom line (for now) is, Linehan has tried to take some positive steps, and he deserves credit for trying to strengthen some weak areas.
That said, none of this will matter unless he can win some games early in the season against a difficult schedule. That's the quickest way, the only real way, to win over the players and convert the skeptics inside and outside Rams Park.
And should the Rams be knocked back early, players will be watching to see how Linehan handles the adversity. Last season, he often went into a shell during tough times. That can't happen again.
But at least the new Linehan seems better prepared for the challenge that awaits him in 2008.
