Rams to promote Cignetti to Offensive Coordinator

[Merlin]

I think Fish gets a bad rap that is unwarranted. The proof is there he wants a passing game. I don't agree with those saying he is the OC that is just wrong.

He wants balance and a power running game but every coach does. He let Schotty open things up and wouldn't have stepped in if they hadn't failed so miserably.

I just do not see him as an overpowering coach that dictates to his staff. I think a lot of folks here have him wrong.

 

[dieterbrock]

I would imagine it's because the OC is always the whipping boy.

Well, that's generally true but in this case I cant see how anyone can have the faith that Cignetti has actual input with the offense other than to be a Steve Fairchild/Pat Shurmer type of OC.
Fisher has pushed all his chips to the center of the table IMO.

 

[Rmfnlt]

Well, that's generally true but in this case I cant see how anyone can have the faith that Cignetti has actual input with the offense other than to be a Steve Fairchild/Pat Shurmer type of OC.
Fisher has pushed all his chips to the center of the table IMO.

Well, then Fisher becomes the whipping boy...

 

[dieterbrock]

Well, then Fisher becomes the whipping boy...

Not a fan of the term.
Year 4 of the program, offense has never been better than average. If it slips to the bottom again, its all on Fisher.
However if its marginal offense like Arizona last year, and they win 11 games? If Arians can do it, why not Fish

 

[FrankenRam]

Interesting.

So... maybe Fisher's reputation doesn't line up with what he has actually done? Maybe he isn't as much a ground-and-pound guy as we think?

I tend to believe a lot of the 'ground & pound' talk originated in the fan base. I don't recall Fisher ever having said that specifically. I do recall him indicating somewhere around the 4th-5th game of the '13 season that they wanted to run more.....after they opened up that season with a much more 'open' O. But I think a lot of fans extrapolated that into meaning 'ground & pound' when it wasn't exactly the case. Of course, it depends how one defines G&P too. Today's version isn't the Woody Hayes '3 yards and a cloud of dust' version.

 

[Boffo97]

Not a fan of the term.

A bit of a tangent here, but there's no real reason not to be. Has nothing to do with slavery.

From Wikipedia:

A whipping boy was a young boy who was assigned to a young prince and was punished when the prince misbehaved or fell behind in his schooling. Whipping boys were established in the English court during the monarchies of the 15th century and 16th centuries. They were created because of the idea of the divine right of kings, which stated that kings were appointed by God, and implied that no one but the king was worthy of punishing the king’s son. Since the king was rarely around to punish his son when necessary, tutors to the young prince found it extremely difficult to enforce rules or learning.

Whipping boys were generally of high status, and were educated with the prince from birth. Because the prince and whipping boy grew up together they usually formed a strong emotional bond, especially since the prince usually did not have playmates as other children would have had. The strong bond that developed between a prince and his whipping boy dramatically increased the effectiveness of using a whipping boy as a form of punishment for a prince. The idea of the whipping boys was that seeing a friend being whipped or beaten for something that he had done wrong would be likely to ensure that the prince would not make the same mistake again.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Not a fan of the term.
Year 4 of the program, offense has never been better than average. If it slips to the bottom again, its all on Fisher.
However if its marginal offense like Arizona last year, and they win 11 games? If Arians can do it, why not Fish

My view of the running game in the NFL today is that it is not possible to be a ground and pound offense and keep up with other offenses. The Niners figured that out and tried to get Kaepernick to how more. They got him more weapons too. The Seahawks even tried to get more dynamic when they traded to get Harvin.

I also believe Fisher is well aware of it. That is why he let Schottenheimer experiment with the Spread and why he traded up to get Tavon. I think we see more of the 60 pass/40 run formula from here on out.

 

[Tailback]

Fisher might have had a chance to "let go" like Vermiel was "urged" to do.

I guess he either decided he didn't want to... or couldn't land someone who fit that bill (diverge from what his philospohy is).

We'll never know how it went down.

But, it's hard for me to believe either Cignetti nor Boras is going to "push" Jeff Fisher into doing something he (Fisher) doesn't want to do.

Maybe I'm wrong.

So, like Dieter says... it's probably Jeff Fisher that is our OC for 2015.

Fisher has MAYBE two seasons to turn this ship around before he's shown the door. Vermiel was in the same situation prior to Martz. That's my opinion on why no high caliber OC candidate came to the Rams. No QB, and a head coach who's seat is warming up, but not hot yet.

 

[ReddingRam]

The good thing is ... the offensive system (terminology) will remain the same. That is extreme;y important with as much youth as we have. Now HOW that system is run is anyone's guess. Look at the WC offense in it's varying uses ... none are the same. This does NOT guarantee "Schotty 2.0". We have to see if Fisher allows Cig to be his own man.

 

[ReddingRam]

Nope. Only 2 coaching designations, HC and asst coach. Cant prevent an asst coach from interviewing for a promotion to HC but any asst coaching postion is a lateral move and requires the team to allow permission for interview. As long as an asst in under contract, he can be prevented from interviewing.

My guess is that they sold the internal "promotion" to Boras to keep the locker room together

End of the day, Fisher is the OC now

You can if they are still under contract.....see the refusal by GB to interview Van Pelt

 

[dieterbrock]

You can if they are still under contract.....see the refusal by GB to interview Van Pelt

Which is what I said

 

[ReddingRam]

I am a Cal Bears fan and I can tell you .... with what they had to work with in 2008 at QB ( Longshore/Riley) and WR (Tucker/Rosss/Boateng) ... he did wonders. His best Offensive players were Cameron Morrah - TE and RB's Jahvid Best/Shane Vereen.

 

[ReddingRam]

Which is what I said

sorry ... missed that. You did mention that.

 

[thehammer]

my 2 cents would stand next to the te's at camp JUST to watch and listen to Boras coach....really impressed me

only thing I know about Cignetti was he was the qb coach with Garrett Gilbert. When we were shopping for a qb Leigh Steinberg had him sign with NE rather then resigning in St Louis. No idea about Cignetti's role but Steinberg left no mistake he thought moving Gilbert to NE was an upgrade for his client

Boras has had more success improving teams running attack while Cignetti improving the pass...maybe they share responsibilities in game planning with Cignetti the game time play caller

 

[Fatbot]

maybe they share responsibilities in game planning with Cignetti the game time play caller

This is exactly how I see it playing out, too. If Boras is that gifted of a position coach it's smart to keep him free coaching up the sideline and providing the adjustment feedback while Cignetti makes the calls.

As far as the Steinberg/Gilbert example reflecting anything on Cignetti, I think it's a stretch. Let's not forget Mr. Show Me The Money facilitated (and got busted for) the 49ers salary cap cheating. Steinberg is the douchiest of douche agents, way more likely his lobbying of Gilbert had everything to do with either a personal (and probably sleazy) relationship with someone at NE, or most likely bottom line dollars, not anything to do with Cignetti.

 

[Warner4Prez]

my 2 cents would stand next to the te's at camp JUST to watch and listen to Boras coach....really impressed me

only thing I know about Cignetti was he was the qb coach with Garrett Gilbert. When we were shopping for a qb Leigh Steinberg had him sign with NE rather then resigning in St Louis. No idea about Cignetti's role but Steinberg left no mistake he thought moving Gilbert to NE was an upgrade for his client

Boras has had more success improving teams running attack while Cignetti improving the pass...maybe they share responsibilities in game planning with Cignetti the game time play caller

My interpretation of this is that it's not a glowing review of Cig's work with the QB & passing game?

 

[Warner4Prez]

This is exactly how I see it playing out, too. If Boras is that gifted of a position coach it's smart to keep him free coaching up the sideline and providing the adjustment feedback while Cignetti makes the calls.

As far as the Steinberg/Gilbert example reflecting anything on Cignetti, I think it's a stretch. Let's not forget Mr. Show Me The Money facilitated (and got busted for) the 49ers salary cap cheating. Steinberg is the douchiest of douche agents, way more likely his lobbying of Gilbert had everything to do with either a personal (and probably sleazy) relationship with someone at NE, or most likely bottom line dollars, not anything to do with Cignetti.

Failed to read your follow up before posting. Good insight.

 

[RamFan503]

When going back through Fisher's history, his offenses have been pretty balanced with his better teams being a little more run heavy that during the off years. Overall, his teams have passed more than they've run I believe but I'm not sure how many teams actually run more than they pass over the past 25 years. I was going to do a little research but maybe someone out there already has.

Bottom line is that I would expect maybe a little more balanced attack with Cig and hopefully a bit more stretching of the field seeing as how we do seem to have the personnel to do it as long as two things happen. The QB can throw with accuracy, and the line can give him time. I just hope he is able to take advantage of the strengths of the players we have.

Guess we'll see.

Of course all this is assuming the rumors are true because as of yet, we have no official word.

 

[den-the-coach]

Bottom Line, if Bradford can stay healthy Cignetti will look like a Genius or if they can acquire a signal caller that is a better option then the cast of castoffs like Clemens, Hill & Davis. However, if they cannot solve the Quarterback quandary, then this regime will not be around in 2016 IMHO.

 

[blue4]

This is my only concern as I'm not a fan of WCO. But it's hard to call anything in the NFL really WCO anymore, it's all been so tweaked and philosophy has changed to the point it's not recognizable. But the NFL is a matchup game, and I can't help but note that if Cigs' WCO is similar to the Mike McCarthy version, the Packers haven't exactly lit it up against the Seahawks lately, so I'm wary of the Rams trying a similar scheme in our division.

IMO GB failed against the Seahawks because they played scared. They have one of the best QBs in recent history and they called plays like they had Matt Hasselbeck. That's why the Rams have success against them. We aren't scared. Doesn't matter the offensive scheme.