Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Olson out as coordinator; line coach fired





Although the team has yet to make an official announcement, Paul Boudreau is
indeed out as Rams offensive line coach. Rams president of football
operations-general manager Jay Zygmunt confirmed Monday that Boudreau will not
return next season.

Meanwhile, Zygmunt said that Greg Olson has been informed that he will not be
the team’s offensive coordinator in 2008. Olson is subject to re-assignment
with the Rams, Zygmunt said, but has also been given permission to seek a job
with another team.

It seemed clear that Olson would be out as offensive coordinator once it became
known that the Rams had expressed initial interest in recently-fired Miami
Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron, who has been an offensive coordinator for much
of his career.

Cameron was one of three finalists in ’06 for the Rams’ head-coaching job that
went to Linehan, so he obviously is held in high regard by team president John
Shaw, who conducted the job search along with Zygmunt.
But Cameron runs a different offensive system than Linehan; Cameron’s system is
actually similar to the Norv Turner-Mike Martz system, which has its roots in
former St. Louis Cardinals coach Don Coryell.

The ouster of Boudreau and potential departure of Olson may not be the only
staff changes, according to Zygmunt, as head coach Scott Linehan continues to
evaluate his staff.

There is a chance Olson could end up in Buffalo even before all is said and
done. The Bills are looking for a new offensive coordinator since Steve
Fairchild (a former Rams assistant) took the Colorado State head-coaching job.
Olson worked for Bills head coach Dick Jauron both in Chicago and Detroit.
As for Boudreau’s potential replacement, two highly-respected line coaches --
Hudson Houck (Miami) and Mike Solari (Kansas City) -- are available as a result
of staff shakeups with the Dolphins and Chiefs. The Rams, in fact, have
expressed initial interest in Houck, who worked with Linehan in 2005, when
Linehan was the Dolphins’ offensive coordinator.

Another possibility is Steve Loney, who spent the 2007 season in the college
ranks as head coach at Drake. Loney worked with Linehan from 2002-04 as
offensive line coach with Minnesota

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