St. Louis Rams Short List: Coaching Search Down to Five

The St. Louis Rams’ coaching search is in the home stretch.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that five candidates are finalists for the head coaching position. They are, in alphabetical order:

–Leslie Frazier, Minnesota defensive coordinator

–Jason Garrett, Dallas offensive coordinator

–Jim Haslett, Rams interim head coach

–Rex Ryan, Baltimore defensive coordinator

–Steve Spagnuolo, New York Giants defensive coordinator

Haslett has already interviewed with the Rams’ brass in Los Angeles and Ryan was interviewed by general manager Billy Devaney on Sunday in Baltimore. Frazier is slated to be interviewed on Thursday in L.A. Spagnuolo and Garrett have yet to be interviewed, but it appears meetings have been set up with both of them. The P-D reports that the finalists will meet with Devaney and Rams ownership in L.A.

The final list looks attractive. Spagnuolo, even with Sunday’s loss in the NFC Divisional playoff round, has built a vaunted defense in New York with the Giants. The same could be said for Ryan, whose defense has carried the Ravens to the AFC Championship game in Pittsburgh this weekend. Ryan, though, can’t be hired until his team is eliminated from the playoffs. That could hinder his chances of landing a head coaching job this season. Teams might not be willing to wait until February to hire a coach because many prospective assistant coaches could be snatched up by then.

Frazier, like Spagnuolo and Ryan, has built a reputation as a top-tier defensive mind. In fact, Spagnuolo and Frazier were on the same staff together in Philadelphia from 1999-2002 learning their craft under Jim Johnson.

Haslett is the only one of the five to have any head coaching experience, having been the head coach in New Orleans before coming to St. Louis as the defensive coordinator under Scott Linehan. But Haslett had 12 games to impress the Rams and his team went just 2-10 under him to finish the season.

Garrett was a hot commodity last season after directing Dallas’ explosive offense. But he cooled this season when things in the Dallas offensive huddle became, well, explosive. Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, Jason Witten and Co. never could get on the same page and as a result, the offers for Garrett’s services weren’t as frequent as they were last season when they forced owner Jerry Jones to bump Garrett’s pay to keep him in Big D.

The Rams figure to face some fierce competition if they choose to hire someone other than Haslett. The remaining four have interviewed elsewhere and reportedly Ryan and Spagnuolo are finalists for the New York Jets’ opening.

Under normal circumstances, I could see the Rams getting the loser of the Jets sweepstakes — Ryan or Spagnuolo, who apparently has known Devaney for years, but also had a lengthy interview with the Jets. Yet I also can’t see the Rams waiting on Ryan if the Ravens make it to the Super Bowl.

So expect the Rams to wait for the AFC Championship game to be in the books before settling on their head coach.

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