[Elvis]

http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/ ... 0f6e4324e5

Three Takeaways: Passing Game Coordinator Mike Groh

Myles Simmons
Rams Insider
@MylesASimmons

Video: https://www.nfl.com/embed/video?videoUr ... 6-500k.mp4

The Rams’ new passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach Mike Groh has been on staff for a number of successful offenses over the course of his career. Now he’s charged with improving Los Angeles’ air attack -- a challenge, but one Groh can handle.

Our Dani Klupenger recently sat down with Groh to get to know a bit more about his history and his approach to the Rams’ passing game and wideouts. Here are a few takeaways from their conversation.

1) An offense that’s in demand

One of the benefits of bringing in Groh is his extensive experience working in different systems. Over the past couple years, new Dolphins head coach Adam Gase has been widely regarded as one of the more innovative offensive minds in football. Gase was the quarterbacks coach in Denver when the club beat the Steelers in the 2011 playoffs with Tim Tebow as quarterback, and then ascended to offensive coordinator with Peyton Manning as the club’s signal-caller.

In 2015, Groh worked alongside Gase with the Bears under head coach John Fox.

“Being in the system I just came out of -- whatever you want to call it, ‘Peyton’s system,’ the ‘Adam Gase offense’ -- is something that I think is sought after in this league right now,” Groh said.

In addition to Gase, Groh worked with another well-regarded offensive mind in Chicago: Marc Trestman.

“My experience being in that system to go along with working for coach Trestman for a couple years, and being in the West Coast offense, I think, are some of the things they were looking for [with] some new pass ideas,” Groh said. “Hopefully, I can bring that.”

It’s no secret the Rams’ passing game was poor in 2015, as the club ranked No. 32 in yards passing. With Groh now on board, the expectation is that Los Angeles should be able to make significant strides next season by implementing the different concepts Groh has come across throughout his career.

2) Glad to be on the same side as Austin

If there’s one player Groh seems to be particularly excited to coach, it’s wide receiver Tavon Austin.

“Tavon -- he’s a threat to score every time he gets it,” Groh said.

Austin’s ability to impact a game is obvious, as evidenced by his 1,187 all-purpose yards and 10 total touchdowns in 2015. Now Groh will be able to help the West Virginia product take the next step in his development.

“We played against him a couple times in Chicago, and just preparing all through the week as I’m on the other side with the offensive scout team and listening to our defensive coaches talk and the emphasis they place on trying to stop him -- it’s nice to be on the same side that he’s on,” Groh said.

But as the passing game coordinator, Groh will work with the entire offense. He expressed a sense of optimism about the different position groups on the unit.

“I think we’re evolving right now,” Groh said. “We’re talking about what we want to do to try to move the ball and be more effecient offensively. But we have some very good players.

“We have a young group up front,” Groh continued. “If you just start with those guys, a lot of them were able to gain experience, whether it was through injury or what not. But a lot of first, second, and third-year players that have the ability to play well in this league.

3) The individual can be as important as talent

With the NFL Combine coming up next week, Groh will be one of many coaches and scouts evaluating the incoming rookies. Oftentimes, when people talk about players and their potential, they’re only referring to on-field talent. And while Groh clearly values what a player can do between the white lines, there is more to it.

“We have certain size and speed requirements that we think are important in critical factors in being able to play at this level,” Groh said, “But what you’re really trying to find out is about the person. How much they love the game, how important it is to them, how much they’re going to sacrifice their personal time to be great.”

That comes into play from his own coaching philosophy, as Groh described himself as someone who puts a lot into the little things.

“I’m certainly going to be an attention-to-detail guy,” Groh said. “We want to play with relentless competitive effort and dominate our opponent on every single snap, and then move on. You can’t live in the past -- we’ve got to move on to the next play. And just be process oriented. We dont’ want to worry about the results, we want to stay in the moment, stay in the process and the results will take care of themselves.”

[Stranger]

I'm excited.

[Bartman31]

I like what he's saying. lets get Laquon Treadwell and help him out

[Elvis]

I'm hoping the Groh hire is more significant than we realize.

Now for Coach Peete:

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Three Takeaways: Running Backs Coach Skip Peete

Myles Simmons
Rams Insider
@MylesASimmons


Between Todd Gurley, Benny Cunningham, Tre Mason, and Malcolm Brown, the Rams have a talented young crop of running backs. And that group will have a new voice to lead them in running backs coach Skip Peete.

A longtime coach not only in the NFL, but also in college, Peete has plenty of experience and should be able to greatly aid in the Rams’ RBs development. Our Dani Klupenger sat down with Peete to get to know a little more about him and his coaching style. Here are a few takeaways from their conversation.

1) Coaching philosophy feels like a fit

When coaches are introduced, they often talk about instilling discipline and physicality. Peete was no exception, mentioning both in his interview with Dani. But perhaps a more important indicator of his style was what he said about the attitude he takes towards players.


“I think the one thing that I’ve always stressed to the running back position is discipline and physical play. Those things, I think, go hand-in-hand with the position,” Peete said. “My style has not been a real mean, yell, get-after-you type coach -- unless I need to do that.

“My father was a coach, so the way he explained it to me was, ‘I’m going to explain exactly what your role is, explain exactly what you have to get done in order to perform and have success at the position. And if we see eye-to-eye on that, then we shouldn’t see a problem,” Peete added.

Peete’s philosophy in that regard appears to mesh well with that of head coach Jeff Fisher, who carries a reputation for the way he’s able to manage players. Multiple Rams have said in the locker room over the past few years that one of the best aspects about Fisher is that he treats players like men. Parsing Peete’s words, that seems to be the way he intends to coach the running backs room.

2) Using the “s” word for Gurley

If there was one ward continuously and universally used to describe Todd Gurley in 2015, it was “special.” And it didn’t take long for Peete to use the term in describing Los Angeles’ star running back.

“Very, very talented running back -- someone who’s very special,” Peete said. “I think he has all the qualities that you look at when you’re looking for a very elite running back, where he has ability to, obviously, run inside, run outside. Very good, physical pass protector and can catch the ball well out of the backfield.”

“Elite” is often used to talk about quarterbacks, but in this particular case, Peete’s use of it makes a lot of sense. Gurley finished No. 3 in yards rushing in 2015 with 1,106 in just 12 starts. He set plenty of marks along the way, including becoming the first rookie in NFL history to rush for at least 125 yards in four consecutive games.

Given Gurley’s considerable skillset, Peete has plenty to build upon for the running back’s sophomore campaign.

3) The importance of pass protection

Perhaps the most striking aspect of Peete’s conversation was the emphasis he put on protecting the passer as an essential element of a running back’s job.

“The one thing I think a lot of running backs -- whether it’s college or professional football -- don’t really understand is the importance of protecting the quarterback,” Peete said. “Your ability to be a pass protector is something that I think is very, very important. We’ve got to keep that guy upright, and as long as we keep him upright, then we have a chance to win. And so that pass protection part of your game has got to be something that’s very, very important.”


Heading into draft season with the NFL Combine next week, Peete said pass protection is one of the more difficult skills to evaluate on a player entering the NFL for a number of reasons.

“It’s something I think you do look at when you watch guys in college. But some teams and some teams don’t necessarily ask the running backs to do that quite a bit in college,” Peete said. “They either were in a pro-style offense in college and had opportunities to do that. Or it’s something that you’ve got to teach them from scratch once you get them.

“I think everyone wants to run the ball and wants to have the ball in their hand. That’s part of being a running back,” Peete continued. “But the other part is the dirty work where you have to do the physical blocking.”

Once the Rams get the offseason program going in the spring, it seems appropriate to anticipate pass protection will be a strong point of emphasis in the RBs room.