Jon Gruden Becoming “Focal Point” Of Rams’ HC Search, Sean Payton & David Shaw Also Options?

Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports, citing multiple sources, reports that the Rams are moving toward a meeting with ESPN analyst Jon Gruden regarding their head coaching vacancy.

Robinson’s sources indicated that Gruden has become a “focal point” of their head-coaching search. Interestingly enough, Robinson says that other candidates on the Rams’ radar are Stanford HC David Shaw and Saints HC Sean Payton.

As of now, Robinson says that it’s unknown whether Shaw or Payton have any level of interest in their head coach position.

In regards to Gruden, multiple sources have told Robinson that he “would be inclined to listen” if the team was willing to give him full control of personnel and source specifically said that this would be a“must” for Gruden to even consider taking a meeting with the Rams.

According to Robinson, the Rams will least consider the idea of turning over personnel control for the right candidate.

Another big consideration for Gruden would be his opinion of QB Jared Goff but sources have told Robinson that Gruden believes in Goff as a quarterback.

“He does believe in him – that’s not just for TV,” one source familiar with Gruden tells Robinson. “He thinks [Goff] has the stuff to be a franchise quarterback. I don’t know if Jon would have traded the farm to get him, but he sees him as a guy that was worthy of building a team around him. He sees leadership and star power there.”

One other consideration mentioned by La Canfora is the fact that Gruden has ties to Rams president Kevin Demoff from their time together in Tampa Bay.

Sam Farmer of the L.A. Times reported last week that “those close” to Gruden “indicated he would listen” to a pitch from the Rams regarding their head-coaching job, so is the first we’ve seen regarding Gruden being an option for Los Angeles.

A separate report said that the Rams are likely to target offensive-minded head coaches after the season, but they won’t completely rule out the idea of bringing in a defensive coach to run the team if that’s their best option.

Current Rams GM Les Snead is expected to aid their search for a new head coach, even though his status with the team is still up in the air.

We’ll have more regarding the Rams’ head-coaching search as the news is available.