John Shaw Quotations

We started flat, we played flat and we ended flat. I don't know why, but maybe my younger players just weren't ready for it.

We know where the team was at the time he left,

We did our job. Now we have to sit back and see what they throw at us.

We use that title (general manager) to indicate that there's a person running our personnel side, or talent evaluation side, subject to whatever influence or control the coach might have on that, ... But it's clear that Jay is the everyday football executive with the most authority, subject only to a veto by myself or owners.

Mike's response was that he didn't really have to prove himself, ... So he wouldn't agree on an extension based on a performance level. And I respect his view that he felt he didn't have to prove himself. But there's also a view that coaches have to prove themselves every year.

Monte is going to be another big game for us. Hopefully, we'll have enough left in the tank for that one.

Maybe the team's performance up to the time he left was a factor of his health. I just don't know all those things. So, it is kind of a difficult thing to assess. We'll just wait and see.

I have heard these things, ... I think that's so overblown and overstated. But it's become, I guess, a recent topic of discussion.

I didn't want a live outside line, even though it was the head coach, ... It's tough enough to call games, and I was under the impression that whatever Mike's input would be he would do that either prior to the game or during the week or at halftime.

I have a fairly open view about this. There's a wide range of candidates.

We're one of those organizations where the coach has a significant amount of influence over personnel,

I think I told you (two weeks ago) it would be handled internally. I would prefer not to discuss what actions have been taken. But like I said to you, he was reprimanded, and it is being handled internally.

I think we felt that all three candidates brought something unique to the table.

I think by definition, there's a certain amount of tension between coaching, scouting, and the selection and signing of players,

I think financial terms ... and who's remaining in the front office. Who stays with the organization or doesn't stay with the organization. I think all those things, at least in talking to his agent, will ultimately be issues with him.

Our initial bias was to hire a defensive coach.

Our offer is the most valuable and the most straightforward, ... Our record of performance is significantly better than Royal Bank's.

Our No. 1 concern is his health. He has a contract and we expect him to coach.

(Martz) advised us today that after he met with his consulting physician, his physical condition has worsened and he will be readmitted to the hospital...As a result of his condition, he will be unable to perform his head coaching responsibilities for an indefinite period of time.

I was under the impression, as was everybody in the organization, that whatever Mike's input would be, he would do that either prior to the game or during the week.

I think in America there's a lot of people that have jobs who might not like the person and the people that they work with, ... I think that they overcome that and work on a professional level and get things accomplished.

I think he was concerned he was letting down a lot of people but also had concern about the gravity of the situation.

I think he felt he was just a couple of weeks away, so I was very surprised,

I think his anticipation is that he's going to want an extension, and he's going to want to dictate terms of that extension, ... And at this point, I'm not sure that any of that's going to happen. Our view is that we'll have to wait and see. We'll have to wait and see how he is physically and wait and see as to what his expectations are.

I think Joe, really under the circumstances, did a great job for us. It's just that we really don't consider him a candidate right now.

That was a total team effort. And finally, we played our kind of basketball for a full game.

I was basically hired to introduce what was called modern math, in 1964.

will get extended for a least a year. It's something that's been agreed to, and now it's just a matter of drafting (the contract).

We were .500 last year. And I'm not sure we're going to be .500 this year. I just don't know how the team's going to perform. I think we will make those decisions that we think would be in the best interests of the football program.

Those contacts I have with those kids last forever.

We anticipate that he'll be back, ... But if it gets to be a situation where he wants to dictate terms of his returning, then that will complicate this. He's got a year left on his contract. We anticipate that he'll be back to coach.

We had a period of time where we were challenging the league's rules on relocation that caused a rift between the Rams and the league office. Obviously, litigation ensued and there were four or five years that we had substantial difference of opinion with the commissioner.

We deferred taking any action until we were assured that Coach Martz had regained his health. His doctor advised us that Mike was fully recovered on January 1, 2006.

We concluded that it didn't make a whole lot of sense to make changes without the new coach being involved.

We had a bit of a blood-fest over here, but we picked up a win. It wasn't pretty at all.

But then, after having one or two conversations with Mike about it, he changed agents,

There could be, I guess, a wide range of possibilities. No change at all. Change the whole department. Or name a new pro personnel person. I think one of those things will happen. I just don't know right now. It's still all being evaluated.

We've never had this enforcement authority before, and that's why it is a significant step forward in enhancing safety and health issues across the DOE complex.

We want a coach that we think will improve our product and put a more competitive team on the field right now. We have identified a list of candidates. It's quite a wide list. We will do this immediately, but diligently. I know there will be a number of coaching vacancies, but we will do it in a way that suits us.

Bob told me he felt it would be better to address it after the season, ... By the time Mike talked about it, we were almost beginning training camp.

Everything in our business is competitive. I assume the hiring on our head coaching will be competitive.

As I speak to you today, I fully expect that Mike will be our coach next year.

And when that happens, the first thing people tend to do is blame the coach, or blame the people that are picking players. And once you get into a finger-pointing mode of who took that first-round draft pick, or why did you let this player go, it tends to create divisiveness between those three people.

There was a belief at that time that we didn't need the (pro personnel) process so defined, or that position so defined ... that our head coach and our scouting department would be more involved. I think now there's kind of a belief that we should have a more traditional setup where there is a director of pro personnel. And it's more clearly defined.

I spent a lot of hours on it. It's hard to make a deal that makes everybody happy.

After all of these interviews, it was clear to us that coach Linehan should be the next coach of the St. Louis Rams.

As a result of his condition, he will be unable to perform his head coaching responsibilities for an indefinite period of time.

At some point after the hiring of Coach Linehan, we all decided to go through the current draft and then re-evaluate.

That type of conversation is so premature. If we ever get to that bridge, we'll cross it went we get there. Really, at this point, our interest is not really in settling out Mike's contract. Our interest is that he gets well and at some point we discuss his status for next year.

a lack of judgment. I really don't understand it, to be honest with you.

As you guys remind me all the time, I spend a fair amount of time in Los Angeles, ... I thought it was important at that time that we use a title that indicated there is somebody who is overseeing the football side, that is living in St. Louis full-time and here on a daily basis.

It's a significant increase to the players in terms of the cap. It's more costly to the teams, but I guess on balance it's a good deal. It maintains labor peace.

It's been a tough time, just brutal. We've all felt battered in some way.

It's shocking that he would leave a message like that. It's the type of behavior that we don't condone at any level. He will be reprimanded.

The beaches are quite low and so with this rapid sea level rise they're going to just go underwater.

It'll be interesting to see what the process is.

It works out really well when you're winning,

It was hard. We had no clue how large the room was and we didn't know where the perimeter was.

Their demands have always been considerably higher than what we expected and we just never really got close to them.

In all honesty, it indicates their focus in not on this city, ... There are a number of other developers on the list who have shown a real commitment to Denver.

I met with Mike last Tuesday for about four hours at his house. I felt at that time that he thought he was coming back after the bye. I think he felt that he was just a couple weeks away. So I was kind of expecting him to come back after the bye.

In the last several years, I personally as well as the Rams' organization have had a very good relationship with Tagliabue. He was really good for the league, and the league as a whole will miss him.

In my mind, we need to address the issue as to whether we would even offer an extension to a head coach who hasn't coached here this year,

I guess there was a sense of expectation that it was going to happen. He was very cordial.

I guess the most compelling reason was just the direction of the team. Which is a direction that we think we need to change right now.

I think all our people get along, ... And I think at times, like I said, when you're not doing as well as you'd like to be doing, it tends to create tension and finger-pointing. I don't think it's anything out of the usual.

But I contend that it has worked very well for us over the past six years,

By and large, it is tailored to the client, ... There might be some boiler-plate information but not much.