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OL Orlando Pace (7-time Pro Bowler, Super Bowl Champion, CFB HOF, NFL HOF)

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Rams Notebook: Pace scares coaches, but injuries are minor
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH​
08/15/2006



The sight of tackle Orlando Pace being hauled off the practice field on the back of a cart is enough to send any coach into apoplexy.

So Scott Linehan's relief when he learned that the seven-time Pro Bowler wasn't seriously injured Monday was understandable.

Pace suffered what team medical personnel called "slight sprains" of his right ankle and knee in the morning practice at Rams Park. X-rays showed no broken bones. Pace sat out the evening workout and is listed as day-to-day.

"He kind of got rolled up on in our nine-on-seven drill," Linehan said. "It didn't appear, after he walked it off, that it was anything real serious."


Pace, one of the NFL's premier left tackles, has started all but four of 135 games since the Rams made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 1997 draft.

He hasn't missed a game since the 2002 season when he was sidelined for six contests with calf and hamstring injuries.

Linehan said Pace, 30, was having a "very good' camp."

"We've asked him to do a lot of things," he added. "He's shown his ability to run-block. We all know he can be a great pass protector, but I think it's been very good for his overall game. He's stepped it up big time."

Veteran Todd Steussie took over for Pace with the No. 1 offense and earned high marks.

"He came in and did well," Linehan said. "It was good for him to get in there and work with the first unit. It's certainly something we don't want to have to do very often, but we have 100 percent confidence in him. He's a guy that's done that for years, and it's a great luxury to have."

Steussie, 35, is a 12-year veteran who was signed as a free agent in April. He's started at both guard spots during his career, and also has been used at guard in camp here.

Minimizing injuries

The team made it through the first couple of weeks of camp with only a handful of injuries.

"We've had some, but quite a few less than in the old training camp format, so I've been pretty happy with that," Linehan said.

Linehan structured the camp schedule so that two-practice days alternated with one-practice days.

He also built in more time between practices to allow for better recovery.

"When you start playing games, you're going to start seeing guys come up with the training camp soreness," Linehan said. "But I think we've avoided a lot of those soft-tissue, nagging type of injuries."

Previously, no more than three players had been on the injured list at any time.

But that number grew to seven Monday, when Pace, tackle Blaine Saipaia (head), linebacker Raonall Smith (leg) and cornerback Travis Fisher (groin) joined fullback Madison Hedgecock (ankle), guard Claude Terrell (wrist) and linebacker Drew Wahlroos (hand) in sick bay.

Also, fullback Paul Smith sat out Monday night with what Lineham termed "general soreness. He's all beat up."
 
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Pace says injury is not serious

Watched practice Tuesday on sidelines

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS - A day after the biggest injury scare the St. Louis Rams have endured so far this preseason, the focus of that concern returned to the practice field.
Veteran offensive tackle Orlando Pace left practice on a cart Monday morning after third-year defensive end Anthony Hargrove rolled into the back of Pace's right leg. Pace said his ankle, knee and hip all got banged up in the collision, but fortunately no serious injuries were detected.
"You hope it's nothing serious," he said after Tuesday's practice. "You didn't want a (hurt) knee or a bad ankle or anything. But once the X-rays came back and everything was negative, I was happy.
"We're taking it day by day and see how it feels. I worked out today and I was a little sore after I did the workout, so we'll see how it feels tomorrow."
Pace rode a stationary bike and worked out with a medicine ball with running back Paul Smith for the part of Tuesday's two-hour practice. He spent the rest of the time on the sidelines watching his teammates practice.
At first, Pace did not know how bad he was injured. But he said he didn't have too much time to dwell on it.
"When I went down it looked a lot worse than it actually was," he said. "(Defensive end) Leonard (Little) picked me up so quick I didn't have a chance to check myself."
Coach Scott Linehan said Pace could have practiced Tuesday, but the coaching staff decided to hold him out as a precaution. His condition will be evaluated every day leading up to the Rams' second preseason game Saturday against Houston.
Linehan didn't say whether Pace would play against the Texans, but he noted it's always a balancing act when trying to decide how much veterans should play in preseason games.
"It's unfortunately part of the game and we ride that fine line when we evaluate how much we need to play versus how much we don't' play our definite starters and proven veterans," Linehan said. "But there is a fine line where you've got to look at some things to get yourself ready."
That line became more blurred for NFL coaches after Clinton Portis partially separated his shoulder in a preseason game Sunday and will likely miss the remainder of the Washington's preseason games.
In his fifth year in the league, Portis questioned why he or any other player who has positioned himself as a certain starter should risk injury during the preseason.
La'Roi Glover, who is in his first year with the Rams -- his fourth team in 11 NFL seasons -- said he has seen numerous philosophies from coaches about how to handle veterans. He spent the past four years in Dallas, where coach Bill Parcells used his veterans extensively during the preseason, and he's been on teams where the starters don't even suit up for the final preseason game.
"Am I'm going to sit here and say preseason is too long? Probably it is," Glover said. "Is training camp too long? Probably it is.
"Will it change? I doubt it."
Notes The Rams spent most of practice Tuesday working on game-day situations.... Linehan said aside from Pace's injury, Little (quad), LB Jamal Brooks (sprained toe) and RB Paul Smith (soreness) are the only injuries to report.
 
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8/17/06

Injury report

Left tackle Orlando Pace sat out both practices Wednesday because of the mild sprains he suffered to his knee and ankle earlier this week.
"He's just fine," Linehan said of Pace. "It felt much better today. It's all precautionary now to get him back to 100 percent. He could have done something today, we just kept him out."
Pace rode an exercise bike and did some conditioning work on the side. Fullbacks Paul Smith (calf) and Madison Hedgecock (ankle) had the same routine as Pace.
"He has a pretty tight calf muscle," Linehan said of Smith, who has established himself as the team's starting fullback. "It wasn't improving much and he was getting worse for a couple of days, so we gave him a couple of days off.
"We'll evaluate it tomorrow and hopefully have him ready to go for the game."
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8/20/06

Cooper wins roses then blocks Snyder's chance



Jeff Metcalfe
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 20, 2006 12:00 AM


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It's the great irony of Arizona State's Rose Bowl teams.

That the coach of the first thwarted the second from winning ASU's first football national championship.

"John's got to be feeling very good about it," Bruce Snyder said. "That doesn't diminish my pride in our team."

John Cooper struck gold upon coming to ASU in 1985 after eight seasons at Tulsa. He assembled a demanding staff that got the most out of previous coach Darryl Rogers' talented recruits and took the Sun Devils to three consecutive bowls - the Rose in the middle to cap the 1986 season, sandwiched by the 1985 Holiday and 1987 Freedom.

Cooper left ASU for Ohio State after the '87 season. Of his 13 Buckeyes teams, the only one to reach the Rose Bowl would be 1996, when the Sun Devils made their only return trip.

Quarterback Joe Germaine of Mesa led Ohio State's game-winning drive in the final 1 minute, 40 seconds, leaving even ASU's magical QB Jake Plummer with too little time (19 seconds) to respond.

"In a way it does seem unreal," said Cooper, the only coach to win in the Rose Bowl with a Pac-10 and Big Ten team. "Those are two great moments for me. The longer I'm out, the more I'm proud of it."

Cooper, 69, last coached in 2000. His Ohio State tenure is forever tarnished by a 2-10-1 record against Michigan.

It was ASU's 22-15 win over the Wolverines in the 1987 Rose Bowl that opened the door to Columbus, where he still lives and this year was a nominee for the College Football Hall of Fame.

"That team was the best in college football that year," Cooper said, although the 10-1-1 Sun Devils finished No. 4. "We were better than anybody thought we were and a lot better than I thought we were at that time. It was almost like a who's who of the National Football League. It was a great, great college football team and fun to coach."

At least 17 players from the 1986 Sun Devils had brief to prolific NFL careers. Those include 12-time Pro Bowl guard Randall McDaniel and six-time Pro Bowl cornerback Eric Allen.

Three of Cooper's assistants became head coaches, including Mike Martz with the St. Louis Rams.

"Hiring good people," was Cooper's strength, said Don Bocchi, recruiting coordinator in 1986 and now ASU senior associate athletic director. "He would make sure the staff was well organized and practices were coordinated properly.

"The other thing John did was take care of the rest of the PR work, which kept the coaches out of that realm. He allowed the coaches to coach."

Snyder was more hands on, although he, too, had a quality staff anchored in 1996 by Dan Cozzetto, Donnie Henderson and Phil Snow.

Henderson, Snow and Martz are all assistants with the Detroit Lions, whose head coach, Rod Marinelli, was on Snyder's staff for the first three years of his ASU tenure.

"Bruce was a complete coach from the standpoint of here's the plan, we're going to follow it," Bocchi said. "He coached all the short-yard situations. He believed that kept him in the game and used to say these are the most critical calls. I'm calling them; I'll take the responsibility."
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8/27/06

Left tackle Orlando Pace returned to action after missing the Houston game with a sore ankle, knee and hip. But while the rest of the offensive starters played into the third quarter, Linehan replaced Pace in the first half with Todd Steussie.

"It was a surprise to me, but I guess he just wanted me to get limited snaps today," Pace said.
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Here is a pic of Cooper at the Texas game this past weekend....

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University of Texas coach Mack Brown (R) and former Ohio State University coach John Cooper share a laugh along the sidelines before the start of action during their NCAA football game in Austin, Texas, September 9, 2006. REUTERS/Andrew P. Scott (UNITED STATES)
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Like it or not, Coop is part of OSU history. Tress shows oodles of class and allows (actually encourages) the former coaches and players to be part of the current team. That sort of tradition shows THE OSU tradition handed down from year-to-year. I personally think it's a wonderful thing. So why not ask Cooper to attend?

Coop was a great recruiter, but not a great motivator. He really wasn't a great game day coach. His recruiting pitch, "join me at OSU, and I'll have you in the Show in 3 years" brought some great talent (marginal gradewise) to OSU. When we lost, we looked at the good games the talent had.

2-10-1. Can't believe that OSU admin allowed that to happen. Hell, LLLoyd is fearing for his job, and he's only half of that (will be 1-5 after this year's loss). After Woody, Earl did fine with Woody's recruits, but OSU football suffered because of lack of recruiting under Earl (someone may argue with this, but cannot argue much). Coop was hired ONLY (well not really, but mostly) because his ASU team beat Meatchicken......

Even though he was from Tennessee, he didn't "get" OSU football. (Tennessee people are not a heckuva lot different than OSU fantatics). And, he alienated most of the college football coaches in Ohio, who retaliated by not pushing their kids to OSU program.

He actually was a good coach at Tulsa, ASU, but couldn't rise to the level that OSU demands on a national level, every year. OK, who among us excell at a job that has only 116 positions? Certainly not I......so allow him his place in history. And be glad that we have Tress

But, he DID get OSU started back on the path to greatness. He did stock the pipeline with good players, and had OSU back on the road to respectability. Please remember that Tress won the 2002 BCS game WITH Coop's recruits. And be glad that we have Tress.......Everything needs some momentum to get going, and Coop provided that for Tress. Nobody in the Buckeye Nation would ever conceive of a Buckeye team under Coach Tressel 'laying down' as the OSU team against Air Force. And be glad we have Tress......

OK, I'm done. Learned someting in my business career (about blaming problems/failures on people that are gone...."Don't speak ill of the dead or departed"


:gobucks3: :gobucks4: :banger: Let's focus on the positive and enjoy the rebirth of OSU sports (football, basketball, women's basketball, syncro swim, fencing, wrestling (soon to be), and academically among our nation's colleges. It's a great time to be a Buckeye.
 
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Forgot......BBJunkie's picture of Coop with Mack......these guys have alot in common-great recruiters and mediocre game-day coaches). Only Mack 'got' texas football (coming from North Carolina) and Coop didn't get OSU football.
 
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I believe sincerely in the maxim of not speaking ill of the dead or the departed. I do have to say two things.

First, I don't think John Cooper ever bought into the traditions of Ohio State and I think it says a lot about Jim Tressel that he has had an office built for John Cooper and Earle Bruce at the WHAC.

Second, when I read on BP this week that John Cooper had an office at WHAC, I became physically ill. I mean that, physically ill. I don't want him anywhere near our players. Period.

I wish John Cooper well and hope that he can live out his retirement in happiness.
 
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