Rams ’87 PREVIEW SECTION : Doing Things the E.Z. Way : Rams, Looking to Balance Offense, Turn to Aerial Guru Ernie Zampese

For the Rams, training camp 1987 had all the feel and excitement of back-to-school week.

Receivers, quarterbacks and running backs filled meeting rooms to hear the gospel of the new pass offense, as told and taught by offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese.

You don’t think these guys are all ears?

“He’s a great teacher,” reserve quarterback Hugh Millen was saying recently. “He gets up there on that blackboard and speaks in terms you can understand.”

Millen compared Zampese to a favorite professor at his alma mater, the University of Washington. What’s this? Football players rushing to class?

“I like listening to him,” Millen said. “It wouldn’t matter if he was speaking on football or economics. I took Speech 101, and he’s got it all. He’ll lighten you up by saying something about some guy’s hokey state university nickname.”

No, there’s nothing quite like learning--even if it requires paying attention--from a professor who makes it all sound so exciting and convincing.

And that, the players say, is what the Rams have in Ernie Zampese, for eight years the right-hand man of Don Coryell’s high-flying San Diego Charger offense.

Only now, Zampese is drawing slant-routes and button-hooks with chalk and chalkboard provided by the Rams.

Suddenly, blackboard X’s and O’s--once confused with tick-tack-toe etchings--are now taking the form of successful pass routes.

Remember, this was not an easy task for Prof. Zampese.

In the last three years, the Rams have finished 28th, 28th and 27th in the National Football League in passing. In a league with only 28 teams, that translates to last, last and next-to-last.

The amazing part is how the Rams somehow managed success. Coach John Robinson, in four successive playoff appearances, which included--in 1985--one NFC Western Division title and one trip to the NFC Championship game.

The Rams accomplished this with a tough defense and a 50-mule team work ethic on offense. And, of course, Eric Dickerson, the NFL’s rushing leader in three of those four seasons.

Through it all, though, the passing and running game seemed distant entities, as isolated as a company’s accounting and mailroom departments.

The flaw was sufficiently camouflaged until push always came to shove in the playoffs, when teams of equal might simply stacked their best and beefiest players against the only hand the Rams could play--Dickerson.

THe Rams and Robinson, to their credit, have seemingly learned from their mistakes and have diligently set out in search of missing links.

They found one last September, when they completed the trade with Houston that brought the Rams rookie quarterback Jim Everett.

The final link, many experts believe, was located last February, when Robinson lured Zampese to Anaheim. Under Coryell, Zampese’s offense had led the NFL in total offense and passing yardage six times in eight seasons.

But one thing that Zampese has made clear from the beginning is that he is not coming here to stir up trouble.

“There’s not going to be any drastic changes in the philosophy of football with John Robinson,” Zampese said, “This is the L.A. Rams and this team is going to emulate John Robinson. This team is going to be a physical, knock-the-hell-out-of-you football team. What we’d like to see is an ability to make something happen with the passing game.”

Zampese says the pieces are all there.

“We’ve got guys like Henry Ellard, Ron Brown and Eric Dickerson,” Zampese said, “Those are some pretty good people to start with. We want to get the ball in their hands so they have a chance to make something big happen.”

So what and who is Ernie Zampese? Why is his offense so feared? Why the fuss?

Zampese says there is no mystique to his success other than his insistence on detail and repetition. It’s a play off of the “If at first you don’t succeed. . .” axiom.

Milen says Zampese’s style is keen but subtle.

“You get the feeling that in his mind he knows the way it can work,” Milen said.

Zampese pass routes are precise and snappy, with the quarterback and receiver taking advantage of the slightest opening.

Milen said he has been taught to throw or not to throw a pass based on how a defensive back’s hips are positioned, of all things. Or maybe the safety or linebacker is leaning on the wrong foot. That’s the time to strike.

Zampese wants the ball in his receivers’ hands in between the steps of a linebacker or at the moment a cornerback is shifting his balance. The split second, he says, can mean all the difference.

Already, the subtleties of his teaching have met with success. In the team’s exhibition opener against the Denver Broncos in London, receiver Ron Brown, the NFL’s fastest man, took a slant route over the middle and was tackled almost immediately after the catch.

In the four days from that catch to the team’s next game against Seattle, Brown was drilled on a technique that could utilize his speed and free him from his defender.

In the Seattle game, Brown took the same pass and turned it into a 46-yard touchdown, beating on the play none other than Kenny Easley, arguably the best safety in football.

The little things set the Zampese offense apart.

“We just do things a million times,” Zampese said, “It’s the same things, over and over and over. I just do things a certain way, and maybe it’s not the best way. There are a lot of ways to do things and be successful. But this is a way that I’ve been around and I think it’s awfully good. Well, I know it’s good. It’s proven to be good, They’ll do it so many times that it becomes a part of them.”

Still, the new Rams and Zampese will be nothing without contributions from a cast of coaches and players that include:

JOHN ROBINSON

Give the coach some credit. After four years of Dickerson felt and Dickerson right, Robinson seems determined to put the balance back in his football team.

Last year, the Rams had more yards rushing (2,457) than passing (2,196) and Robinson seemed unwilling to change a running philosophy that, though successful, was certainly limited.

The key this season will be how much control he ultimately relinquishes to Zampese. Robinson’s best speech has him saying “the worst thing in the world for us would be to finish No. 1 in the league in passing.” No. 4 or 5 would be sufficient, which is still a good stones’s throw from No. 28.

Robinson also has said he relishes the chance to return his attention from the technical to the physical side of football, which is his teaching strength.

Robinson, so far, has made all the right moves. First he bagged himself a quarterback in Everett, and then a coordinator in Zampese.

Now it’s up to the coach to bring a peaceful harmony between pass and run, something that is easier said than done.

ERIC DICKERSON

Imagine Chuck Muncie in his best years with the San Diego Chargers and you’ll know what the Rams have in mind for Dickerson.

Forget any ideas about a passing game taking the focus away from the star attraction. It won’t happen. What Zampese wants is to get the ball to Dickerson in as many different ways as possible.

Dickerson had 1,821 yards rushing last season on a career-high 404 carries. But he only had 26 receptions, half the number of passes he caught in his rookie season in 1983.

The Rams in training camp have added new routes to Dickerson’s playbook and even an old one; the one which has Dickerson running over the middle, something he hasn’t done since the neck-jarring training camp hit he took in 1984. That one sent him to the hospital.

Dickerson has never really proven himself a receiver. He’s never had to. He has a tendency to drop easy passes, but look out for the ones he does grab.

It’s difficult to imagine Dickerson having bigger seasons than the first four, but it could happen with 20 fewer carries and 20 more receptions.

JIM EVERETT

The second-year quarterback already reminds Zampese of a young Dan Fouts. Of course, that’s a mouthful when you consider Everett, 24, has started five NFL games in his life.

What Zampese likes about Everett, aside from obvious physical skills, are his zest for life and quest for knowledge.

“Jim is like an open book,” Zampese said. “And he’s always happy. I’ve never seen the guy not smiling. He’s upbeat and there’s enthusiasm in everything he does. He’s thrilled about just living each day. The players love him, he’s just a charismatic kind of guy. He draws people to him just because of his personality.”

Everett is obviously not afraid of the big moment, either. Witness his first NFL appearance against the New England Patriots last season, when he threw for 192 yards and 3 touchdowns.

But Everett can take comfort in knowing he does not need to lead this team to the mountain alone. There are other shoulders to carry burdens, and Everett must only be concerned with his share.

And, geez, how many quarterbacks would kill for the option of handing off to Dickerson?

RON BROWN

Brown seemed to make a statement in June when he regained his title of NFL’s fastest man in a race at Palm Springs. With it he hopes to regain the respect that came with it in 1985, when Brown emerged as a star by returning three kickoffs for touchdowns. It earned him a spot in the Pro Bowl.

Then came last season. First, there was a cracked right wrist that caused pain to the touch. Brown played with his wrist heavily taped, but it didn’t stop a steady stream of dropped passes.

Headed for a certain benching, Brown responded with three catches for 100 yards in the first half against the Dallas Cowboys Dec. 7, before a shoulder separation knocked him out of the game and the season.

Brown has had his share of bad luck, no doubt.

According to coaches, Brown has worked hard in the off-season in an attempt to realize a potential that is his for the taking. Under Zampese’s tutelage, Brown’s routes seem crisper and sharper.

And that seems to be a by-product of repetition.

“Exactly,” Zampese said. “They do it so many times that they don’t have to worry about where they’ll line up or what coverage there’s going to be. They just run the pass pattern and just do the other things. It’s almost like you run the pass pattern in your sleep. It’s a normal reaction for you.”

Brown’s suspect hands, once a constant concern, seem steadier and stronger these days.

HENRY ELLARD

The daily holdout stories are a memory for Ellard, who is signed and will presumably be happy for four seasons now.

It is a stability the Rams need at wide receiver. With Brown and Ellard, the Rams boast as much outside speed as any team in the NFL.

How important is that?

In the lineup together, they demand special attention. If a team decides to double cover one, they’ll likely pay the price with the other. Or so the Rams hope.

Speed gives the Rams the option of stretching a defense deep and then throwing underneath to a tight end or a runner coming out of the backfield. It also provides more running room for Dickerson, a horrible notion for opposing coaches.

The Rams and their pass offense will soon find out how well they’ve listened not to improve.

“I think they’ve made tremendous progress from the first day to today,” Zampese said. “And they’ll make progress from today through halfway through the regular season, and there will be another big jump from then to the end of the season.”

The only question now is how far the Rams can jump.

KEVIN HOUSE

House is still a valuable player for a guy who was cut loose by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last October. He will line up with Brown and Ellard in the team’s three-wide receiver offense in passing situations.

As speed goes, he doesn’t compare with Brown or maybe even Ellard, but last year against the Jets, House proved he’s still capable of the big play, taking a short pass from Everett and turning it into a 60-yard touchdown.

Though perhaps a step slower than in years past, defenders can’t ignore the fact that House has tow 1,000-yard receiving seasons to his credit and was once the favorite long-ball target of Tampa Bay quarterback Doug Williams.

He’s been around for seven years, but House doesn’t turn 30 until December.