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Rams Make Penaranda Full Time, Sign Former Bruin Paco Craig

By CHRIS DUFRESNE
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Jairo Penaranda, a volunteer special teams coach with the Rams last season, has been hired as a full-time assistant by Coach John Robinson, the club announced Monday.

The Rams also announced the signing of free agent wide receiver Paco Craig, who caught 61 passes for 1,005 yards in four seasons at UCLA. Craig was a 10th-round pick of the Detroit Lions in 1988 and played in 10 games before being released.

Penaranda replaces special teams coach Artie Gigantino, who takes over as inside linebackers coach, a position previously handled by defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur.

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Penaranda, primarily a blocking back at UCLA, was a 12th-round draft choice of the Rams in 1981, and starred as a special teams player that season.

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Chris Dufresne

Chris Dufresne was the Los Angeles Times’ national college football/basketball columnist from 1995 to 2015. He also covered skiing at the Winter Olympics and wrote extensively on most sports. He is a multiple national award winner and was named 2011 California Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Assn. A Los Angeles native, he started at The Times in 1976 as a truck loader and literally worked his way up (two floors to be exact).

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