RAM NOTEBOOK / JOHN WEYLER : Newberry Glad to be Back on Familiar Turf

About this time last year, Tom Newberry was in the second week of a crash course on how to play center. A 24-day holdout had delayed his schooling, which turned out to be a serious setback to the Rams’ plan to turn the two-time All-Pro guard into a center.

Newberry and quarterback Jim Everett fumbled the snap twice in the first two games. And then twice more in the last three. End of experiment.

Today, Newberry is back at left guard. The weight of the position shift is off his shoulders and so are 20 pounds the former Ram coaching staff asked him to gain.

“I’m happy to be back at guard,” Newberry said. “Things are going well. And I’m happy to be at 280, which is probably a more natural weight for me. The old coaches wanted us heavier, but I feel good at this weight.”

Newberry, who suffered a hamstring pull in practice Wednesday, is not sleepwalking through camp, however. The new coaching staff has added a few wrinkles that the six-year pro is still trying to iron out.

“The techniques and things have changed a little, but I’ve played enough years at it and the majority of it is pretty similar to what we’ve done in the past here,” he said. “Still, the technique things always take time and that’s why we’re here in training camp and why we play preseason games.

“You just hope to improve a little bit each week and be ready to go (for the regular-season opener) in Buffalo.”

Newberry, 29, said he isn’t ruling out making the move to center someday, but “it’s a thing of the past, for now.”

“I’m not snapping the ball at all,” he said. “I’m not messing with it and I’m not worrying about it.”

New Green Bay Coach Mike Holmgren, who talked to at least six NFL teams before taking the Packers’ job, said he enjoyed the conversations he held with Ram management last year, but never really figured he would end up in Anaheim.

“I enjoyed the opportunity very much, it was a great honor really,” he said. “I thought the interview went well. I was very candid and open and I think they were very up-front with me. I knew that Chuck Knox, obviously, was a strong candidate. You can’t get any stronger than Chuck. It was just an honor being mentioned in the same breath with him.”

The former San Francisco offensive coordinator also knew there would be obstacles that went beyond competing with an NFL coaching legend.

“I kind of felt (getting the Rams’ job) might be difficult from the aspect of the 49ers and Rams being such a big rivalry,” he said. “At the time, the 49ers had strong feelings about me not going to the Rams and if I were George (Seifert) or Mr. DeBartolo, I think I would have tried to cut that one off at the pass myself.”

Add Job Hunting: The Holmgrens somehow survived those eight days in early January when he was hopping from franchise to franchise and his family was hounded by media frantic for tidbits of information.

“It was a whirlwind, really wild, for my family in particular,” he said. “But my youngest daughter (Gretchen, 11) obviously enjoyed talking to you guys on the phone.”

Trading Places: Fullback Buford McGee, long-snapper Mike McDonald and running back Greg Bell are former Rams attempting to make the Green Bay roster. Punter Don Bracken and center Blair Bush are former Packers trying to stick with the Rams. Green Bay coaches Nolan Cromwell (special teams) and Gil Haskell (running backs) were with the Rams last season. And Howard Tippett, Ram special teams/tight ends coach, spent the last four seasons with the Packers.