Rams Still Looking at UCLA’s Donahue : Pro football: Oregon’s Brooks remains the front-runner for head coaching job. Team also considering others.

Oregon’s Rich Brooks remains the Rams’ choice to become their head coach, but team executives said Thursday they have talked to UCLA’s Terry Donahue twice this week and will take one more look around the country before deciding whether to offer Brooks the job.

The Rams’ concern, that they might have difficulty selling Brooks’ sub-.500 record to the fans of St. Louis, has prompted team President John Shaw to ask his search committee to re-evaluate all candidates.

Shaw confirmed that Los Angeles agent Marvin Demoff has been hired by Brooks to talk about possible terms for a deal.

“But we don’t feel we’re in position at this point to make an offer,” Shaw said. “There are still some things we wish to consider. We’re discussing Mike Ditka within our organization, and Terry Donahue knows we have an interest in him.

“I’ve talked with Terry and Steve Ortmayer (vice president of football operations) has talked with him. I would not characterize it as an interview but more of an inquiry. We have no plans at this time to interview him, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t.”

Shaw said the Rams spoke to Ditka this week, but there has been no recent contact. Team officials talked Thursday about how Ditka would fit in the organization and whether they should push for a formal interview.

The Rams have talked about San Diego State Coach Ted Tollner, but have not contacted him. Team officials regard Tollner highly, but they are not sure how his hiring would go over in St. Louis.

The Rams identified Brooks as a candidate even before they fired Chuck Knox. Brooks was the first candidate to be interviewed by the Rams, and, by all accounts, he has impressed the team’s top brass.

Brooks, 53, received several coach of the year awards this past season after leading Oregon to its first Rose Bowl appearance in 37 years. Brooks, 91-109-4 in 18 seasons with Oregon, met with his coaching staff Thursday in Eugene and told it to get to work, while expressing concern about the Rams’ reluctance to make a quick decision.

“We’re not trying to unnerve him,” Shaw said. “We’re trying to do what is best for the organization and look at all possibilities.”