Football coaches certainly have enough to deal with trying to get their team ready for a season. It’s especially true when the coach is new, and in his first experience as an NFL head coach.


The thing they hope to avoid are distractions. Some are inevitable. But when a team is put up for sale by its owners, and speculation begins immediately that the team could move, suddenly that’s a potential distraction that has to be dealt with.


Just four months into his job with the Rams, that’s what Steve Spagnuolo faced when stories about an impending sale hit the media at the end of May. The following day, the Rams acknowledged the family of former owner Georgia Frontiere had hired Goldman Sachs “to assist in a strategic review of the assets of her estate, including the St. Louis Rams.”


With a minicamp beginning that week (June 4), and there being OTAs earlier in the week, Spagnuolo addressed the issue with his team.


He said, "I told the guys that everybody in this league, every team in this league, probably has some kind of what we call a distraction. And the challenge with every team in this league when those pop up anywhere ... is to just keep the blinders on, stay focused on what it is we're doing and not worry about the things we can't control. I think our guys do a good job of that."


Of course, this sort of distraction can be different, especially for players with families. Questions are asked about the future, with no answers known. In public, fans will also ask questions. Players will be asked about it by the media. It can’t be avoided.


Said cornerback Ron Bartell, "You can't really worry about what's going on as far as that's concerned. We have a job to do, and our job is to come out every day, practice hard, work hard and get ready for the '09 season. We can't worry about things that are out of our control."


On Sirius NFL Radio, defensive tackle Adam Carriker was asked if he talks to his agent or tries to find out more than what’s been reported.


He said, “No, I mean, anything I do is going to be irrelevant. Whatever happens, happens. It is beyond our control. I mean, I could do all that stuff but it wouldn’t make a difference. They’re going to do what they’re going to do, business-wise, whatever makes the most sense business-wise to them.”


Carriker was asked how hard it would be on fans if the Rams left St. Louis. He said, “I think it’d be very hard. Even in just the neighborhood where I live, they’re all Rams fans and every game day they put up a big sign – ‘Go Rams’ – and since I live there, they put up my name and number on it. I think it’d be very hard. Our fans are very good fans. I think one thing that will help is if during the season we get rolling, we get a few wins going, I think this town could really ignite with Ram fever. If St. Louis did lose the team, it’d be hard. But, like I said, it’s out of our control so we try not to worry about it too much.”


The Rams insist the sale plans will not affect the goal of improving the product on the field.


Said general manager Billy Devaney, "This has no effect on our team whatsoever. It doesn't affect our preparations, our goals. Chip and Lucia have been tremendous, and they continue to be so. ... That's all I really want to say on it."


SIMPLY NOTING
* For training camp, many teams have adopted an alternating schedule that has two practices one day (morning and evening) and one the next day in the afternoon. Spagnuolo plans to have two practices each day, at least when camp opens.


“It starts out that way and then it shifts gears after about four or five days,” Spagnuolo said. “Two or three weeks into it, it will change again. We kind of gear things so that we can get ready to play a game. It’ll be physical and the guys will get some work in and you guys keep scaring me with all the heat, but I think we’ll be OK.”