REPORT: HAZ KEEPS THE JOB IF HE WINS SIX GAMES

Adam Schefter of NFL Network reports that Rams coach Jim Haslett will keep his job beyond the 2008 season if he wins six of the team’s 12 remaining games. That’s good news for Haslett, but potentially bad news for the Rams. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello recently told us that, while the Rooney Rule does not apply to in-season coaching hires, the Rooney Rule must be followed when the interim position is filled after the season. In this case, giving the job to Haslett based on a pre-determined performance trigger would seem to violate the Rooney Rule, which requires that at least one minority candidate be interviewed for each head-coaching vacancy. The Rams might be relying upon the Jim Mora exception to the Rooney Rule, which allows a current member of the staff to be elevated to the position of head coach, if there’s a pre-existing agreement mandating the hire. But, unless the league has already approved this approach in the present case, the Rams are risking a big-money fine. After the Lions hired Steve Mariucci without interviewing a minority candidate, the NFL made it clear that future violations would be met with severe penalties. And if the Mora exception applies to Haslett’s “six wins and you’re in” contract, any NFL team could avoid the operation of the Rooney Rule by firing a current head coach during the season, naming an interim coach, and putting a trigger in the contract that gives him the job for the next season.