Rams News

Health forces Carson to step down
03/30 10:24 PM

By Jim Thomas
Of the Post-Dispatch Staff
Just before Monday's news conference, Bud Carson ran upstairs at Rams Park for a hearing aid battery. Too often lately, Carson finds himself huffing and puffing when he takes the stairs.
That explains more than anything why Carson is retiring from football -- and retiring as Rams defensive coordinator -- at age 66.
When the cold weather kicked in this past winter in St. Louis, so did Carson's asthma. He also has a touch of emphysema, although it's at a manageable stage. Carson even quit smoking, but the asthma still bothered him.
``When you have trouble walking up the steps, you just don't have the drive that you had,'' Carson said. ``I was always a little guy with a lot of drive, I thought. I could work as long as anyone and get as much out of it as anyone.''
But with the latest round of health problems, Carson said he came to this realization: ``I didn't want to become a distraction around here -- of how I feel every day. When you get to that point, this is not the business for you. Not full-time, anyway.''
The grinding hours and the pressure of coaching in today's NFL are like few other vocations. It simply got to the point where Carson couldn't give the job as much as it demanded.
``You have to go full speed to get things done in a competitive environment like the NFL,'' Carson said.
He had gall bladder surgery late last season, missing the Rams' Dec. 7 game at New Orleans. But after a period of recuperation, and a battery of medical tests, Carson let it be known in January that he planned to fulfill the final two years of his contract. Then, the asthma cropped up.
``I wish it was 10 years earlier. . . .'' Carson said. ``But it's not 10 years ago, and I just don't feel that, healthwise, I could do the job that Dick's program demands.''
Carson reached his retirement decision within the past two weeks, with the announcement made Monday. Talked out of a two-year retirement by Dick Vermeil 14 months ago, Carson leaves this time with his reputation intact as one of the greatest defensive minds ever to coach in the NFL.
Everywhere he went in 23 NFL seasons, Carson left his mark defensively. He was architect of the famed ``Steel Curtain'' defenses in Pittsburgh in the 1970s. In a prior stint with the Rams, the team led the league in fewest yards allowed and reached the Super Bowl in the 1979 season. In 1991 in Philadelphia, the Eagles became the fifth team in NFL history to lead the league in total defense, pass defense and rushing defense.
``He's had a great run,'' Rams safety Keith Lyle said. ``I wish I could have had him when he was a little younger and had a lot of fire.''
But even in the twilight of his career, the Rams found Carson to be a demanding taskmaster.
``No one cared about you more, or loved you more than he did,'' defensive end Kevin Carter said. ``But he was hard. And he accepted nothing less than perfection.''
Despite the Rams' disappointing 5-11 finish, the improvement was noticeable under Carson last season on defense.
``There are 28 statistical categories that the NFL keeps, and our defense improved in 25 of them,'' Vermeil said. ``So the Bud Carson contribution was enormous. I'm very fortunate in that I have two younger assistants that Bud has trained, that know the scheme, that'll take over.''
In an unusual move, the Rams will have ``co-coordinators'' on defense -- secondary coach Peter Giunta, 41, and linebackers coach John Bunting, 47, will share the duties. Giunta will have the added title of assistant head coach, meaning he will have final say in any areas where Giunta and Bunting might disagree.
Giunta is especially schooled in the Carson defense; he spent four years working under him in Philadelphia (1991-94). And although Giunta and Bunting will tweak the thing to suit their particular tastes and the new mix of personnel, the Rams will run the Bud Carson defense in 1998.

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