"John Fassel, who had the same duties in Oakland the last three seasons, is joining Jeff Fisher's Rams staff as special teams coach.

The Raiders had some of the league's best special teams units in 2009 and '10, leading the NFL in special teams takeaways and turnover differential in each of those seasons. In 2010, Oakland's Jacoby Ford had a breakout rookie season with three kickoff returns for touchdowns.

Ford also had a 101-yard kickoff return for a score in 2011. But the Raiders' coverage units struggled in '11, yielding three returns for TDs and finishing last in punt coverage and 27th in kickoff coverage.

In punter Shane Lechler, a seven-time Pro Bowler, and place-kicker Sebastian Janikowski the Raiders annually have one of the league's best kicking tandems.

Fassel is the son of former NFL coach Jim Fassel, who guided the New York Giants to the Super Bowl during the 2000 season and was interviewed for the Rams' head-coaching job in 2006 — a job that went to Scott Linehan."