"Pat Shurmur's first season could be termed "challenging" in the same way, say, winter mountain climbing in flip flops could.

So let's be generous and recall a rousing endorsement Shurmur received when he left St. Louis last January before the lockout, truncated off-season and other adversities (including those self-created). Saying he knew becoming a head coach was only a matter of time for Shurmur, Rams running back Steven Jackson said that "on Sundays, he got the most out of his players and always had us in a position to win the game."

You can debate how often that was the case in Shurmur's first year and how many players are adamantly in his corner. What we can probably say is that outside Berea -- in the absence of strong evidence recommending him -- the reason for any sustained faith in Shurmur is still tied to the man who hired him. "