St. Louis Rams Hire Dave McGinnis as Assistant Head Coach

As reported by The Tennessean and many others, the St. Louis Rams and Jeff Fisher are adding veteran coach Dave McGinnis as assistant head coach.  Fisher and McGinnis previously worked together in these same roles with the Tennessee Titans from 2004-2010.

Before becoming Fisher's assistant head coach in 2005, McGinnis spent 2004 at linebacker coach exclusively before serving as both linebacker and assistant head coach from 2005 through 2010. 

McGinnis, a 38-year veteran to the coaching profession, began his career as an assistant coach with Texas Christian University in 1973 before moving to the University of Missouri in 1975, where he would remain for three seasons. 

His career has essentially come full circle, as he returns to the state of Missouri, the home of his previously mentioned second coaching job at Mizzou.  

New defensive coordinator Gregg Williams (who also coached with Fisher in Tennessee) is making a homecoming, too.  Williams, most recently the defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints, is a native of the Show-Me State, having been born just outside of Kansas City in Belton.

As for McGinnis, he is best known for his time as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals from 2001 through 2003 after closing out 2000 as the Cardinals' interim head coach. 

McGinnis will bring great expertise and a familiarity with Fisher's head coaching style to St. Louis.  The two should have no trouble reconnecting in their head coach/assistant head coach relationship after sharing six prior years within that same format.

Shane Gray covers the St. Louis Rams year-round. Check out the rest of his work or follow him on Twitter.