Rams promote Devaney to general manager

Dec 24, 2008 - 9:20 PM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- A pair of dreadful seasons has led to a major shake-up in the front office of the St. Louis Rams.

The Rams on Wednesday elevated executive vice president of personnel Billy Devaney to general manager and announced that John Shaw has relinquished his duties as team president.

The moves came just two days after Jim Zygmunt resigned as the Rams' general manager and president of football operations.

St. Louis is 2-13 this season and have lost nine consecutive games on the heels of finishing 3-13 in 2007.

Devaney will have total control over player-personnel decisions, including the college draft, acquisition of free agents, player trades and other personnel transactions.

"I am very grateful to Rams ownership for giving me this opportunity to help return the team to an elite position in the National Football League," Devaney said. "This is an organization that has historically had a winning tradition and it is our goal to get back to that level."

Devaney also will be responsible for hiring the team's next head head coach. Jim Haslett, who was named interim coach after the team fired Scott Linehan following an 0-4 start, is not expected to be retained.

"One of the best things that happened to the Rams during this difficult season was the hiring of Billy Devaney to our front office team," Rams owner Chip Rosenbloom said. "We are very fortunate to have someone with Billy's character and intelligence taking control of the football side of this organization."

Shaw, who has been associated with the franchise for nearly 30 years, will be retained by the club as senior advisor/owners' representative. The team said he will advise and consult with ownership and represent the club on virtually all league matters.

"While John Shaw has decided to no longer participate in the daily operation of running our team, we are extremely happy that he will be staying on as our representative for league matters and will continue to be involved as a trusted counsel to ownership," Rosenbloom said

Since a stunning 20-17 defeat to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl following the 2001 season, the Rams have made just two playoff appearances since and will be shut out of the postseason for the fourth straight season.