By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer

While the Rams haven’t quite settled on a new head coach, they have decided that the new coach won’t be the old one.

The Rams informed interim coach Jim Haslett that he has been eliminated from consideration for the permanent job late Thursday afternoon.

“Jim took over an impossible situation,” general manager Billy Devaney said.  “He kept the team focused and playing hard and, as an organization, we are much better off for his contribution.

“We decided that, after going through the interview process and in the spirit of that process, it was best to let Jim know that we are going to go in a new direction.”

Haslett took over for Scott Linehan four games into the season and led the Rams to a pair of wins after their bye week in October.

After that initial surge, the Rams dropped 10 consecutive games to finish the season despite losing a number of close contests in the final quarter of the season.

Haslett was given a “finalist” interview with the Rams contingent in Los Angeles more than a week ago, an interview that lasted five hours and allowed Haslett to lay out his plan for turning the team around.

In recent days, though, it became clear that Haslett’s chances of landing the job were decreasing. The Rams lined up finalist interviews with Minnesota defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, Dallas offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

Before that, general manager Billy Devaney spent last Sunday with Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan.

Although Haslett was considered one of the five finalists for the Rams’ job, he also began exploring other opportunities earlier this week when he interviewed with Green Bay for the defensive coordinator position there.

With their finalist interviews complete, it's expected that Devaney could make his coach recommendation to owner Chip Rosenbloom as soon as Friday depending on if the team would like to speak with Ryan again (the Ravens are playing in the AFC Championship on Sunday).

The Rams had no other announcements regarding the coaching staff on Thursday though it’s expected that the next coach will have most of the say in hiring his staff.