Knox Won’t Quit Rams; Johnson Report Denied

Coach Chuck Knox said Monday that quitting “is not in my vocabulary” but Ram President John Shaw said the coach’s future will be discussed with owner Georgia Frontiere after the season.

Although the Dallas Morning News reported Monday that the Rams already have had conversations with former Dallas Cowboy Coach Jimmy Johnson and his attorney about Johnson coaching the team, Shaw said that was not true.

“I have had a number of conversations with Jimmy Johnson but I have had no conversation with him about employment,” Shaw said. “And I have not discussed any such thing with his attorney.”

Knox, who is paid more than $700,000 a year, has a year left on a four-year contract. A 15-31 record, dwindling fan interest and the prospect of a fresh start elsewhere have raised speculation Knox will be fired at season’s end.

“I anticipate talking about (Knox) with ownership at the end of the season,” Shaw said. “There are a number of factors involved: Whether we move or don’t move, for example. But there have been no discussions at this time, and there won’t be until the end of the season.”

Knox said Monday, if the team moves, he intends to go with it, and under no circumstances will he resign.

“I’ve been doing this a long time, and no, that would not be something I would think about,” he said. “I have never walked away from anything in my life.

“I didn’t say I was going to come in here and turn this around in three years. I expected to have a good year this year, based on the people we had gotten signed, but some things have happened and we haven’t gotten it done. I signed a four-year contract and I still have a year to go.”

The Johnson rumors began early this season, but Johnson was quoted recently as saying that his attorney has had talks with the Rams about his return to coaching. Knox, who particularly enjoys NFL gossip and who regularly stays in touch with league officials, said he was unaware of the Jimmy Johnson-to-the-Rams talk.

“I haven’t heard that,” Knox said. “I wouldn’t bother to check it out, and I haven’t heard it.”

Knox said he has not spoken to management about his future. “Why should I?” he said. “I don’t speak to management about those kind of things.”

Knox inherited a team that finished 3-13, and guided it to a 6-10 mark in 1992, 5-11 in 1993 and 4-10 so far this season.