Mike Waufle joins Jeff Fisher in St. Louis - Silver and Black report

Tommy Kelly and the rest of the defensive line will have a new unit coach in 2012.

Per Jason La Canfora, the St. Louis Rams have hired Mike Waufle.

Waufle was a defensive line coach with the Oakland Raiders from 1998-2003 and again during the 2010 and 2011 campaigns.

Jeff Fisher has reconstructed the St. Louis staff since his arrival, hiring Brian Schottenheimer (offense coordinator) and Gregg Williams (defense coordinator).

ANALYSIS:

Waufle is a very good coach and one that is beloved by many players around the league. With the Giants, he won a Super Bowl prior to landing in Oakland and some of his biggest admirers included Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora. There’s no doubt that Tommy Kelly and younger ends like Matt Shaughnessy and Lamarr Houston have benefited from his presence. But the facts are, Reggie McKenzie is cleaning house and will empower his new coach to bring in his own staffers.

Waufle had a chance to join another staff and find stability before other openings are filled. With Oakland still searching, the long-time defensive line coach just got a gig on an upstart staff. He’ll do a good job in St. Louis working with Fisher and Williams.

The Raiders have had one of the worst run defenses since 2003:

2011 â€" 27^th in the NFL â€" 136.1 yds/g

2010 â€" 29^th in the NFL â€" 133.6 yds/g

2009 â€" 29^th in the NFL â€" 155.5 yds/g

2008 â€" 31^st in the NFL â€" 159.7 yds/g

2007 â€" 31^st in the NFL â€" 145.9 yds/g

2006 â€" 25^th in the NFL â€" 134.0 yds/g

2005 â€" 25^th in the NFL â€" 128.1 yds/g

2004 â€" 22^nd in the NFL â€" 125.8 yds/g

2003 â€" 32^nd in the NFL â€" 156.9 yds/g

Waufle surely wasn’t the lone reason why the front-seven hasn’t turned it around, a chronic problem that has hurt the Raiders for nine seasons. But he was a very good mentor for some of the younger linemen Oakland has groomed in recent years.