He's getting close to the goal line. Although there has been no official announcement or confirmation, the Rams are set to hire former Mississippi State head coach Sylvester Croom, according to league sources. It's believed that Croom, 54, will coach running backs in St. Louis.

The club also is ready to hire Rock Gullickson as strength and conditioning coach, and Matt House to an undetermined position, according to league sources. In addition, Brendan Daly is joining Spagnuolo's staff as the Rams' new defensive line coach, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Gullickson, 53, was strength coach for the Green Bay Packers the past three seasons, and had the same position with the New Orleans Saints from 2000 to 2005.

House, 30, was a special teams assistant as well as assistant strength and conditioning coach for Carolina last season - his first year in the NFL. He worked with new Rams defensive coordinator Ken Flajole last season with the Panthers.

Daly, 33, was a defensive assistant-defensive line coach for Minnesota in 2008, joining the Vikings' staff in '06. He joins another former Vikings assistant, Paul Ferraro, on Spagnoulo's staff.

But the "name" hire among this latest batch of Rams assistants clearly is Croom. Prior to his five-year tenure as head coach at Mississippi State, Croom spent 17 seasons coaching in the NFL.

Thirteen of those 17 seasons were as a running backs coach with Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, San Diego, and Green Bay. Croom coached in the Super Bowl 14 years ago on the San Diego Chargers' staff. The other four seasons were spent as offensive coordinator for Bobby Ross and the Detroit Lions, from 1997 to 2000.

Croom became the first African-American head coach ever in Southeastern Conference Football when hired by Mississippi State in 2004. In 2007, he was named SEC coach of the year after the Bulldogs won eight games including a Liberty Bowl triumph. But following a season-ending loss to rival Mississippi in '08, Croom resigned. His five-year record at Mississippi State was 21-38.

He began his coaching career at his alma mater, Alabama, spending all but one of 11 seasons there coaching linebackers. Among the linebackers he coached with the Crimson Tide were future NFL stars Cornelius Bennett and Derrick Thomas. As a player, Croom was a center for Paul "Bear" Bryant's 1973 national championship squad.

Gullickson was named the NFL's strength and conditioning coach of the year in 2007, but was fired after the '08 season as part of an extensive staff shake-up by Mike McCarthy following a 6-10 Packers finish. McCarthy said it was one of the toughest moves he has had to make.

"It was about making progress," McCarthy told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It's important for everybody that is part of our program to make sure there is growth and improvement, and I did not see that."