ROCKY ROADS TO TOP; ONCE FIRED BY RAMS, SHURMUR'S CAREER IS THRIVING IN GREEN BAY.

Byline: Eric Noland Daily News Staff Writer

The assessment of coaching talent in the NFL can be a confoundingly inexact science. Remarkable, sometimes, what a guy can do when given a little something to work with.

Fritz Shurmur probably embodies the concept.

Following the 1990 season, the Los Angeles Rams dumped him into the ranks of the unemployed, as John Robinson jettisoned his staff of assistants in order to keep his head-coaching job. At the time, Shurmur was cast as a tired journeyman with arcane ideas. (The sting was eased only slightly by the fact this opinion was held by John Shaw, a football executive history will almost certainly judge as clueless.)

Today, Shurmur's characterization is considerably different: distinguished elder statesman of defensive innovation.

Last season, he oversaw a Green Bay defense that earned the NFL's No. 1 statistical ranking and led the Packers to a Super Bowl championship. On Sunday, he'll call the shots for a similarly stalwart Green Bay defense that returns to the NFL title game for a meeting with the Denver Broncos.

Outside Green Bay's La Jolla hotel Monday evening, Shurmur suppressed a smile as he defined his defensive philosophy.

``You've got to have guys who can do things you ask them to do,'' he said. ``You've got to have corners who can cover if you're going to blitz. You've got to have pass-rushers that you're comfortable with - or ways to at least pressure the quarterback - if you're going to play a lot of zone.''

There was the slightest of pauses as he contemplated his nine-year stay in Anaheim, the last eight as defensive coordinator. Here came the hammer. ``When we were with the Rams,'' Shurmur continued, ``we didn't have any pass-rushers and we were concerned about our corners' ability to cover. So we played within a framework that was rather conservative defense. But at the time it was OK.''

Well, OK until the people in the front office began to squirm uneasily over a 5-11 finish in '90.

Shurmur moved on to Phoenix to work with the Cardinals' defense, and Packers coach Mike Holmgren lured him to Green Bay in '94. Holmgren, the former offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, hadn't forgotten Shurmur's bold attempts to slow down Joe Montana and Co. while with the Rams.

``I remember those teams as being very sound,'' Holmgren said Monday night. ``He ran a very basic style of defense with the Rams. But they were rarely out of position. It was a good-tackling defense. They played a little more zone than he's playing now, but what that tells me is he really adapts to the personnel he has.''

Indeed, Shurmur has never been shy about fussing with the formula to the players at his disposal. In the '89 season with the Rams, he had to work with a unit ravaged by injury, particularly up front and at inside linebacker. Undeterred, Shurmur fielded a convoluted, 2-5 front and called it The Eagle. The Rams went on to finish 11-5 and reach the NFC championship game as wild cards.

Today, his innovation is much less desperate. That's a coach's prerogative when he has Eugene Robinson at free safety, Gilbert Brown anchoring the middle of the line and the likes of Reggie White, LeRoy Butler and Santana Dotson filling various roles.

Shurmur has gained a reputation for coming up with some kind of wrinkle for just about every opponent the Packers play. And he was undoubtedly giving the Broncos something to think about when he admitted that, sure, the defensive game plan went in last week, but a couple of quirks were added Monday. With more scheduled for institution today and Wednesday.

``I enjoy that and the players do, too,'' he said. ``We have guys who have been around doing the same things for a lot of time. We put things in today to keep their minds working.

``To involve the intellect in this game and to give your players credit for having an intellect and then letting them use it some, I think, is pretty good. I think it causes them to be more involved, (rather than for me) to sit there and say we're doing the same (stuff) over and over and over again.''

Needless to say, this is a man who has fun in his job. The better to maintain sanity in the volatile world of assistant-coaching in the NFL.

``They've never removed the word game from football at any level,'' Shurmur said. ``Even when I've been through some tough times in some tough places, it's a game. And I think the thing that keeps you going at it is the competitive part of this thing. I just love to have my guys against your guys.''

THE DEFENSE RESTS

Superlatives from the four-season tenure of defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur at Green Bay:

In last year's Super Bowl championship campaign, the Packers ranked first in the NFL in defense for the first time since 1967 - the era of Willie Davis, Ray Nitschke and Lee Roy Caffey. The '97 Packers allowed only 19 touchdowns, a league record for a 16-game season.

In '95, Green Bay's defense produced 56 series in which the opposing offense went three-and-out.

This season, the Packers, playing in a division in which three teams made the playoffs, finished seventh in the NFL in defense, allowing 302 yards per game.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

PHOTO (Color) Innovative Green Bay defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur is an unsung hero for the Packers.

Associated Press

BOX: THE DEFENSE RESTS (see text)