Continuing the runaway trend toward hiring first-time head coaches, the St. Louis Rams have chosen Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Scott Linehan as the successor to the deposed Mike Martz and Wednesday night entered into contract discussions with him. Barring a hangup in negotiations, which is not likely, Linehan will be introduced as the Rams' head coach by the end of the week. Team and league sources as well as a source close to Linehan confirmed to ESPN.com that the Dolphins assistant had been offered the job.