For those just itching to get out to Rams Park and catch a training camp practice or two, you have one person — Steve Spagnuolo – to thank for that opportunity. And it took a major change in philosophy for Spagnuolo to conclude that staging his first camp as St. Louis Rams head coach in Earth City was the right thing to do.

At Spagnuolo’s two previous NFL stops, the teams trained out of town. The Eagles go to Bethlehem, Pa., for camp, and the Giants travel to Albany, N.Y. Spagnuolo’s first inclination was to take the Rams elsewhere, too.

Spagnuolo “had the option” for the location of the Rams’ camp, GM Billy Devaney said Tuesday. “And he said, ‘You know what? We need to reconnect. I understand that part of the problem around here was not connecting with the fans. At least this year for sure, we’ve got to stay here.’”

“And I know it kind of went against what he’s used to doing. But he gave the fan part of it a lot of importance. And that was his call. If he’d have said, ‘I want to go some place (out of town),’ we’d have found some place.”