Steve Spagnuolo has called many of his friends in the coaching business to bounce questions off them since taking over the St. Louis Rams last offseason. Several of those calls have gone to Vikings coach Brad Childress, a good friend of Spagnuolo's from their time together as assistants with the Philadelphia Eagles.

"He's been a big help," Spagnuolo said on a conference call with Twin Cities reporters today. "He's been through it for a little while. He remembers what it was like."

On Sunday, Childress is going to find out what it's like to face Spagnuolo as a head coach when the Vikings play the Rams in St. Louis. Childress reportedly had an interest in hiring Spagnuolo as his defensive coordinator when he took the Vikings job in 2006 but that didn't happen. Spagnuolo was the linebackers coach in Philadelphia at the time and wasn't allowed to leave the Eagles. He eventually ended up as coordinator for the New York Giants.

In fact, Spagnuolo coordinated the Giants' defense in 2007 when they won the Super Bowl. Spagnuolo also brought his blitz scheme to the Metrodome last season when Minnesota beat the Giants 20-19 to win the NFC North.

Spagnuolo said he last talked to Childress a few weeks ago and expects they'll have another conversation very soon. "We'll get a phone call in here somewhere," Spagnuolo said. "We're too busy right now. You know what Wednesday is like. I always enjoy talking to Brad because he's always got something enlightening to say and it does mean a lot. ... He was a big help even before I took this position and I'm very grateful to him for that."

On another note, Spagnuolo said he has been very pleased with the play of rookie linebacker James Laurinaitis, who attended Wayzata High School and went on to star at Ohio State. He was a second-round pick by the Rams last April and leads all-rookies in the NFL with 34 tackles. That figure puts him 11th in the league.

"He's done a terrific job for us," Spagnuolo said. "It's tough in and of itself to be a rookie playing in this league and now also add to that being the [middle] linebacker. In our system, the Mike linebacker, we ask him to do a lot and I'm talking about the from the chin to the hairline. And he's been able to handle it terrifically and I think the guys trust him, they have a lot of confidence in him and that's been a key to what successes we have had on defense. We certainly have a long way to go in some areas but he's helped us in some, too."

Talking about the Rams' poor start, Spagnuolo said: "Mixed emotions as you can imagine. We certainly would like to have a better record than we have but there's a lot of good things going on here and that's what we're kind of hanging our hat on right now. The want to, the hunger, the embracing of change, the commitment that the guys have made has been remarkable. I think if we stay the course and stick to what we're doing eventually this thing will work itself out."