Jeff Fisher

Less than one week after being fired by the Los Angeles Rams, Jeff Fisher is speaking out about his former employer. 

In a preview of an interview with Charissa Thompson of Fox Sports that will air during Sunday's pregame telecast (h/t NFL.com's Marc Sessler), Fisher does not seem like he's taking his dismissal well. 

"I want a chance to play the Rams," he said.

In addition to his desire to coach against the Rams, Fisher explained why he believes the team decided to let him go. 

"He didn't win enough games, and the organization has a much bigger picture," Fisher said. "And I don't think I was ever part of seeing the new stadium."

Upon being let go by the Rams on Monday, ESPN's Alden Gonzalez provided a statement from Fisher:

First and foremost, I want to thank Stan Kroenke for the opportunity to be part of this organization the last four and a half years. I want to thank the entire football staff as it has been a privilege to work with each one of them day in and day out. I especially want to thank all the players. They are a great group of men that I respect, and that I will greatly miss. My hope is that each one of the players experience great success in the future.

The timing of Fisher's firing was certainly interesting, as it came just one week after he confirmed that he signed a two-year contract extension before this season started. The Rams were also playing on a short week, going to Seattle for a Thursday night game against the Seahawks.

Fisher's tenure with the Rams can be described as a disappointment, at best. He went 31-45-1 in nearly five full seasons with the team, never winning more than seven games in a single year, and he tied Dan Reeves' dubious NFL record with 165 losses as a head coach in his final game against the Atlanta Falcons. 

Considering the way things ended for Fisher in Los Angeles, his next coaching opportunity may not come for a long time. He is only 58 years old and can afford to wait for a better situation, though a team has to be willing to bring him on board to make a deal happen.

His old team might be playing Thursday night against the Seattle Seahawks, but former Los Angeles Rams head coach Jeff Fisher is already looking for his next job on an NFL sideline.

During the NBC telecast for Thursday night's game, commentator Al Michaels revealed he spoke to Fisher, whom the Rams fired Monday after four-plus seasons, and noted Fisher wants to continue his career as a head coach (via Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio).

It's been a rocky road for Fisher, who has experienced six straight losing seasons, dating back to his time as the head coach of the Tennessee Titans.

Fisher had been with the organization since its days as the Houston Oilers, remaining at the helm from 1994 to 2010. However, he had just six winning seasons in that stretch, and those were the only ones of his 22-year coaching career.

With a career record of 173-165, he is tied with Dan Reeves for the most defeats as a head coach in NFL history, per Pro-Football-Reference.com.

To make matters worse, a feud with Rams legend Eric Dickerson this season saw him fall further out of favor within a Los Angeles market that has an NFL franchise for the first time since 1994.

Florio noted Fisher is "very well connected within the league and the media," which should increase his chances of getting another job. That might not happen for a few years, however, given his unceremonious exit in Los Angeles.

    

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Is Jeff Fisher overrated? Or are the challenges he has faced in his coaching career misunderstood?

Those two questions are critical to consider now that Fisher has officially been fired, per Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com and confirmed by the Rams. In what was his 22nd season as an NFL coach, Fisher tied Dan Reeves' record for most career losses, with no Super Bowl titles for either man.

It's worth noting that four of the top seven coaches in losses are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Tom Landry, Don Shula, George Halas and Chuck Noll).

At the same time, Fisher has twice been the coach of a team that has moved, something no other coach in NFL history has ever done. He has also worked for two owners—the late Bud Adams and now Stan Kroenke—who have track records of failing to win, no matter who they hired as coaches and no matter what sports they have tried.

So now that Fisher is officially gone, it's fair to ask whether his legacy is more complicated than anybody cares to understand.

Or, to twist a phrase from retired quarterback Peyton Manning, there's a lot of information represented by the dashes in Fisher's career record—a lot of stuff that is hard to comprehend for anyone who hasn't lived that world.

"I'm not sure if you can cut him a break, but it has to be factored into the analysis," former longtime Raiders executive Amy Trask said of Fisher's history of moving teams.

As for ownership, former Cleveland and Baltimore executive Phil Savage summed it up.

"It's really hard if you don't have great ownership," Savage said. "Leadership starts at the top. You have to have ownership that's ready to stomach the things that happen when you struggle. It's the owner and all the king's men. You can't just jump ship."

Yet Adams and Kroenke are exactly those men who have jumped ship when it came to moving their teams. Along the way, both have hired Fisher to help guide the players through the issues.

Does that make Fisher a uniquely talented coach who has navigated very difficult circumstances? Or do the bottom-line results, including only one Super Bowl appearance compared to Reeves' four, make him overrated?

The Rams never had a winning season under Jeff Fisher. pic.twitter.com/ZM8yIvYmPo

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) December 12, 2016

    

Ownership

Since 1980, there are 10 NFL franchises that have won multiple Super Bowls. San Francisco has won five, New England and the New York Giants have four, Washington and Dallas have three, and Pittsburgh, the Raiders, Baltimore and Green Bay have two.

The common denominator among eight of those teams? Driven ownership. The exceptions are Baltimore (current owner Steve Bisciotti was in the process of buying the team from Art Modell when the Ravens won their first title) and Green Bay, which is publicly owned and driven by the sole purpose to win.

The rest of those teams were led by men who wanted nothing more than to win, such as Eddie DeBartolo with the 49ers, Jack Kent Cooke with the Redskins and Al Davis with the Raiders. Having someone like that is vital in the modern age of the NFL.

On the flip side, distant or disinterested ownership can undermine an organization.

In the case of Kroenke, numerous people in multiple sports wonder if he has any desire to win. Is he in sports only because he can drive up the value of his portfolio?

There has been long-standing speculation in Denver that Kroenke would ultimately like to sell the Rams and buy the Broncos when Pat Bowlen passes away. That rumor led a Broncos executive to sarcastically say, "We would never do that to Broncos fans."

St. Louis fans were initially happy when Kroenke, a Missouri native, bought control of the team in 2010. After six years and a 36-59-1 record, the tide turned against Kroenke, particularly as it became clear he wanted to move the team.

As for how the team will do in Los Angeles, Kroenke lives in Malibu, which is only a short drive over the Santa Monica Mountains from Thousand Oaks, and numerous NFL executives have said they are banking on the fact that Kroenke lives there as a motivating factor to make the team competitive.

"I don't think he's going to want to be embarrassed in his hometown with the people he socializes with," an NFL owner said recently with shaky confidence.

For Fisher, Kroenke's distance gave him some autonomy over the Rams. It was Fisher who pushed for the trade to get Jared Goff. Fisher figured to get at least three years to develop the quarterback, which was a big part of the logic behind the contract extension, which was in the works for almost a year.

In the case of Adams, Fisher got more interference, particularly at the end. For most of Adams' career as an owner, he was driven to make money. By the end, he wanted revenge.

At age 37 in 1960, Adams was one of the founding owners of the American Football League. He was a maverick and a pioneer in the game, and his Houston Oilers won the first two AFL titles in 1960 and 1961.

Adams then went the rest of his life (52 years) without winning a title.

Unless you count the nickname "Bottom Line Bud" as a title. That’s how employees referred to Adams over the years because of his penny-pinching ways.

Adams got into a nasty political tiff with the mayor of Houston over a new stadium in the 1990s. When Houston refused to build, Adams moved the Oilers to Tennessee in 1997. Nashville was willing to build a stadium for him.

In Tennessee, the Titans made one Super Bowl with Fisher and star quarterback Steve McNair. As McNair's career came to an end, Adams not only drafted his replacement but pushed McNair out the door in humiliating fashion. In 2006, Adams ordered Fisher and the Titans to draft Vince Young at No. 3 overall.

Adams wanted Young as revenge against Houston, which had since built a stadium and procured the expansion Houston Texans. Young is from Houston and had been a star at the University of Texas.

The owner was so infatuated with Young that Adams could recite the QB's college statistics and achievements by heart.

Adams wanted Young. Fisher was forced to take him, and the result was five erratic seasons that eventually led to the forcing out of both Young and Fisher.

   

Moving

Of the top 38 coaches in NFL history in terms of longevity, Fisher is the only one to have moved a team, let alone do it twice. The only coach close to Fisher in terms of that achievement is Tom Coughlin, who started the Jacksonville Jaguars from scratch in 1995 as an expansion team.

But even Coughlin didn't have as many issues to worry about as Fisher.

The travails of moving a team are millions of overlooked details.

One Rams employee joked this summer about looking for a place to live. He and his family had owned a home in St. Louis. They decided to rent in Southern California for the time being and toured several homes.

"I saw the rent and said, 'Where's the rest of the house?'" he said with a chuckle.

The issues are seemingly endless, from helping players, coaches and staff with buying and selling homes to replacing staff members who don't want to move to hiring and training new people to replace them to operating in temporary facilities to learning how not to kill your players.

That's right, how not to kill your players.

In 1995, the Rams moved from Southern California to St. Louis. The team hired Steve Ortmayer as vice president of football in mid-January that year to handle the move, which wasn't technically approved until March. Ortmayer hired Rich Brooks from the University of Oregon to be the head coach.

Brooks had more than 30 years of experience as a coach, starting immediately after he graduated from college. There was one problem: Brooks had never played or coached for teams outside the West Coast. He had spent his entire life living and working in either Oregon or California. He had never gone through a training camp that featured Midwest humidity.

So when the Rams started training camp that year at Maryville University in St. Louis, Brooks had to be instructed on some things. About two weeks into training camp, team doctors and the training staff had a sit-down with Brooks.

"It was about 95 degrees at the start of training camp and then it got into the low 100s," Ortmayer said. “Our training staff and doctors told him, 'If you don't back significantly off on these guys, somebody is going to die.'"

Ortmayer, who described the entire process as "chaos," wasn't joking.

That was part of overall experience that then-Rams defensive coordinator Willie Shaw called "a nightmare."

"I don't wish that on anybody who's trying to run a team. You almost need to take the season off to really do it right," Shaw said. "It was September, October and even in November, we were still looking for things in boxes. ... We never got out of the boxes the whole year because they were building our new [training] facility that year, so we weren't going to unpack everything and then repack it.

"You feel like a vagabond the whole time."

In the grand scheme, that kind of distraction may be small, but things like that add up. The Rams spent half the 1995 season playing in since-closed Busch Stadium before the downtown dome opened. Figuring out where to go and where to park was one of the many details the team had to work through.

Now back in Los Angeles, the issues are similar. The Rams have been training out of a hotel in Oxnard while they wait for a training facility to be finished in Thousand Oaks. That facility is roughly an hour from where the Rams play at the Los Angeles Coliseum and where they will eventually play in a new stadium in Inglewood.

In 1996, the Baltimore Ravens made the dramatic move from Cleveland. The Ravens initially moved into a police training facility that amounted to barracks with a couple of substandard fields. That's only the football portion of the equation.

"We had people to help us with the initial move and, in hindsight, we probably should have kept them around with us longer," said Kevin Byrne, the Baltimore Ravens senior vice president of public and community relations. Byrne has been with the team for 35 years, dating to when the Ravens were in Cleveland and shocked the NFL world by moving after the 1995 season.

The Ravens weren't prepared for the large number of new people who also started to surround the team.

"When players move and have a lot of money, people find them," Byrne said. "You get bad people around your players. People you don't know. They will literally follow a guy from the [team] facility after practice to a restaurant and say, 'Hey, you're new in town, let me help you.'"

Byrne paused for a second.

"I can only imagine what that's like in Los Angeles," he said. "There are a million things that happen and the players are left holding the bag, especially the veterans who maybe just signed a longer contract, bought a house and then discovered there was a shift in expenses."

When then-Ravens owner Art Modell told the players about the move, he promised to make the players "whole" on any housing costs. While well-intentioned, Modell essentially lied. Under NFL collective bargaining agreement rules, Modell couldn't pay any of the difference in housing costs.

Worse, while he could have paid for some of the moving expenses, he eventually didn't.

"Salving those wounds and helping that process is way more important than you think," Byrne said. "You've got guys at practice, trying to get them to focus and, oh, by the way, they still have a house back in another town they're trying to sell or rent. A head coach can't solve that. He can't do it. It's hard enough to keep a team together, whether you're winning or fighting for your life."

Perhaps that's why Fisher deserves some credit.

"I do think it's important to have in place a coach who is mature, adult and reasonable to handle all of the issues that come up," Trask said. "I know Jeff is all of those things."

No doubt, but does that mean that he's a good coach?

"To get a team moved is a real tribute to a coach," Ortmayer said when asked about Fisher specifically. "But he has been a coach an awful long time, and the results aren't that great."

Jeff Fisher could afford to be stubborn, predictable, hidebound, uncreative, uninspiring, indefensibly mediocre and historically unsuccessful and still keep his job as head coach of the Los Angeles Rams.

He just could not afford to be publicly embarrassing.

The Rams relieved Fisher of his head coaching duties Monday afternoon. It would have been no surprise for most coaches. The Rams have lost eight of their last nine games, the last two by a combined score of 68-24. They amassed a 31-45-1 record under Fisher over nearly five seasons. Change was overdue the way a library book found in the attic of an abandoned house is overdue.

But the Rams announced an inexplicable Fisher contract extension just one week ago. Fisher had become some hybrid of Wolverine, a horror movie villain and a tenured college professor who falls asleep during his own lectures. The football world was just coming to terms with the fact that Fisher's perennial, indefatigable mediocrity was as inevitable as death, taxes and laundry.

But then came the embarrassment.

First, there was a public feud with Rams legend Eric Dickerson. Dickerson claimed Fisher made him feel unwelcome around the organization because the Hall of Fame running back was too critical. Fisher downplayed the hostility of his position toward Dickerson. The organization was caught in the middle of a public relations nightmare between a popular old player and an unpopular coach while trying to re-establish a beachhead in the Los Angeles media market.

Then, there was the media conference call in which Fisher identified Danny Woodhead as one of the Patriots running backs. Woodhead has not played for the Patriots in four years. Casual fantasy football gamers wouldn't make the blunder Fisher made during his week of preparation for an important game. It became a national punch line, and it gave the impression of a head coach who had checked out from his day-to-day responsibilities.

Third came FishyLeaks. Fisher name-dropped a pair of draft picks that did not pan out during a press conference, tacitly throwing blame for those selections (and, by consequence, for the disappointing Rams offense) on general manager Les Snead, who answers to Fisher. After the remarks, Albert Breer of The MMQB investigated and ferreted out some friction in the Rams organization. Fisher made a point of calling out those who "leaked" the information. It painted the image of a coach more interested in information and damage control than solving his team's problems.

Lastly, there were Todd Gurley's postgame remarks after Sunday's 42-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Gurley compared the Rams offense to a "middle school offense" and claimed players were just "going through the motions."

Finally, all the boxes were checked off. Failure of team marketing? Checked by Dickerson. Failure of game-planning? Checked by Woodhead. Failure of organizational stability? Checked by FishyLeaks. Failure of team chemistry/system "buy-in?" Todd Gurley, checkmate.

Failure to win football games? That was never going to get Fisher fired. Fisher leaves the Rams tied for the most losses in NFL coaching history. Andy Reid has two fewer wins than Fisher but 52 fewer losses. Bill Belichick could go 0-16 for six straight years and still have a higher winning percentage than Fisher.

Rams owner Stan Kroenke builds department stores for a living. He was around the league for decades as a minority owner before taking over the Rams in 2010, but he also owns the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and Arsenal, so he's not a guy who spends time studying game plans. Sports exist for Kroenke to build, fill and cross-promote entertainment complexes. He likely has only a vague idea of what NFL head coaching really entails. He hired himself a coach that almost won a Super Bowl once, is on a first-name basis with everyone in the NFL and beats the Seahawks every now and then.

Fisher sold Kroenke on the idea that he provided "stability" while the Rams moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles. Kroenke bought it. He spun the standard cliches about attacking, aggressive defense and establishing the run on offense. Kroenke believed them as though they were new. Fisher was no longer very good at coaching—the game had passed him by, in a variety of ways, since his Tennessee Titans heyday—but he was outstanding at looking, sounding and acting the part. Kroenke was willing to go along with his old-school football wisdom.

Fisher acquired a ransom in draft picks in the 2012 Robert Griffin trade, selected some very good players, yet kept finishing under .500. He engineered a Sam Bradford-for-Nick Foles trade that was little more than a waste of time and energy. He pulled a reverse-Griffin by spending picks to trade up for Jared Goff, decreed Goff unready to start, waited two months, then inserted the poor kid in the lineup to remove all doubt.

Fisher squirmed away from accountability every time. Why can't a team built out of a bundle of high draft picks reach the playoffs? Why did the Rams draft an unprepared quarterback, and in an era when rookie quarterbacks often perform well during on-the-job training, why couldn't Fisher's staff prepare him? Fisher always kept the Rams on the verge of being competitive, burning resources while keeping them perpetually a year away from putting the pieces together. Kroenke let himself be strung along, figuring one day Goff would be great, everyone else would be acclimated to California and the 13-3 seasons would begin.

You can fool a multimillionaire like Kroenke but not at his own games: marketing, public relations, promotion. And you certainly cannot humiliate him. Kroenke knows a public relations nightmare when he sees it, and Fisher spent the last two weeks serving them up in rapid succession. As for Fisher's stability-unity-toughness cliche bundle, it's hard for anyone to seriously believe he is somehow keeping the troops goal-oriented when his brightest young star, suffering through a miserable season, begins venting about "going through the motions."

Fisher could lose all he wanted. But he couldn't make Kroenke choose between him and Dickerson, as well as the season-ticket purchasers sympathetic to Dickerson. He couldn't make Kroenke take sides between him and Gurley, the guy whose image goes on all of the merchandise. Fisher couldn't make Kroenke look this silly in the days after that ill-conceived extension was announced. Business magnates like Kroenke eat contracts like Fisher's for breakfast all the time when it means moving on from a bad idea.

So Kroenke fired Fisher, politely affirming his "great respect for Jeff as a coach, person, father and friend," because professionals extract themselves from bad deals with the least possible drama. The Rams are left without an obvious replacement, because people like Fisher are far too survival-savvy to keep potential rivals among their assistants. John Fassel, special teams coordinator and son of former Giants head coach Jim Fassel, is the likely interim successor, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Kroenke will embark on his coaching search offering an appealing situation: new market, new stadium coming soon, top quarterback prospect ready for grooming, some Pro Bowl talent, a fanbase ready to embrace anyone who isn't Jeff Fisher. Kroenke may look for a big name like Mike Shanahan or a hotshot young coordinator. Maybe he has learned his lesson from the NFL "old school" and seeks innovation. Maybe he's seeking another flavor of comfort food.

Whoever gets the Rams job will probably have a year or two to sort through the Fisher rubble. Kroenke appears to be a deep-pocketed owner who holds a fairly long leash.

Just don't embarrass him the way Fisher did. You'll only end up embarrassing yourself.

   

Mike Tanier covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @MikeTanier.

The Los Angeles Rams have fired head coach Jeff Fisher, a little over a week after news broke that they signed him to a contract extension before the season began.

Fisher's departure came after the Rams lost 42-14 Sunday to the Atlanta Falcons, which clinched the franchise's 10th straight losing season.

SB Nation's Hector Diaz and Fox Sports' Katie Nolan summed up the general reaction on social media:

https://twitter.com/iamHectorDiaz/status/808398131637297152

When the whole office gets the alert that the Rams fired Fisher pic.twitter.com/5Wn6SmDzMj

— Katie Nolan (@katienolan) December 12, 2016

Shannon Penn, a producer on The Right Time with Bomani Jones, knew the Rams fan who will be the happiest with Fisher's firing:

Eric Dickerson right now: pic.twitter.com/STkPvyR27m

— Shannon Penn (@Shannon_Penn) December 12, 2016

Annie Apple, mother of New York Giants cornerback Eli Apple, thought Jared Goff would take the news well:

https://twitter.com/SurvivinAmerica/status/808409997826781184

SB Nation's Fear The Sword pictured the scene inside team headquarters when the decision was made:

"Jeff I know we just extended you but we're gonna have to let you go"

Fisher: "You know the money is guaranteed right?"

"Yes" pic.twitter.com/LxXyfXBl2L

— FearTheSword (@FearTheSword) December 12, 2016

Rob Perez praised Fisher's business acumen:

https://twitter.com/World_Wide_Wob/status/808399362036363264

CBSSports.com's Tom Fornelli noted Fisher was one loss away from making history:

How you gonna fire Jeff Fisher when he’s one loss away from the all-time record? That’s cold, @RamsNFL

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) December 12, 2016

FS1's Kristine Leahy wondered if that was in the coach's best interest:

Maybe the Rams are just doing Jeff Fisher a favor. Now he can't have the most losses for a head coach in NFL history. Stays tied.

— Kristine Leahy (@KristineLeahy) December 12, 2016

CBSSports.com's Jamey Eisenberg thought of a great way for Rams players to salute their former coach:

It would be nice to see the Rams finish 7-9 in Jeff Fisher's honor.

— Jamey Eisenberg (@JameyEisenberg) December 12, 2016

Sports on Earth's Matt Brown is already looking ahead to the next step in Fisher's coaching career:

The dream now is for Jeff Fisher to become a college coach who takes five straight 6-6 teams to the Quick Lane Bowl.

— Matt Brown (@MattBrownCFB) December 12, 2016

NBC Sports' Patrick Daugherty tried to put himself in Fisher's head now that the 58-year-old is unemployed:

Jeff Fisher's first retirement google search. pic.twitter.com/S2NGgyZSRI

— Patrick Daugherty (@RotoPat) December 12, 2016

NFL writer Rand Getlin reported special teams coordinator John Fassel will serve as interim head coach. Fassel won't have much time to get settled into his new role since the Rams play the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday.

Firing Fisher was the right decision for Los Angeles following the team's 4-9 start and lack of progress over the past couple of years. That's not to say the Rams' problems will end now that he's gone.

NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal highlighted how the Rams and San Francisco 49ers' coaching mistakes will continue to linger:

The Seahawks have Carroll. The Cards have Arians. The Rams and 49ers will be paying Fisher and Tomsula in 2018.

— Gregg Rosenthal (@greggrosenthal) December 12, 2016

Bleacher Report's Matt Miller put together a rebuilding plan for Los Angeles:

My advice to the @RamsNFL? Blow it up. New GM. New HC. Three year plan to build around Goff like Tennessee has Mariota.

— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) December 12, 2016

Goff has thrown for 744 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions in five games as a rookie. Considering the Rams gave up a small fortune, including their first- and third-round selections in 2017, to move up and get Goff, the franchise can't abandon the young quarterback now.

Los Angeles' best move would be to hire a coach who specializes in offense to get the most out of Goff as well as running back Todd Gurley, who said to reporters the team had a "middle school offense" after the defeat to the Falcons.

It's doubtful an NFL team gives Fisher another shot as a head coach. His last winning record came in 2008. If an owner does take a chance and bring him back, though, Fisher's next defeat would break Dan Reeves' NFL record of 165 losses.

Jeff Fisher's run as the Los Angeles Rams head coach is over after four-plus seasons. The Rams announced Fisher's dismissal Monday after Los Angeles lost 42-14 to the Atlanta Falcons.

Myles Simmons of the Rams' official site shared a statement from team owner Stan Kroenke on the decision to part ways with Fisher:

Full statement from Rams Owner/Chairman E. Stanley Kroenke regarding the Rams relieving Jeff Fisher of his head coaching duties. pic.twitter.com/aED6cenkwl

— Myles Simmons (@MylesASimmons) December 12, 2016

Later in the day, Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff called the firing "solely a performance issue," telling reporters that "we wanted to make sure games like yesterday didn't happen again."

Fisher released a statement on NFL Live Tuesday, per Alden Gonzalez of ESPN:

First and foremost, I want to thank Stan Kroenke for the opportunity to be part of this organization the last four and a half years. I want to thank the entire football staff as it has been a privilege to work with each one of them day in and day out. I especially want to thank all the players. They are a great group of men that I respect, and that I will greatly miss. My hope is that each one of the players experience great success in the future.

The Rams later announced special teams coordinator John Fassel will be named the interim coach in Fisher's place. Demoff said Fassel was chosen because, among other reasons, it is the least disruptive to the team's game plan and he's worked with the coaching staff.

Fisher, 58, went 31-45-1 during his tenure. Taking over in 2012 after a 17-year run with the Tennessee Titans, Fisher failed to make the playoffs during his entire run with the Rams and never posted a record above .500.

The Rams peaked in Fisher's first season, going 7-8-1. They've been a typical middle-of-the-road Fisher team since, posting a pair of 7-9s to go with this year's 4-9 record. Fisher had signed a two-year extension in the offseason, but the franchise decided to part ways after Sunday's blowout loss.

"Of course I will go to the games now," Rams legend Eric Dickerson told Colin Cowherd on The Herd after Fisher was fired, per ESPN.com.

Dickerson was embroiled in a feud with Fisher over critical comments the former running back made about the franchise and was boycotting the franchise's games as long as Fisher was in charge.

Dickerson also told AM 570 LA Sports that he wanted Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh to take over for Fisher, per ESPN.com:

Not about who's caring biggest stick it's about who's winning. Jim Harbaugh is that guy. That is what it comes down to. He went to Michigan now they are winning. Stanford as well. That offensive line can be fixed but have to get right person in line. If they want to win people in charge have to get people in there that can win.

While they've boasted consistent defensive talent throughout Fisher's tenure, the Rams' inability to find a coherent offense has been their undoing.

The Rams have used seven starting quarterbacks since 2012, none of whom played well. Sam Bradford struggled with injuries and a lack of downfield passing skills. Austin Davis, Kellen Clemens and Shaun Hill were replacement-level options, while the 2015 combo of Nick Foles and Case Keenum didn't work out. The Rams drafted Jared Goff with the first overall pick in 2016 but sat him in favor of Keenum before eventually turning to the rookie.

Part of the problem has been at wide receiver, a spot the Rams have consistently failed to fill. They used a second-round pick on Brian Quick in 2012 and two picks in the first three rounds of the 2013 draft on Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey. They also signed tight end Jared Cook to a big contract, but none of the moves have panned out.

Kenny Britt, signed off the scrap heap in 2014, was the team's leading receiver in 2014 and 2015. Austin took that mantle this season but remains a bit of an enigma.

General manager Les Snead is also on the hot seat, with Demoff telling reporters Snead and his department will be "analyzed closely," but noted no decision has been made on his future.

Effort or not, the production wasn't there for Fisher. Overall, he's coached 22 years in the NFL and posted six winning seasons. The Rams are probably smart to move on, and it'd be surprising to see Fisher get a top job again.

Los Angeles Rams head coach Jeff Fisher is one defeat away from history after tying Dan Reeves' record for most career losses (165) as an NFL head coach, per NFL on CBS.

The Rams fell 42-14 to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, which clinched the franchise's 10th straight losing season.

"You can look at as glass half full or empty," Fisher said on Dec. 5 about potentially passing Reeves, per ABC Los Angeles' Ashley Brewer.

Setting the all-time loss record would be a testament to Fisher's longevity and general mediocrity. Excluding his first year as a head coach—when he was in charge of the Houston Oilers for six games—his teams have finished .500 or worse on 15 of 21 occasions.

Reeves, in comparison, had 12 winning seasons in 23 years.

Coach	Record	Years Coached	Playoff Appearances	Conference Titles
Dan Reeves	190-165-2	23	9	4
Jeff Fisher	173-165-1	22	6	1

Sunday's heavy defeat comes a week after Fisher confirmed he received a two-year extension from the Rams, according to ESPN.com's Alden Gonzalez. While many were critical of the deal, USA Today's Tom Pelissero speculated that it's unlikely Fisher sees out the next two years with the team.

The Rams' remaining schedule offers a faint glimmer of hope for Fisher that he can at least see out 2016 before surpassing Reeves.

Los Angeles goes on the road to play the Seattle Seahawks, who will be working on a short week without Earl Thomas. While the Rams will be the underdogs, Seattle looked awful without Thomas in a 38-10 defeat to the Green Bay Packers. The Rams should have a puncher's chance.

They then wrap up the regular season against the Arizona Cardinals—losers in three of their last four—and the 1-12 San Francisco 49ers.

Has there been a more perfect embodiment of the Los Angeles Rams' season?

During Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots, head coach Jeff Fisher tried to challenge a play. One problem—he couldn’t find that pesky red flag.

As ESPN’s Field Yates noted, Fisher actually had to verbally request the review:

Jeff Fisher just tried to challenge a play but literally couldn't find his challenge flag. Had to verbally ask the official.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) December 4, 2016

Could the flag have been stolen?

Jeff Fisher. Trying to challenge. Can't find his red flag. Maybe Danny Woodhead has it. Maybe Eric Dickerson has it.

— Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) December 4, 2016

Update: Per ESPN's Alden Gonzalez, even Fisher found humor in the incident: 

"So when I walked up to the official, I said, 'I want to review the catch. I think it's a catch.' And he goes, 'Well, where's your flag?' I said, 'It's right here. I can feel it, but I can't find it.' And he goes, 'Well, you need the flag.'"

"It was hilarious," Fisher said. "It was just one of those funny moments on the sideline."

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Head coach Jeff Fisher is set to lead the Los Angeles Rams beyond their first season back in the City of Angels.

After the Rams' loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday, Fisher confirmed to reporters he received an extension during the offseason.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport first reported Sunday morning the team reached an agreement with Fisher on what is believed to be a two-year contract extension. ESPN's Adam Schefter confirmed the report, adding that general manager Les Snead also signed an extension.

Rapoport reported Fisher and the Rams agreed to the extension during the preseason, but Fisher didn't officially sign it until the regular season.

"A contract extension does not give Jeff Fisher any more job security," Schefter noted. "Rams must win and play well down stretch or his job will be in danger."

Jason Cole of Bleacher Report echoed that sentiment Monday, noting there's no guarantee Fisher returns despite the extension:

Although the 58-year-old was in the final year of his original deal, the news comes as a surprise. After a 3-1 start to open the 2016 campaign, the Rams find themselves at 4-8 through 13 weeks.

Fisher, who played at USC, has ties to Southern California.

Based on how his teams have performed of late, however, that hometown connection will only go so far. At a certain point, the Rams will have to become a playoff contender in order to maintain the excitement their move caused.

For the majority of his coaching career, Fisher has come to define NFL mediocrity, a point to which SportsPickle alluded:

No one fails as successfully as Jeff Fisher fails. https://t.co/a81VJbQUAy

— The Pickle (@sportspickle) March 1, 2016

Hall of Fame running back and Rams legend Eric Dickerson also criticized the extension during an appearance on Fox 11 Los Angeles on Sunday:

In 10 of his 16 full seasons with the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans, he finished at or below .500. That trend followed him to St. Louis when he joined the Rams in 2012. Here's how the team finished and where its offense and defense ranked in each season since, per Pro-Football-Reference.com:

Season	Team Record	Division Finish	Total Offense	Scoring Offense	Total Defense	Scoring Defense
2012	7-8-1	3rd	23rd	25th	14th	14th
2013	7-9	4th	30th	21st	15th	13th
2014	6-10	4th	28th	21st	17th	16th
2015	7-9	3rd	32nd	29th	23rd	13th

Of course, this extension doesn't preclude team owner Stan Kroenke from firing Fisher should the Rams have an underwhelming debut campaign in Los Angeles.

In St. Louis, the Rams had to compete for attention with only the Cardinals and Blues. Now, they have six different competitors—the Clippers, Lakers, Dodgers, Kings, Sparks and Galaxy—all within the greater Los Angeles area. The Angels and Anaheim Ducks are also less than one hour south down Interstate 5.

A poor record in 2016 won't put the Rams' future in jeopardy, especially considering they're not moving into their Inglewood, California, stadium until 2019. That said, Fisher's extension isn't the kind of development that will galvanize the fanbase.

NFL coaches have a lot of information to remember, and thus it's understandable one may get confused every now and again.

That is apparently what occurred with Los Angeles Rams head coach Jeff Fisher during a Wednesday conference call leading up to Sunday's game between the Rams and New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. 

According to Hayden Bird of Boston.com, a reporter asked Fisher about New England's use of three running backs in games. Fisher mentioned both LeGarrette Blount and "Brandon," most likely Brandon Bolden. 

https://twitter.com/PhinsiderRadio/status/804080883443625984

Fisher continued: "You’ve got to deal with him, in addition to Danny. You’ve got playmakers all around, so we have to play sound defense."

It's widely assumed Fisher meant Danny Woodhead, who spent three seasons with the Patriots early in his career. Woodhead joined the San Diego Chargers in March 2013, and the Chargers placed him on injured reserve in September after he suffered a torn ACL.

L.A. fans are surely hoping Fisher was just having a little fun during the call. 

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