The Los Angeles Rams officially gave head coach Jeff Fisher the ax following a tumultuous 2016 NFL season and simply an underwhelming tenure with the organization. Although many thought the Rams were ready to invest in Fisher after announcing a two-year contract extension, the team’s recent slew of overall bad performances forced COO Kevin Demoff to make a move.
According to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN, Fisher suggests there are no hard feelings in his statement regarding his release:
“First and foremost, I want to thank [owner] Stan Kroenke for the opportunity to be part of this organization the last four and a half years,” Fisher said. “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 news came just a day after Fisher tied Dan Reeves’ record for the most losses by a head coach in NFL history. Demoff says the decision was “solely a performance-related issue.”
“Starting today, we’ll have a complete review of the entire organization,” Demoff said. “We sat down with Les, and again, this team is not where it needs to be. And we need to own up to that from a coaching perspective, from a personnel perspective, from an administration perspective. I think all of us need to get better.”
In his departure, special-teams coach John Fassel has been promoted to interim head coach for the last three games of the season. However, there is no guarantee the rest of the coaching staff remains following the season.
During Fisher’s five seasons with the Rams, he amassed a record of 31-45-1. Following the team’s decision, special teams coordinator John Fassel will serve as the interim head coach for their Thursday Night Football matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.
With plenty of young talent and ample cap room, Los Angeles is expected to cast a net on some of the biggest coaching names in football.
