The Los Angeles Rams are currently one of three NFL teams without a head coach, as they elected to fire Jeff Fisher after he led them to their fifth losing season in five years that he was at the helm.
John Fassel has taken over as the interim head coach in Fisher’s absence, but the Rams front office has begun their search for their next head coach.
Early on the Rams targeted the big name head coaches like Jim Harbaugh, Pete Carroll and John Gruden, but were pretty much turned down by all of them as all three said they are comfortable in their current situations and do not want to leave.
With that being the case, the Rams must turn their head coaching search elsewhere. Our Rams411 staff debates on who their should target, based on who they realistically can get:
Eric Avakian (@EAvakian5):
When making a decision for the next head coach of the Rams, you need to look at a few factors. With the transition to Los Angeles now complete, playing in Southern California comes with certain expectations.
The Rams need to rebound from a forgettable 2016 season and make a decision that the team can evolve with. When analyzing the roster, it would be safe to assume that the offense is the primary issue and the somewhat established defense doesn’t need as much attention.
When looking at some realistic options, I believe the Rams should target the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots, Josh McDaniels. One of the key factors that goes in McDaniels’ favor is his experience. Playing with the Patriots, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady gives him a certain pedigree and proven history.
His offensive mind would be great to help Goff develop, while focusing on getting an appropriate defensive coordinator for the strong run defense. McDaniels and his offensive mind will be able to assemble an offensive scheme quickly for Goff to grow into.
With many offensive weapons like Tavon Austin and Todd Gurley, it gives the Super Bowl winning coordinator some options to work with.
In his lone head coaching gig, he went spent two seasons with the Denver Broncos. In his first season, he went 8-8, which was a promising result. However, in his second season he went 3-9 and was fired after Week 13.
With some more experience under his belt, the Rams should heavily consider McDaniels as a proven offensive mind for the Rams to move forward with.
Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand):
I think the Rams need to target an offensive mind that has a history of developing quarterbacks to be their next head coach. If they can get him, and I believe it’s possible that they can, I think the Rams should target New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton.
Payton began his NFL career as the quarterbacks coach of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1997. In his career as a quarterbacks coach he helped develop quarterbacks like Ty Detmer, Quincy Carter, Vinny Testaverde and Drew Bledsoe before being named the head coach of the Saints in 2006.
He won a Super Bowl with New Orleans in the 2009-10 season, and made the postseason each of the next three seasons after that. But since then he has missed the postseason three straight times going 7-9 each of the last two seasons and 7-8 so far this season.
The problem with Payton in New Orleans has always been their defense, not their offense. The Rams, on the other hand, have always had the opposite problem so bringing in Payton could help develop rookie quarterback Jared Goff and the Rams offense that ranks last in points scored in 2016.
Additionally, Los Angeles’ personnel on defense is much more talented than New Orleans’ defense, so it could be an appealing job for Payton would could be reaching the end of the line in New Orleans.
