Coaches under intense pressure

[LosAngelesRams]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...-garrett-among-coaches-under-intense-pressure

At the midway point, things are heating up in this amazing and wacky 2014 season.
We have overachievement and misery. We have desperation and desire. Soon, we will separate the contenders from the pretenders.
Long story short, the pressure is mounting -- especially for the men in charge.
Some head coaches will earn their walking papers. Some need to hit the playoffs to survive. Some need more than just a playoff berth. Others need a miracle.

Here are the coaches facing the most pressure in the second half of the season, presented in countdown style:

9) Jeff Fisher, St. Louis Rams
There is no chance Fisher gets fired at the end of the year. And he shouldn't -- this is a really good coach.
That said, Fisher is sub-.500 (16-22-1) in two and a half years with St. Louis. While you can say he's had bad luck with injuries, Fisher's decision to bank on Sam Bradford was a mistake. And the head coach has major influence on general manager Les Snead in terms of picking players, so the roster comes back to Fisher.
Even with Austin Davis at quarterback and left tackle Jake Long out for the year, it would be nice to see some progress in the second half, something to build on for 2015.

More coaches in link, Rams related so I posted.

 

[LesBaker]

Banking on Bradford was a mistake for the ball club. Period.

 

[RamsJunkie]

I'm pretty sure Fisher gets one more year even if we finish with 4 or 5 wins but next year will be the year. If this team doesn't push for or make the playoffs next year I'm confident Stan will send him packing, I just hope when that happens they keep Snead and Demoff around.

 

[Jumava1968]

Did Fisher or Snead once say that we would never be picking 2nd again?

 

[jap]

Did Fisher or Snead once say that we would never be picking 2nd again?

Damn right! Of course, nothing was said about never picking first.

 

[LesBaker]

I'm pretty sure Fisher gets one more year even if we finish with 4 or 5 wins but next year will be the year. If this team doesn't push for or make the playoffs next year I'm confident Stan will send him packing, I just hope when that happens they keep Snead and Demoff around.

He'll get 5 years.

 

[RamsJunkie]

He'll get 5 years.

Do you really believe that if we finish with 3-5 wins this year then turn around and do it again next year he wont be fired?? I dont know how you keep the guy at that point I don't care what the situation is if your in the 4th year with your hand picked team and still cant put a good product on the field you dont deserve to keep your job. I dont care what it takes fisher better be in win now mode next year if that means hes gotta stop giving all his buddies a hall pass and start fireing some ass he better do it. I like fisher and I think and hope he cant succeed but the reality of the situation is you only get so many years as an NFL coach to get it right and if you don't owners are gonna bring in new blood and give them a shot at it. can you name a coach recently that went 7-8-1, 7-9 now hes got his team in place and the next 2 seasons he goes say 4-12 and 4-12 and kept there job??? Just can't see it happening.

 

[Rams and Gators]

I think there's plenty of coaches who would have done more with what Fisher has had to work with, and made better decisions along the way, I said prior to the season 7 wins and I'd want him gone, 4 is going to be awfully tough to swallow.

 

[LesBaker]

Do you really believe that if we finish with 3-5 wins this year then turn around and do it again next year he wont be fired?? I dont know how you keep the guy at that point I don't care what the situation is if your in the 4th year with your hand picked team and still cant put a good product on the field you dont deserve to keep your job. I dont care what it takes fisher better be in win now mode next year if that means hes gotta stop giving all his buddies a hall pass and start fireing some ass he better do it. I like fisher and I think and hope he cant succeed but the reality of the situation is you only get so many years as an NFL coach to get it right and if you don't owners are gonna bring in new blood and give them a shot at it. can you name a coach recently that went 7-8-1, 7-9 now hes got his team in place and the next 2 seasons he goes say 4-12 and 4-12 and kept there job??? Just can't see it happening.

It would be nearly impossible for this team to win 3-4 games next year. There is too much talent on the roster for that and the division is going to be weaker by next season. That said if it did happen then yes he would probably get fired.

I don't see him giving hall passes to his buddies, he fired BW and Walton was also a "friend".

 

[mr.stlouis]

I'm with Fisher he decides to retire. I can't say the same for Schotty or Greg Williams, especially Williams.


Schotty calls really good games half the time.

Our defense just needs to quit blowing assignments. I like the scheme, overall, I just think the players can't handle it right now. Maybe that's on Greg for over stressing a promising young group? IDK, but "it's getting old" was a slogan a month ago.

 

[RamsJunkie]

It would be nearly impossible for this team to win 3-4 games next year. There is too much talent on the roster for that and the division is going to be weaker by next season. That said if it did happen then yes he would probably get fired.

I don't see him giving hall passes to his buddies, he fired BW and Walton was also a "friend".

I agree it would be nearly impossible but if you would have told me before the season started that the rams would be 2-5 to start the season even after Bradford went down I would have sent you to a mental institution. Next year we should in theory be a lot better with some more draft picks and the D having an entire year under the GW defense but Ive gotten to the point(and I have always been one of those guys that every year before the season starts I believe that its the year the rams win it all) where I just cant let myself believe that any more until it happends. My heart has been broken by this team far to many times. Im just tired........ really tired.......

 

[Stranger]

Can we please get rid of John Shaw

 

[LesBaker]

I agree it would be nearly impossible but if you would have told me before the season started that the rams would be 2-5 to start the season even after Bradford went down I would have sent you to a mental institution. Next year we should in theory be a lot better with some more draft picks and the D having an entire year under the GW defense but Ive gotten to the point(and I have always been one of those guys that every year before the season starts I believe that its the year the rams win it all) where I just cant let myself believe that any more until it happends. My heart has been broken by this team far to many times. Im just tired........ really tired.......

Honestly 3 wins was what a lot of people thought was likely at this point if I recall. Some people, a small group, thought there could be 4 or more.

I wasn't expecting this team to have a shot at the playoffs so maybe I'm not as crestfallen as some fans. I don't like they way they have lost the games they did lose, especially the Cowboy and 49ers, but I can see this team closing out the year and looking a lot better than they do right now.

I'm not ready to fire everyone and start over because it's just too soon to do that.

 

[ChrisW]

I think there's plenty of coaches who would have done more with what Fisher has had to work with, and made better decisions along the way, I said prior to the season 7 wins and I'd want him gone, 4 is going to be awfully tough to swallow.

I think Fisher is a great motivator on game day, but he's stuck in the past with his schemes. His and his coaching staff's biggest problem is game-day adjustments.

 

[RamsJunkie]

Honestly 3 wins was what a lot of people thought was likely at this point if I recall. Some people, a small group, thought there could be 4 or more.

I wasn't expecting this team to have a shot at the playoffs so maybe I'm not as crestfallen as some fans. I don't like they way they have lost the games they did lose, especially the Cowboy and 49ers, but I can see this team closing out the year and looking a lot better than they do right now.

I'm not ready to fire everyone and start over because it's just too soon to do that.

I don't want them to fire everybody and start over either I hope to god that this coaching staff and team gets its crap together over the rest of this year and at this point in the season next year were not talking about the draft and fireing coaches were talking about playoffs and superbowl. It scares the shit out of me to start this whole damn thing over again.

 

[VeteranRamFan]

Can we please get rid of John Shaw and Jay Z?

There, fixed it for you.

 

[theramsruleUK]

I think there's plenty of coaches who would have done more with what Fisher has had to work with, and made better decisions along the way, I said prior to the season 7 wins and I'd want him gone, 4 is going to be awfully tough to swallow.

Could not agree more. This was a playoff year. If we win 4-5 games, to me this is completely unacceptable and personally, I believe that changes should be made.
Whether they will or not is another question I guess

 

[theramsruleUK]

I don't want them to fire everybody and start over either I hope to god that this coaching staff and team gets its crap together over the rest of this year and at this point in the season next year were not talking about the draft and fireing coaches were talking about playoffs and superbowl. It scares the crap out of me to start this whole damn thing over again.

I get what your saying, but if we go 4-12, what is there to cling onto? Change is good sometimes.

Put it this way, if we get 4/5 wins and nothing changes, would you be ok with that? I'm not sure I could be to be honest. Even if fisher keeps his HC job, I'd still hope that there would be some change of some kind

 

[DaveFan'51]

I can't/won't accept the premise that we will end up 4-12! we have 9 games to go. and we can finish 8-8 min. and that would be respectable all thins considered. but I'm shooting for 11-5!! GO RAMS!!

 

[den-the-coach]

Fisher & Williams will stay Rams won't go with another defensive coordinator for the 4th straight year, however, Schottenheimer will take a job in college because coaches like him always leave before they get fired. I also could see many changes on the staff including maybe Linebacker Coach Frank and Secondary Coach Chuck Cecil. Look for Blake Williams to be hired back as linebacker coach and Fisher & Williams bury the hatchet once and forever.

On the offensive side of the ball I look for a change at Coordinator and Quarterback Coach because that usually goes hand in hand. There could be some great assistant coaches available from this list, but more on the defensive side of the ball than offensive. Garrett & Monroe will stay IMO although with ownership change in Buffalo you never know, but Monroe would go back to college. Marc Trestman would be a thought as OC, however, I don't see the Bears pulling the plug on him anytime soon.

Problem is that I have no confidence in Fisher hiring the right guy to run the offense unless he comes out and give that OC total autonomy. The best the Rams can hope for as the new offensive coordinator is Dowell Loggains who currently is the Browns Quarterback Coach and you guessed it coached under Fisher in Tennessee.