Someone sell me on Jeff Fisher

[Prime Time]

I figured someone would point to him.

No.

Martz was a great offensive mind but he wasn't a competent HC. He didn't manage the game well, he used challenges at the worst times, and while Lovie Smith was a great hire, after Smith left, his hires were bad.

Like Buddy Ryan, Martz was a brilliant coordinator but not such a good head coach.

Was glad to see Martz move on due to the dysfunction that was partly his fault and also because the team was trending down, but that .624 winning percentage would look good right about now. Don't want to argue about his value as HC because chances are he'll never get hired for that position again, just saying that he was competent, imo.

One thing I liked about Martz was that he put the pedal to the metal. No way he would have let the clock run down with a minute or two left in the first half. He was scary at times but fun to watch.

 

[Merlin]

For the record though...

Snead and Fisher waited WAAAAAAAAYYYYY too long to actually address the O-Line. That's their biggest fault and it's a big one. They spent on re-tread O-Lineman who couldn't/can't stay healthy or weren't that good and went in other directions in the draft until Robinson.

You could legit say they failed to adequately protect the biggest investment and most integral player on the team, hell, the player they said drew them to this job. I get their need to address the D early and am glad for some of the picks.....but quite frankly, we could have a far better O-Line, built through the draft, playing better because of cohesiveness (i.e. we drafted them) and we didn't.

That's a big black eye on this regime.

Agreed. They have also been a bit cavalier about it, as well, with comments from Snead I believe it was and I paraphrase about how the OL tend to come out of nowhere or some such nonsense. Compare it to Vermiel and his addition of Pace right off the top, he clearly knew how important it was to protect the QB. Clearly their plan was to retool the OL quickly with FA while they built the defense right. Well now the defense is starting to come together but the OL is looking like it needs to be built right, i.e. via the draft.

And yes Fish whiffed on the Walton hire. However it's hard to blame him too much when that would never have happened if Williams hadn't been suspended after his hire. So whatever, that's a wash for me.

My hope is that Fish will be like some other coaches in that he's better in his second go-round. But as I've said before, I am afraid that if he doesn't replace Schotty he's not gonna succeed. Williams is gonna be dynamite with the defense, great days are ahead. We need a similar coaching talent level on the other side of the ball, a guy with some scheme creativity to utilize the talent available.

And of course a QB. This team is close, and it's torture but it is far better right now to be a Rams fan than the previous decade prior to Fish's arrival. Let's see what this team looks like in 2015 and go from there IMO.

 

[Big Unit]

I just don't see any coach available that's a known commodity, and that I would prefer over Jeff Fisher. Sure, we could get lucky and find a transformational coach; but I'd say we'd be more likely to have a downgrade, than an upgrade. And the players seem to like him.

It's like the quarterback position; there are probably 5 transformational QBs; another 5 better than average; and the rest are either competent game managers, or something less. I don't have the list in front of me, but look at the list of first-round QBs drafted since Bradford in 2010: One premium (Andrew Luck); the remainder I'd argue are no better than, mostly worse than, a healthy Bradford. (Locker, Manziel, RGIII, Locker, etc.) The jury is still out on Bortles, but definitely no sure thing.

Bottom line is you control the things you can control; draft in a balanced manner and to upgrade your roster; and...hope for serendipity. The GSOT team had serendipity; it was wasted by Martz when they were cheated out of Championship #2; and then it was over.

History shows a winning team has to be good, AND lucky. I think Fisher is getting us better; but our luck has been atrocious. I say, stay the course; keep grinding; get the defense better trained and playing fast under Williams; and hope for magic. Become one of the 10-12 good teams, who lack only that intangible that puts you over the top.

We've come a heck of a long way in three years, with horrible luck, and every other team in the division getting better at the same time. Next year I agree - if we have the same QB all year and don't win 10 games (and the QB now only need be a competent game manager), I'll be disappointed. That should fix the Fisher issue; but regardless, head coaching is not the problem, especially now that the defense is starting to play up to its ability.

 

[fancents86]

IMO Fisher will build you a championship winning team, but his coaching philosophies and coordinator decisions will hold you back from winning a the big dance.

 

[jrry32]

IMO Fisher will build you a championship winning team, but his coaching philosophies and coordinator decisions will hold you back from winning a the big dance.

And yet with his franchise QB, he came 1 yard from taking one of the best teams of the past 20 years to OT in the Super Bowl.

 

[fancents86]

And yet with his franchise QB, he came 1 yard from taking one of the best teams of the past 20 years to OT in the Super Bowl.

True, but what has he done most of his career? Either been mediocre or produced losing records. He's had 6 winning seasons in 20 years of coaching.

 

[jrry32]

True, but what has he done most of his career? Either been mediocre or produced losing records. He's had 6 winning seasons in 20 years of coaching.

Prior to joining the Rams, he had 5 losing seasons, 6 winning seasons, and 4 8-8 seasons in 16 full years as a HC.

With McNair in his prime, Fisher had a 5 year period where his team lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion in all 4 years he made the playoffs.

When you look at the team's they had in Tennessee, those teams had a habit of OVERACHIEVING. Don't sell the guy short by cherry-picking.

He's a solid to good coach. He's no Bill Belichick but I don't think he's any lesser of a coach than a guy like Pete Carroll. Difference is that Carroll got his QB this time around.

The claim that Fisher will hold this team back from making the big dance is a farce. Did Dick Vermeil hold us back from winning the Super Bowl? He has a nearly identical career winning% to Fisher.

 

[Alan]

Big Unit with this nugget:
I just don't see any coach available that's a known commodity, and that I would prefer over Jeff Fisher.

That's the problem with me too. I'm not against looking/trying though. Just not excited about it.

 

[Rambitious1]

I believe that questioning Fisher is a legitimate point of view.

Yes, he took over an historically bad team.

But he's also had 3 years of autonomy on football matters.
Got to pick any asst coaches he wanted with no limits on salaries he could offer.
Had bonus premium picks from the RG3 trade.
Final say on FA acquisitions.
Final say on draft picks.
Final say on game plan strategy every week.
Has the security of a supportive owner and a 5 year $35 million contract.

These are all things that most HC's would kill for.

He got us to respectability his first season, but we've regressed slightly in the following 2 years. Not the trajectory we all wanted and expected.

Here's his career record in a nutshell. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/FishJe0.htm

Career .526 winning record.
Only 6 winning seasons in 20 years.
Last 5 seasons are losing records.

He's gonna get his teams to respectability, but probably not to the promised land. At least that's what the evidence is telling us.

Last thing. We are losing winnable games, fellas. That's not something that consistently happens with teams that have top notch coaching. I don't know how long we're gonna have to tolerate these disappointments.

Twenty years is enough evidence for me. I'm willing to take a shot at finding the next Pettine, Kelly, Arians, or...

You make some valid points, but you also make some poor ones.
Inconsistencies while here is a valid point. Losing winnable games, another valid point.
Taking his record while at Tenn and saying he's Only had 6 winning records is a glass half empty statement. And IMHO a poor point.

I mean with a disfuntional organization and a nut job owner, I might tend to say, "wow, he actually had 6 winning seasons in that freak show?"

I think you take it in context is all.

That does not mean my patients are endless with him.
I'd give him to the end of 2015 to prove himself.

 

[RamPower44]

Man just hoping that Bradford is the man could set this team back another 4 to 5 years without a viable Qb plan.

 

[Boffo97]

Man just hoping that Bradford is the man could set this team back another 4 to 5 years without a viable Qb plan.

Which is precisely why even those advocating Bradford's return do not want that to be the case.

I'm as big a Bradford supporter as anyone, and if he's brought back to start without a plan 1A in place (as in better than 6th round QB plan 1A), then there's been a failure by this administration.

 

[RamPower44]

Man Rams are in such a tough position for next year draft and who to draft first. A qb or a o line type?