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Bonsignore: Q&A with LA Rams coach Jeff Fisher
By Vincent Bonsignore, Los Angeles Daily News
http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20160228/bonsignore-qa-with-la-rams-coach-jeff-fisher
Jeff Fisher grew up a Rams fan in L.A. before going on to a successful football career that took him from Taft High in Woodland Hills to USC to the Chicago Bears, His head coaching career took him to Houston, Tennessee and St. Louis - the Tennessee stint resulting in a Titans appearance in Super Bowl XX.
Now Fisher returns to Los Angeles, this time as the head coach of the Rams, who will begin play at the Coliseum in 2016 before moving into their new stadium in Inglewood in 2019.
Fisher was at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis this week, where he fielded questions on a variety of subjects.
Q: Does it still feel weird to be referred to as the coach of the Los Angeles Rams?
JF: Yes, it does. You know, it’s exciting times for the franchise. We know that the fanbase is extremely excited based on some things that took place the last few weeks with respect to the commitment to season tickets at the Coliseum. So it’s exciting times for us.
There’s a lot of work ahead, believe me, as you can imagine so many things to do. And I just want to take this opportunity to just thank the loyal St. Louis fans that came out week after week after week, because they are truly loyal and they hung in there through thick and thin with us. I’m going to miss them, and the organization is going to miss them.
Q: For a kid who grew up in Los Angeles, has it hit you you’re now the head coach of the L.A. Rams?
JF: It did. You know, when all this was coming down (Rams President) Kevin (Demoff) called and said, “Hey, do you want to be the next head coach of the Los Angeles Rams?” And I said. “Yes, I do.”
It’s exciting. Having grown up there, my dad in 1967 took me to the Rams-Eagles game, and I’ve been a Rams fan since I was a kid. We all grow up as fans as kids, so all those players and the lineup. If you had asked me the names of the starting offensive lineup at that time, I probably could. So it’s exciting.
And one of the things it’s done for us, the last four years we’ve kind of reached back out to those legends of the organization and brought them in for games and they really appreciated it. So now they’re going to be even closer to us.
Q: What’s been the reaction from your family?
JF: They’re excited, sure. Mom said: “Can you move in next door?” No, I’m not moving in next door.
Q: What’s been the feedback and interaction with the players?
JF: As we moved through the season and the talk started to increase, my focus was to keep them focused on playing the next opponent, which you have to do. I thought they did a great job with that, based on the way we finished, with the game at Seattle and then the near-win against San Francisco. So they stayed focused with that.
At this point, there is still a lot of uncertainty. I can tell you that we’re going to have training camp, as has been widely reported, at the Cowboys’ (Oxnard) facility. I’m sorry, the offseason program, at the Cowboys’ facility. We’re currently trying to figure out and work out where we’re going to have training camp, because the Cowboys are going back there. And then, two, where we’re going to set up our facility. We have a meeting scheduled in Los Angeles a week from Friday with all the players, and we’re going to try to give them as much information as we can, from the standpoint of where this is going to take place and where that is going to take place. If we’re going to put a temporary facility someplace up north, you don’t want to put yourself in Newport Beach where you have a two-and-a-half-hour commute every day. So you can appreciate the things that we’re going through. The organization, Kevin (Demoff), is doing a great job with each one of those steps. Hopefully we will have enough information for the players, to let them know.
Q: You’ve actually been involved in a similar process, having been the head coach when the Houston Oilers moved to Tennessee and became the Titans. Any similarities?
JF: You’re moving a franchise. You’re leaving one city and going to another, which is difficult from a fan standpoint, from a fanbase standpoint, but you have to take care of the detail things. As you go through that step-by-step process, from my standpoint, my job is to keep in mind the player needs. Thirty-one other teams in the league right now are staying put, and they’re going through an offseason program and there is stability there. It’s how quickly can we bring stability, from a player perspective, into this offseason program? Because we’re going to kick the season off like everyone else, and we potentially will have made a couple moves during the offseason.
Q: Are there elements of that experience you can apply this time around?
JF: I learned the most important thing is to put yourself in the shoes of the players. That’s what you have to do. And I also learned eventually things settle down. But the most important thing is, players need to understand eventually we have to play games. And you have to take care of the players and look at it from their perspective.
Q: Are you confident the support will be there throughout organization that everything will be done to make this a smooth transition?
JF: There’s a lot of things that have been discussed since the announcement, and I’m extremely confident those things are going to be worked out. (Rams’ owner) Stan (Kroenke) understands the importance of taking care of the players and he’s putting them first right now. The business side and the stadium, all of those things are moving on, but what’s important to us is making sure the players are in position where, number one, they can continue rehabbing and, number two, get better, train, get ready and have a stable OTA period and do those type of things before you go off to camp.
Q: Can this be a bonding experience for the players?
JF: We have a young football team, so obviously the concerns I have are just keeping everybody focused and keeping everybody together so they have the understanding: We’re going to open the season some place, and if it’s at home it’ll be at the Coliseum, and we need to do everything to be ready. This team is a young team, it was one of my favorite locker rooms in my career. Great locker room, great group of guys, and I know they’ll be successful.
Q: You took a big chance drafting an injured Todd Gurley. What’s the excitement level moving into year two with him?
JF: We drafted Todd to be our future, because he wasn’t healthy during the draft at this time next year. We committed to Todd not knowing when he was going to play or be ready to play. He exceeded our expectations as far as being able to compete on Sundays. What he did in the short period of time to play was extraordinary. With another offseason between last year and this year, we expect him to be even better. He’s a special talent. And we’re clearly going to build our offense around that position.
Q: Did Tavon Austin finally become the player you guys thought he could be?
JF: I think, from Tavon’s standpoint, he has done everything we have asked of him. I think we have to do more as a staff to get him the football. I think you saw that late in the season when Tavon got the touches, in addition to the punt returns. I think he’s one of the most dangerous returners in the league, and he has proven that. We’ve had some called back, but I would hate to punt the ball in the field of play with him being there, if I was playing against him. I think from that standpoint, we have to do whatever we can do to get him the football. Keep in mind, there’s only one brown ball and we’ve got good players on offense. But I think the combination of Tavon and Todd and the rest of the guys, I think it provides us an opportunity to be very explosive opportunity.
Q: You had to release three popular veterans last week in James Laurinaitis, Chris Long and Jared Cook. How difficult was that?
JF: Last week we let James, Chris and Jared go and it was difficult. It’s not easy but Chris understood — I think Chris will land on his feet as well as James and Jared. But it’s part of the process. It’s part of the process of playing for the future. But Chris and James were basically the faces of our franchise for years in St. Louis and I have total respect for their commitment. Not only on the field but off the field and what they did in the community. And as I sat there and talked to James, I mentioned to him I’ve made many difficult decisions over the years, be it in the past with Eddie Gorge or Keith Bulluck or Steve McNair. I was friends with all of them and I want to maintain that. I hope with respect to Chris and James when it comes time to walk away from the game, they’ll walk away as Rams.
Q: Is the coaching staff in place?
JF: The coaching staff is complete. I was really pleased with what Rob Boras was able to do down the stretch. I’m excited about Mike Groh, who has come in as our passing-game coordinator, and he’s going to coach receivers. We’re really excited about him. We’re very appreciative of Coach Fox and the Bears organization allowing him to move on and join us. The rest of the guys, Skip Peete, his stuff speaks for itself. He’s an outstanding running backs coach, an experienced coach with a lot of good runners. Then Coach Lilly is going to move over and coach tight ends. So everything was done on the offensive side of the ball, and I can assure you they’re working very hard right now.
By Vincent Bonsignore, Los Angeles Daily News
http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20160228/bonsignore-qa-with-la-rams-coach-jeff-fisher
Jeff Fisher grew up a Rams fan in L.A. before going on to a successful football career that took him from Taft High in Woodland Hills to USC to the Chicago Bears, His head coaching career took him to Houston, Tennessee and St. Louis - the Tennessee stint resulting in a Titans appearance in Super Bowl XX.
Now Fisher returns to Los Angeles, this time as the head coach of the Rams, who will begin play at the Coliseum in 2016 before moving into their new stadium in Inglewood in 2019.
Fisher was at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis this week, where he fielded questions on a variety of subjects.
Q: Does it still feel weird to be referred to as the coach of the Los Angeles Rams?
JF: Yes, it does. You know, it’s exciting times for the franchise. We know that the fanbase is extremely excited based on some things that took place the last few weeks with respect to the commitment to season tickets at the Coliseum. So it’s exciting times for us.
There’s a lot of work ahead, believe me, as you can imagine so many things to do. And I just want to take this opportunity to just thank the loyal St. Louis fans that came out week after week after week, because they are truly loyal and they hung in there through thick and thin with us. I’m going to miss them, and the organization is going to miss them.
Q: For a kid who grew up in Los Angeles, has it hit you you’re now the head coach of the L.A. Rams?
JF: It did. You know, when all this was coming down (Rams President) Kevin (Demoff) called and said, “Hey, do you want to be the next head coach of the Los Angeles Rams?” And I said. “Yes, I do.”
It’s exciting. Having grown up there, my dad in 1967 took me to the Rams-Eagles game, and I’ve been a Rams fan since I was a kid. We all grow up as fans as kids, so all those players and the lineup. If you had asked me the names of the starting offensive lineup at that time, I probably could. So it’s exciting.
And one of the things it’s done for us, the last four years we’ve kind of reached back out to those legends of the organization and brought them in for games and they really appreciated it. So now they’re going to be even closer to us.
Q: What’s been the reaction from your family?
JF: They’re excited, sure. Mom said: “Can you move in next door?” No, I’m not moving in next door.
Q: What’s been the feedback and interaction with the players?
JF: As we moved through the season and the talk started to increase, my focus was to keep them focused on playing the next opponent, which you have to do. I thought they did a great job with that, based on the way we finished, with the game at Seattle and then the near-win against San Francisco. So they stayed focused with that.
At this point, there is still a lot of uncertainty. I can tell you that we’re going to have training camp, as has been widely reported, at the Cowboys’ (Oxnard) facility. I’m sorry, the offseason program, at the Cowboys’ facility. We’re currently trying to figure out and work out where we’re going to have training camp, because the Cowboys are going back there. And then, two, where we’re going to set up our facility. We have a meeting scheduled in Los Angeles a week from Friday with all the players, and we’re going to try to give them as much information as we can, from the standpoint of where this is going to take place and where that is going to take place. If we’re going to put a temporary facility someplace up north, you don’t want to put yourself in Newport Beach where you have a two-and-a-half-hour commute every day. So you can appreciate the things that we’re going through. The organization, Kevin (Demoff), is doing a great job with each one of those steps. Hopefully we will have enough information for the players, to let them know.
Q: You’ve actually been involved in a similar process, having been the head coach when the Houston Oilers moved to Tennessee and became the Titans. Any similarities?
JF: You’re moving a franchise. You’re leaving one city and going to another, which is difficult from a fan standpoint, from a fanbase standpoint, but you have to take care of the detail things. As you go through that step-by-step process, from my standpoint, my job is to keep in mind the player needs. Thirty-one other teams in the league right now are staying put, and they’re going through an offseason program and there is stability there. It’s how quickly can we bring stability, from a player perspective, into this offseason program? Because we’re going to kick the season off like everyone else, and we potentially will have made a couple moves during the offseason.
Q: Are there elements of that experience you can apply this time around?
JF: I learned the most important thing is to put yourself in the shoes of the players. That’s what you have to do. And I also learned eventually things settle down. But the most important thing is, players need to understand eventually we have to play games. And you have to take care of the players and look at it from their perspective.
Q: Are you confident the support will be there throughout organization that everything will be done to make this a smooth transition?
JF: There’s a lot of things that have been discussed since the announcement, and I’m extremely confident those things are going to be worked out. (Rams’ owner) Stan (Kroenke) understands the importance of taking care of the players and he’s putting them first right now. The business side and the stadium, all of those things are moving on, but what’s important to us is making sure the players are in position where, number one, they can continue rehabbing and, number two, get better, train, get ready and have a stable OTA period and do those type of things before you go off to camp.
Q: Can this be a bonding experience for the players?
JF: We have a young football team, so obviously the concerns I have are just keeping everybody focused and keeping everybody together so they have the understanding: We’re going to open the season some place, and if it’s at home it’ll be at the Coliseum, and we need to do everything to be ready. This team is a young team, it was one of my favorite locker rooms in my career. Great locker room, great group of guys, and I know they’ll be successful.
Q: You took a big chance drafting an injured Todd Gurley. What’s the excitement level moving into year two with him?
JF: We drafted Todd to be our future, because he wasn’t healthy during the draft at this time next year. We committed to Todd not knowing when he was going to play or be ready to play. He exceeded our expectations as far as being able to compete on Sundays. What he did in the short period of time to play was extraordinary. With another offseason between last year and this year, we expect him to be even better. He’s a special talent. And we’re clearly going to build our offense around that position.
Q: Did Tavon Austin finally become the player you guys thought he could be?
JF: I think, from Tavon’s standpoint, he has done everything we have asked of him. I think we have to do more as a staff to get him the football. I think you saw that late in the season when Tavon got the touches, in addition to the punt returns. I think he’s one of the most dangerous returners in the league, and he has proven that. We’ve had some called back, but I would hate to punt the ball in the field of play with him being there, if I was playing against him. I think from that standpoint, we have to do whatever we can do to get him the football. Keep in mind, there’s only one brown ball and we’ve got good players on offense. But I think the combination of Tavon and Todd and the rest of the guys, I think it provides us an opportunity to be very explosive opportunity.
Q: You had to release three popular veterans last week in James Laurinaitis, Chris Long and Jared Cook. How difficult was that?
JF: Last week we let James, Chris and Jared go and it was difficult. It’s not easy but Chris understood — I think Chris will land on his feet as well as James and Jared. But it’s part of the process. It’s part of the process of playing for the future. But Chris and James were basically the faces of our franchise for years in St. Louis and I have total respect for their commitment. Not only on the field but off the field and what they did in the community. And as I sat there and talked to James, I mentioned to him I’ve made many difficult decisions over the years, be it in the past with Eddie Gorge or Keith Bulluck or Steve McNair. I was friends with all of them and I want to maintain that. I hope with respect to Chris and James when it comes time to walk away from the game, they’ll walk away as Rams.
Q: Is the coaching staff in place?
JF: The coaching staff is complete. I was really pleased with what Rob Boras was able to do down the stretch. I’m excited about Mike Groh, who has come in as our passing-game coordinator, and he’s going to coach receivers. We’re really excited about him. We’re very appreciative of Coach Fox and the Bears organization allowing him to move on and join us. The rest of the guys, Skip Peete, his stuff speaks for itself. He’s an outstanding running backs coach, an experienced coach with a lot of good runners. Then Coach Lilly is going to move over and coach tight ends. So everything was done on the offensive side of the ball, and I can assure you they’re working very hard right now.
