Is Fisher the answer?

[moklerman]

There's some first class rationalizing going on in this thread.

And I don't disagree with the sentiment but the reality doesn't support the faith. This team isn't struggling because it was hit with a rash of injuries or unforeseen challenges. It's struggling because it's undisciplined and the personnel don't match the schemes.

Speaking of personnel, individuals aren't struggling because they just need more time. Finnegan doesn't need seasoning and experience. Nor JLong. What happened to Brockers?

These are square peg/round hole issues. And they are eerily similar to the last regime which was completely inept from the beginning. Why in the F does a run-first, ball-control, defensive-minded HC try and incorporate those ideas on a team that is committed to the QB position? I really thought Fisher was going to adapt to the situation and compliment the supposed main reason he came to St. Louis with a strong defense but he's doing what Spagnuolo did and INTENTIONALLY taking away everything Bradford is good at.

Which would be fine if you wanted to go away from Bradford but why put all those pieces to his type of offense in place if you weren't going to implement that offense? That's why I think counting on 3 years or 4 years or even 5 years of this is futile. This isn't a team that's learning a new system and morphing into something, it's flailing and without an identity.

 

[Rams and Gators]

The four phases of football

2011 Colts pass D: 103.9 passer rating, run D: 4.3 yards per attempt, pass O: 72.2 passer rating, run O: 4.2 yards per attempt.

2012 Chiefs: 99.9, 4.5, 63.8, 4.8.

2012 Rams: 83.9, 4.3, 82.7, 4.2.

So the Rams had a better pass D than both, a better run D than the Chiefs, a run game as good as the Colts and I'll ignore the passing game as both the Chiefs and the Colts changed QB, so how is the Colts and the Chiefs re-build lesser than ours?

And I appreciate that ours started a year before that but were getting worse results this season from a better starting point.

And I also appreciate that were talking about really small sample sizes, but it's still a question that should be asked.

 

[ramsince62]

There's some first class rationalizing going on in this thread.

And I don't disagree with the sentiment but the reality doesn't support the faith. This team isn't struggling because it was hit with a rash of injuries or unforeseen challenges. It's struggling because it's undisciplined and the personnel don't match the schemes.

Speaking of personnel, individuals aren't struggling because they just need more time. Finnegan doesn't need seasoning and experience. Nor JLong. What happened to Brockers?

These are square peg/round hole issues. And they are eerily similar to the last regime which was completely inept from the beginning. Why in the F does a run-first, ball-control, defensive-minded HC try and incorporate those ideas on a team that is committed to the QB position? I really thought Fisher was going to adapt to the situation and compliment the supposed main reason he came to St. Louis with a strong defense but he's doing what Spagnuolo did and INTENTIONALLY taking away everything Bradford is good at.

Which would be fine if you wanted to go away from Bradford but why put all those pieces to his type of offense in place if you weren't going to implement that offense? That's why I think counting on 3 years or 4 years or even 5 years of this is futile. This isn't a team that's learning a new system and morphing into something, it's flailing and without an identity.

lus1:

 

[iced]

After watching some more of the all 22 tape, it's really easy to see why the offense is struggling.

Schotty's play calling is unimaginative and pretty much destined to fail unless you have a true #1 - and even then i don't see a whole lot of success. our offense is so easy to defend it's crazy. Sadly I see more creative routes in madden than I do on the All 22.... like seriously.

I'm not seeing routes that would ultimately leave someone open - like for example, a couple times we've seen our corners have to choose to committ to either the crossing route, a guy coming open in the flat/out of the backfield, or something deeper behind them. There's NOTHING like that in schotty's scheme, nothing that makes a defense have to guess or think.. it's just straight up cover your guy - very rarely is there another receiver running a pick a route or a clear out

 

[Rabid Ram]

There's some first class rationalizing going on in this thread.

And I don't disagree with the sentiment but the reality doesn't support the faith. This team isn't struggling because it was hit with a rash of injuries or unforeseen challenges. It's struggling because it's undisciplined and the personnel don't match the schemes.

Speaking of personnel, individuals aren't struggling because they just need more time. Finnegan doesn't need seasoning and experience. Nor JLong. What happened to Brockers?

These are square peg/round hole issues. And they are eerily similar to the last regime which was completely inept from the beginning. Why in the F does a run-first, ball-control, defensive-minded HC try and incorporate those ideas on a team that is committed to the QB position? I really thought Fisher was going to adapt to the situation and compliment the supposed main reason he came to St. Louis with a strong defense but he's doing what Spagnuolo did and INTENTIONALLY taking away everything Bradford is good at.

Which would be fine if you wanted to go away from Bradford but why put all those pieces to his type of offense in place if you weren't going to implement that offense? That's why I think counting on 3 years or 4 years or even 5 years of this is futile. This isn't a team that's learning a new system and morphing into something, it's flailing and without an identity.

When thinking of this year to last year drop-off remember no one knew what to expect or how to game plan what fish was bringing fast forward to this year they have tape

 

[V3]

Well, we're all very upset & I did not agree with firing Gregg Williams & his son Blake and in fact, thought Blake did one heck of a job last season. Never was a fan of Schottenheimer, but the Rams are paying Fisher 7 mil a year and he has won in the NFL so I'm willing to give it more time.

Just seems the Rams defense is very bad to this point and playing far too soft & the offense which seems to thrive in the no huddle offense is being held back IMO. You never know with Head Coaches anymore, however, at this point it's hard to watch my beloved team and it's killing me.

It will be difficult for the Rams to go in another direction because the only area left is a college Head Coach. They tried to hire an offensive coordinator in Scott Linehan a defensive coordinator in Steve Spagnuolo and a former NFL Head Coach too. So what's next?

Let's see how it plays out, but IMO next year there will be many changes on the staff before another Head Coach is brought in unless Fisher decides to take the job at USC.

Agree across the board. No matter what happens this year, Fisher needs the full length of his contract if we expect his and Snead's vision to fully materialize. They're at least sticking to their principles with regard to team building. Youth, playmaking ability, and freak athleticism. I agree with den in that the assistants will fall WAY before Fisher does. I have to wonder if Snead will assert himself as GM and dictate how this team should progress. That's really the most intriguing thing on my mind at this point.

Isn't Fisher's contract 5 years long? You don't need 5 years to know if he's the right guy or not. Sometimes you don't even need 3. Right now I'm willing to give him 3 years unless this team just completely falls apart, in which case I'm not putting up with it anymore. You can't let someone that doesn't know what they're doing continue to destroy the team. He will never admit Bradford is the wrong guy so he'd continue to pass on QB's which would furter set back the franchise. I'm letting the season play out and making my decision then.

There are a lot of suppositions there, V. Unless I'm reading you wrong, you're saying he doesn't know what he's doing and is being purposefully deceptive regarding Bradford. If that's the case, then I guess I have a couple of questions.

1. How did he last in the league 17 years if he doesn't know what he's doing?
2. Why would he want his legacy destroyed by being stubborn about one player (Bradford)?

I see it differently. I think (like others have stated) that this is a reclaim project. There's been a ton of turnover the past 2 years, and getting them all acclimated with the schemes and playing at a high level *together* isn't happening as fast as people would like. Presumably because other teams have added a few new pieces, or changed some coaches, and they have been successful. But really, how many have done both to this extreme?

Not to be lazy or anything (e.g., not doing it for you), but you should really look into what happened to Fisher in 2004, 2005. I've dug up archived newspaper articles online via Google News, and read everything pertaining to why he went a combined 9-23 in that two year span. I wanted to know, to satisfy my own curiosity, why the Rams should bank on a guy who had that kind of failure. Well, I now know why his teams failed, and I know why they were successful prior to that and afterward. There are parallels to what's going on here now, so I'm not even remotely close to cutting his time here short. But that's just me. I'm not suggesting you shouldn't feel the way you do. I'm only suggesting that maybe you should see if there are identifiable trends in his coaching career, and what happened to change his fortunes.

You said that Fisher needs the full length of his contract to see how it would play out. I think his contract is for 5 years (not completely sure which is why I asked). I was saying that an organization doesn't need 5 years to know if the head coach is making the right moves or not. If things completely fall apart this season and he's unwilling to change coordinators, players, philosophies, etc. then that's when I think Kronke could tell if Fisher is taking the team in the right direction. Sometimes coaches are blinded by their own stubbornness.

Remember Dick Vermeil was extremely stubborn his first two years. Upper management had to have a meeting with him and tell him to change things or get the boot. He ended up changing his O-coordinator and QB, among other things. Vermeil was a great coach but could be blinded by his loyalties or stubbornness. Someone above him had to correct him. I feel Fisher COULD be showing some similar attributes. Despite the fact that Fisher has lasted this long in the NFL, he has made some mistakes. I don't think that will change because he is human after all. It takes a certain type of person to know when they've made one and make the necessary changes. Sometimes it takes outside forces to know when mistakes have been made and that changes need to be made.

But like I said, I'm not calling for his head right now. I'm going to wait and see what happens this year and if things fall apart and he's not willing to make some changes, that's when I'm going to start seriously questioning him. If things don't completely fall apart but still aren't very good (like 5 or 6 wins), I'm fine with giving him another year. But if things continue to stay the same(i.e. a mediocre team that isn't making any progress), there's no way I'm waiting for 5 years to let him get things the way he wants them. He should have enough things in place after 3 years to show things are improving.

Regarding Bradford, if he hasn't shown any type of progress by the end of the season, I think we'll all know what he is. Going off what Fisher and Snead have said (especially with the recent news that they are even willing to sign him to a new contract now) and also knowing how stubborn head coaches are, I don't think Fisher would admit that Sam isn't the answer. Again, this is assuming Bradford continues to be mediocre for the rest of the season. Fisher wouldn't use our two first round picks to move up and get a new QB. He'd probably re-sign Bradford and this team would be in major trouble for the next four or five years or so because they'd have to stick with a QB that isn't the answer. I honestly don't see any scenario where Fisher would admit that Sam isn't his QB going forward at the end of the season. THAT is what I'm worried about with Fisher regarding Bradford. I could be totally wrong about him in that regard but that's just the feeling I get with him. I guess there's a chance they could decide to wait another year to see how he does next season to get a new contract with Bradford but that recent article has me doubting that.


I agree there are a lot of suppositions in my post but that's just the way I think. I'm like trying to think ahead at some of the different possible scenarios we could be facing. Right now, it's better than thinking about our past two games.

 

[A55VA6]

I won't be surprised if we get the 1st overall pick. Good talent, youth, and bad coaching.

 

[Flipper_336]

This is the biggest rebuild in the HISTORY of this league.

Read that a few times and think about the magnitude of it.

No team EVER lost as much as the Rams did in that 5 year span. And listen to some of you guys one quarter of the way through just the second season you're whining like mad and saying that you don't think Fisher is capable of turning it around.

Think about this for a moment. Recap what this ball club has endured in the last several years.

One of the worst owners in the NFL, followed by her inept son, managed by an attorney and an accountant who lacked any significant ability to judge talent in the FO or on the field, coached by an egomaniac, then a weakling then a moron as the franchise crumbles to the ground and loses respect all around the NFL.

This was THE WORST EVER football team guys.....if you think this team was going to really make noise this year you were drinking something a lot stronger than kool aid. It's amazing how fast some of you have "jumped ship" because the youngest least experienced team in the NFL had a few bad games against much better competition.

I've been saying this for a little while and now I think some of you are seeing it. This wasn't ever going to be a play off team, they are kids learning their way. The O is going to take time to gel and might not be what people have hoped for either. Some posters across the internet actually thought this O was going to rival the GSOT for freaks sake. Seriously? How did those expectations come about?

ITS BEEN FOUR GAMES. Yes they have played like crap. Chill out and let the season unfold. This rebuild is going to take at least one more year and I recall a couple of posters on the now defunct Huddle saying it could take 4 years. Too many of you are losing sight of how big this job is and IMO if/when Fisher and Snead complete it they will be considered up there with the likes of Parcells and guys like that when it comes to team building. They will be able to write their own ticket.

That's how bad our favorite team was. I don't like saying it because it sucks but the fact is this franchise was historically awful and it won't turn around in just 2 years.

OK lecture over.....bash away.

That's all well and good but it doesn't excuse the abysmal play calling this season. Nor does it explain the unnecessary penalties and the myriad missed tackles.