Jeff Fisher has been fired as head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, bringing to an end years of losing seasons without any demonstrable progress. ESPN’s Chris Mortensen broke the news first on Twitter, before the Rams made it official moments later.
The Los Angeles Rams have relieved Jeff Fisher from head coaching duties. Full statement to follow.
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) December 12, 2016
In a league where head coaches have notoriously short leashes, Fisher had defied the odds by failing time and time again (perhaps because of his mustache), only to be brought back for another shot. We thought this would extend further when he was amazingly given a two-year contract extension just last week, but in a stunning display of organizational dysfunction, the Rams changed course in a mere eight days and showed Fisher the boot after they were dismantled by the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
Reaction from around the internet has proven that everyone but the Rams was just waiting for the decision to be made — some of us for a long, long time:
https://twitter.com/gourmetspud/status/808400978617729024
Rams legend Eric Dickerson, who was reportedly banned from attending Rams games for being critical of Fisher, was unsurprisingly relieved to see the firing:
'I think it's something that had to happen.'@EricDickerson goes live with @ColinCowherd on Jeff Fisher firing:https://t.co/Gme2YRcKcE
— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) December 12, 2016
Football teams are such massive operations that it can be hard to pin down just how much influence the head coach has on outcomes, but the overarching theme of Fisher’s tenure was a breathtaking lack of self-awareness, from blaming everyone but himself for the team’s problems to speaking out against the very record that came to define his coaching career:
If there’s any poetic quality to this world, the 4-9 Rams will win their last three games and finish the season 7-9 to honor Fisher’s memory.
