Rams Fire Jeff Fisher

The Rams have fired head coach Jeff Fisher, according to a team announcement. Special teams coordinator John Fassel serve as interim head coach, NFL reporter Rand Getlin tweets. Jeff Fisher (vertical)

On Sunday, the Rams were crushed by the Falcons as Fisher tied for the most losses of any NFL head coach in league history. He is now deadlocked with Dan Reeves with 165 career losses. Reeves, meanwhile, has 190 career wins while Fisher has only 173. In his 22 years of coaching, Fisher has made the playoffs only six times.

Making a decision such as this – especially during the season – is one of the most difficult in sports,” said Rams owner Stan Kroenke said in a statement. “I have great respect for Jeff as a coach, person, father and friend. He has worked tirelessly despite some challenging circumstances. He played an integral role in helping this team make history in returning the NFL to Los Angeles, and we always will be grateful for his commitment and dedication to our organization. However, this is the right time to make a change as our performance has not lived up to my or our fans’ expectations. We all are focused on improving as an organization and building a team that makes Los Angeles proud. Our mission is to celebrate a Super Bowl title with our fans in Los Angeles. Today is the first step to bringing us closer to that goal.”

Just over one week ago, the Rams formally announced an extension for Fisher to take him through 2017 with an option for 2018. The newly-minted deal may provide Fisher some form of a severance package now that he has been let go.

This, of course, is a lost season for the Rams and a bad start for the franchise in their brand new market. The Rams were not a popular playoff pick given their question marks at the quarterback position, but few expected them to struggle this badly. Someday, Jared Goff may prove to be a top quarterback, but he sat for the first half of the season and he has looked green ever since taking over the starting job.

It’s not immediately clear what Fisher’s dismissal will mean for GM Les Snead. As of this writing, Snead still has his job, so he may be given an opportunity to turn things around this spring. Rams COO Kevin Demoff will address the media later today.

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