Jeff Fisher

Coaching Notes: Bowles, Fisher, Kelly

December 7th, 2016 at 8:43pm CST by Ben Levine

Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News defends Todd Bowles, saying the second-year Jets head coach should be given at least another season at the helm. Furthermore, he notes that firing Bowles could create a toxic environment, comparing that scenario to the Cleveland Browns.

“Woody needs to stay the course,” a league executive told Mehta. “He can’t be switching this every two years, because (the coaching vacancy) would become unattractive for a lot of coaches. He doesn’t want to have that job that’s turning over every two years. He’s got to give Bowles another shot.”

In his one-plus seasons in New York, Bowles has compiled a 13-15 record.

Mehta also reports that the Jets gave one-year extensions to position coaches prior to the season, although “it’s a near certainty” that some of those assistants won’t stick around.

Let’s check out some other coaching notes from around the NFL…

Meanwhile, Jets wideout Brandon Marshall pointed to his former organization, the Bears, when explaining why the team shouldn’t fire Bowles. “No, I would hope not,” Marshall told Darryl Slater of NJ.com. “How did that work out for Chicago? Sometimes, you blow up stuff, and you feel like that’s the answer. And it’s not. That’s one of the reasons why football is so terrible in the NFL these days, is because there’s so much turnover…And it’s not just football at this level. People expect guys to win right away. You bring in a new regime, and they say you have a year or two to do it. You need time to build things. You need chemistry.”
The Rams have been widely criticized for giving extensions to coach Jeff Fisher and GM Les Snead, but Snead says the new deals mean the team has “unfinished business” to address. “First of all, what it means is, we’re not satisfied with where we’re at. We’ve got unfinished business,” Snead said, according to Rich Hammond of the Los Angeles Daily News. “We think we can get this thing tipped, and that’s our goal. That’s where all the energy is spent. You’re not going to sleep until it gets done. We have great fans and we’ve been supported. It’s unbelievable. Any time you’re having a disappointing season, you feel for the fans first, because they come and they spend their energy and passion, and we’ve got to do a better job.”
Despite the team’s 1-11 record, 49ers receiver Torrey Smith is convinced that head coach Chip Kelly will be sticking around. “He ain’t going anywhere anyways,” Smith told Eric Branch of SFGate.com. “I don’t think it’s a situation where guys are really concerned about that.”

Zach Links contributed to this post.

NFC West Notes: Seahawks, Rams, Cardinals

December 5th, 2016 at 8:43pm CST by Dallas Robinson

After suffering a leg injury last night which will sideline him for the remainder of the season, Seahawks safety Earl Thomas tweeted that retirement had crossed his mind, and as he tells Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter links), he’s still considering his options. “I’m taking it one day at a time,” said Thomas. “I still feel the same way I felt last night. You have to remember my team is still fighting I don’t want to become a distraction.” One positive is that Thomas won’t require surgery, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), which should ease his recovery and rehab process.

Here’s more from the NFC West:

The Rams recently announced an extension for head coach Jeff Fisher, but that doesn’t mean the club won’t part ways with Fisher after the current season, per Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com. The new deal, which was reportedly agreed to over the summer, only runs through 2017 before containing an option for 2018. As such, Los Angeles wouldn’t be on the hook for much money if it chose to fire Fisher after this year. In fact, the extension is viewed as more of a “token of appreciation” from owner Stan Kroenke to Fisher rather than a sign that Fisher will be around for the long haul, writes Gonzalez.
Cardinals general manager Steve Keim told reporters that he was not pleased with punter Drew Butler‘s play on Sunday against Washington, tweets Darren Urban of AZCentral.com. Butler re-signed with Arizona late last month after previously having agreed to an injury settlement. Cards head coach Bruce Arians confirmed that the club will work out an unidentified punter on Tuesday, per Mike Jurecki of FOX Sports 910 (Twitter link).
Although a weekend report indicated that “confidants” believe Arians could consider retiring from the Cardinals after the 2016 campaign, Arians himself told reporters that the news was false, according to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic (Twitter links). “First of all, I don’t have that many friends,” said Arians, before adding that he’s “damn sure” he’ll be coaching in 2017.

West Notes: Chargers, Berry, Fisher, 49ers

December 4th, 2016 at 7:12pm CST by Sam Robinson

Another Chargers season is barreling toward a postseason exclusion brings relocation talk to the forefront for a second straight year. The 5-7 team may have just four games left in San Diego. However, Dean Spanos has delayed this Los Angeles commitment for a while, and the team’s chairman will continue to exhaust his options before making an official pledge to join Stan Kroenke and the Rams in Inglewood.

Spanos will meet with San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer, other city officials, and business leaders this week, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Chargers’ city for the past 55 years, San Diego is viewed as being behind Los Angeles in this race, especially after voters resoundingly shot down their measure for a downtown stadium last month. Although Spanos has not made his decision yet, Rapoport reports (via Twitter) the city needs a strong proposal to keep the Chargers.

A combination of a love for San Diego, wanting to avoid a scenario where the Chargers are the Rams’ tenant in L.A., or possibly a future where the Bolts enter an uncertain period regarding who exactly their fanbase is may work in San Diego’s favor. But the city may need a miracle to keep the Chargers regardless of those factors since the stadium proposal was shot down so emphatically.

Here’s more from the AFC and NFC’s westernmost franchises.

The Chiefs balked at meeting Eric Berry‘s asking price this summer and still face a reality where their most popular player departs next year. Berry scored twice today on a pick-6 and a pick-2, if you will, to help the Chiefs upset the Falcons. He will turn 28 later this month, and Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star writes the team needs to do everything it can to keep the cancer survivor in Kansas City. Thanks largely to a spree of extensions over the past few years, the Chiefs will be up against the cap in 2017, with OverTheCap projecting them to be more than $1MM over the next salary ceiling. This is without Berry or Dontari Poe on the books for next season. It would cost the team $12.967MM to franchise Berry again. That would be the highest safety cap number by over $1MM for 2017.
Jeff Fisher confirmed the contract extension he agreed to with the Rams was signed over the summer, Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times tweets. “This was done well before the season. It was done well before we had 90,000 people in the Coliseum for our first preseason game,” Fisher said after the Rams’ loss to the Patriots (via Farmer, on Twitter). However, the Rams’ continued regression should not make it a lock the veteran coach is back in Los Angeles next year, Vincent Bonsignore of the Orange County Register writes. Viewing this short extension as a gesture of gratitude for helping shepherd the Rams’ move from St. Louis, Bonsignore still expects Fisher to be coaching for his job in the final month of the season. The Rams will finish at .500 or worse for the 13th straight year, and Fisher helping rebuild the team’s defense in the past five seasons might not be enough to save his job if the offense continues at its current rate, the Los Angeles-area writer notes.
Despite Colin Kaepernick being ready to test his value on the free agent market, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk envisions a path for the polarizing passer back to San Francisco. The sixth-year veteran voiding the contract still leaves the 49ers in charge of his rights until March, so the team could re-sign the 29-year-old quarterback. But that option, per Florio, likely stalls if the 49ers oust their power structure after the season. Florio also writes other teams might not be as quick to sign off on the former Pro Bowl performer due to the backlash that could come from fans as a result of his anthem protests.

Rams Extend Jeff Fisher, Les Snead

December 4th, 2016 at 8:46am CST by Rory Parks

The Rams have signed head coach Jeff Fisher to a contract extension, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com writes that the new deal will be for one year, with an option for 2018. Per Rapoport, Fisher agreed to the extension in the preseason and signed it in the regular season (Twitter link). Alex Marvez of SiriusXM NFL Radio tweets that Fisher put pen to paper several weeks ago, but the news is just leaking now. ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirms the report and adds that the club has also extended GM Les Snead (Twitter link).

The news may be unwelcome for Rams fans, but it is relatively unsurprising, as Los Angeles was expected to extend its GM and head coach for some time now, despite their largely disappointing tenures with the club. Team COO Kevin Demoff praised Fisher earlier this week, emphasizing his steady hand through the specter of relocation and the relocation itself, along with his ability as a “leader of men.”

Fisher and Snead joined the Rams together in 2012, and the club has gone 31-43-1 since then. The team did land Jared Goff with the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, and now that the former Cal star has taken over as the Rams’ starting quarterback, there is reason to hope that they will begin to show some improvement.

But even though the Rams have had largely disappointing quarterback play during the Fisher/Snead regime, the roster has not been entirely devoid of talent. And yet, the club has not posted a non-losing record under their watch, and Fisher has not enjoyed a winning season as an NFL head coach since 2008, his penultimate year in Tennessee.

However, team owner Stan Kroenke wanted to give Fisher a chance to coach the Rams through the opening of the team’s new stadium in Inglewood, and this extension will give him a chance to do just that (Twitter links via Jason Cole of Bleacher Report). But the fact that Fisher’s new deal is really for just one year, with an option for 2018, suggests that his job is still not especially safe. Schefter tweets that the extension does not give Fisher any more job security and that the Rams must play well down the stretch for Fisher to return next season (which won’t be easy, given the Rams’ strength of schedule). Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter links) feels the same way, observing that it is not uncommon for a team to fire a head coach with two years left on his deal. Pelissero further opines that if the team agreed to the extension in the preseason but was “too embarrassed” to announce it publicly until months later, that cannot be a good thing for Fisher, despite Gonzalez’s note that Kroenke has largely been able to look past Fisher’s win-loss record because of how he represents the organization.

Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets that the Rams are not commenting on the extensions, but that team officials may address the situation after the Rams’ matchup against New England today.

Rams Likely To Retain Jeff Fisher

December 1st, 2016 at 6:13pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

There was “widespread belief” around the NFL in September that the Rams and contract-year head coach Jeff Fisher had agreed to an extension. Almost three months later, the Rams still haven’t announced an agreement with the beleaguered Fisher, whose 4-7 club is on track to finish with a sub-.500 record under his watch for the fifth straight year. Despite Fisher’s lack of positive results in his nearly half-decade-long tenure with the Rams, his job is safe, chief operating officer Kevin Demoff implied to Steve Wyche of NFL.com earlier this week.

“Everybody will want to judge Jeff through the prism of just the record, but that’s totally unfair when you look at the set of circumstances he was handed this year. It was different than any team in the NFL,” said Demoff. “The past two years, he’s had to deal with the specter of relocation. This year, the actual relocation. A couple of coaches have had to deal with the specter of relocation. No coach has had to deal with an actual relocation. You have try to understand what this team has been through and the success he has had.”

Fisher, meanwhile, isn’t worried about his status, and he also cited the unusual circumstances of relocating from St. Louis to Los Angeles.

“I’m not concerned about my job. I have a great relationship with [Rams owner Stan Kroenke],” Fisher told Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com. “He understands the difficulties that were placed on this organization as far as the move is concerned. And I’m moving forward optimistically with this team.”

Fisher is a “terrific leader of men” who has “done a model job,” according to Demoff, even though he hasn’t posted a winning season as an NFL head coach since 2008 – his penultimate year in Tennessee. In 17 years with the Oilers and Titans, who moved from Houston to Memphis to Nashville with Fisher, he went 142-120 with six playoff appearances and a Super Bowl berth in 16 full seasons. He’s at 31-43-1 with the Rams, though there could be reason for long-term hope with Fisher having given the starting quarterback job to No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff late last month. Goff, who sat behind journeyman Case Keenum for the Rams’ first nine games, has been a mixed bag in his first two starts. In total, the ex-Cal star has completed 37 of 63 passes for 348 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.

With the Rams set to face the Patriots, Falcons and Seahawks over the next three weeks, odds are they’ll be 4-10 with home meetings against the NFC West rival 49ers and Cardinals remaining. Regardless, the rest-of-season results seem unlikely to affect Fisher’s standing with the franchise.

NFC West Notes: Kaepernick, Bennett, Fisher

November 27th, 2016 at 7:23pm CST by Zachary Links

With 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick likely to opt out of his contract at season’s end, Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com will be surprised if he doesn’t get a “$7M chance to start somewhere” next year (Twitter link). The 29-year-old has been solid this season, throwing for 1,144 yards, seven touchdowns, and only two interceptions. He’s also collected 260 yards on the ground. Kaepernick accounted for 409 total yards (296 passing, 113 rushing) and three scores in the 49ers’ 31-24 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday.

More from the NFC West, whose four teams all lost Sunday:

Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett has lost more than $312K of his $1MM roster bonus as a result of missing five games, tweets CBS Sports’ Joel Corry. The veteran was inactive again today’s for the Seahawks’ game against his former team, Tampa Bay, and hasn’t played since Week 7. Bennett’s likely to return next week, head coach Pete Carroll said Sunday (Twitter link via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times).
The Rams are still declining to give an update on head coach Jeff Fisher‘s contractual status, Mike Florio of PFT writes. There has been buzz that the Rams have a deal in place with Fisher, but they are waiting until an opportune time to make it all official. Of course, after Sunday’s 49-21 loss to New Orleans, this isn’t exactly an opportune time. On the flip side, the Rams are seeing some flashes out of No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff, and that could help the overall reception to a new Fisher deal. During Fisher’s four-plus years at the helm, the Rams have gone just 31-43-1, and they haven’t won more than seven games in any individual season. It appears that trend will continue this year.
Fisher made third-year offensive tackle Greg Robinson a healthy scratch for Sunday’s game. Robinson was the second overall pick in the 2014 draft and has started in 38 of 42 appearances, including 26 straight prior to Sunday, but he has nonetheless disappointed and could be on his way out of Los Angeles.

Latest On Rams, Jeff Fisher

September 23rd, 2016 at 8:00pm CST by Dallas Robinson

No extension has yet been announced between the Rams and head coach Jeff Fisher, but many around the NFL are assuming a deal will get done, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). However, agents are beginning to push their coaching clients toward Los Angeles, and if the Rams ever decide to replace Fisher, there is expected to be significant interest in the job, per Cole, who adds that many consider the Los Angeles market a “gold mine.”

Last week, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported that the “widespread belief” around the league is that two the sides already having an extension in place. However, the Rams are likely to wait until a more appropriate time before announcing the new deal. Days after a 28-0 defeat to a 49ers team expected to finish last in the NFC West didn’t make sense, but Los Angeles didn’t confirm the contract after the Rams defeated the Seahawks in Week 2, either.

Under Fisher, the Rams have gone 28-37-1 and haven’t done better than seven wins in any season. The Rams haven’t reached the postseason in more than ten years.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Jeff Fisher Extension Already Done?

September 17th, 2016 at 5:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

Despite Jeff Fisher‘s Rams underwhelming on opening night of their Los Angeles reboot, the subject of an extension for the longtime coach has been one of this week’s primary discussion topics. That continued on Saturday.

On the subject of a long-rumored extension for the fifth-year Rams coach, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports “widespread belief” around the NFL points to the sides already having an extension in place. The sense around the league, Florio writes, is Fisher’s extension will be announced at an appropriate time for the Rams. Days after a 28-0 defeat to a 49ers team expected to finish last in the NFC West doesn’t look like the right time, in the event an agreement has been completed.

In the final season of a five-year, $35MM deal, Fisher evaded these rumors earlier this week but didn’t deny an extension was in place, only saying he would not discuss it publicly. This came on the heels of conflicting reports regarding the 58-year-old Fisher’s future.

We heard midway through the week the presumed extension for Fisher wasn’t on the table after the Rams became the first team to be blanked in Week 1 since the 2009 Rams, but another report emerged later saying re-ups for Fisher and GM Les Snead remained likely.

Under Fisher, the Rams have improved from their late-2000s swoon. Although, despite the franchise re-emerging as a competent operation following four years featuring three or fewer victories between 2007-11, the team has not finished above .500 under Fisher’s watch. The Rams have won seven games three times during the former Titans coach’s run.

Fisher is 169-157-1 in his 22-year coaching career, with the 157 losses tying him for third all-time. With 165 defeats, Dan Reeves (190-165-2) holds the NFL record for losses as a head coach. Fisher’s longevity lends itself to a high ranking in this category, but he trails both coaches ahead of him — Reeves and Tom Landry (250-162-6) — in wins by a considerable amount. It would be interesting if the Rams made a decision to extend Fisher as he approached this mark, but signs continue to point to the Los Angeles native remaining with the team.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Extra Points: Fisher, Kendricks, Dolphins

September 15th, 2016 at 9:57pm CST by Sam Robinson

Jeff Fisher may already have a contract extension in place with the Rams but is declining to confirm it. Asked about rumors of a potential extension being signed, Fisher did not confirm or deny rumors connecting him to another Rams pact, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

“I never talk about my personal stuff or my extensions or non-extensions or anything,” Fisher told media Thursday. “That’s between me and the organization.”

We heard earlier today Fisher and GM Les Snead were still likely to receive contract extensions despite the pair’s lack of substantial success with the franchise. The Rams have won seven games in three of Fisher’s four seasons and are coming off a 28-0 nationally televised defeat in their return as the Los Angeles Rams. While Fisher’s fared better than Scott Linehan or Steve Spagnuolo, who combined to coach four seasons with either three or fewer victories between 2007-11, many fans may not be thrilled an extension is coming. Florio posits the extension, if it has in fact been agreed to, will likely be announced after the Rams score a key victory this season.

Here’s more from around the league as the explosive Thursday-night game continues.

Mychal Kendricks agreed to a four-year, $29MM extension with the Chip Kelly-run Eagles last year but saw his role changed to that of a base defense-only linebacker in Jim Schwartz‘s 4-3 defense. The fifth-year ‘backer isn’t exactly ready to concede he’s not a three-down linebacker, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. “I’m not putting my ego aside. I’m just putting it in check,” Kendricks said. “Trust me, that [stuff] is very much there. And quote that. Write that [stuff].” Sidelined during the preseason with a hamstring injury, Kendricks saw Nigel Bradham join Jordan Hicks in the Eagles’ nickel package in Week 1. None of Kendricks post-2016 money is fully guaranteed, McLane writes. Kendricks would see $4.35MM become fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2017 league year, however, if he remains on Philadelphia’s roster by then.
The Dolphins should cut bait with Ryan Tannehill if he doesn’t take a step forward this season, Doug Keyd of NESN.com opines. Tannehill’s $11.6MM cap number balloons to $20.3MM in 2017, tied for sixth highest among quarterbacks and ahead of guys like Tom Brady, Andrew Luck, Philip Rivers, Eli Manning, Drew Brees, and Ben Roethlisberger. For what it’s worth, New England coach Bill Belichick already seems to think that Tannehill is a solid QB. “He’s a good quarterback,” Belichick said. “He’s smart, he handles the offense well, he certainly takes control of things at the line of scrimmage, as we’ve seen quarterbacks do in Coach [Adam] Gase’s offense. It obviously runs through the quarterbacks. It tracks adjustments, but he’s a good decision maker, he’s athletic, throws the ball well. He can certainly make plays out of the pocket. … He’s a good player. He’s definitely a problem for us.”
The Raiders‘ potential trek to Las Vegas will still rely on owners getting behind a Mark Davis-backed venture, something that shouldn’t be considered a sure thing, Ray Ratto of CSNBayArea.com writes. Ratto writes the Jaguars and Chargers are the two logical candidates for the NFL to place in Vegas if the stadium deal is agreed upon. Neither has been seriously connected to a Nevada move. However, Ratto notes Jerry Jones‘ power among the owners shouldn’t be dismissed. Despite working against the Raiders in February to push the Rams to Los Angeles, Jones has voiced support for a Raiders-to-Vegas venture and could be expected to whip votes if this measure reaches a vote.

Zach Links contributed to this report.

Latest On Rams’ Jeff Fisher, Les Snead

September 15th, 2016 at 2:25pm CST by Zachary Links

Extensions for Rams GM Les Snead and Jeff Fisher have yet to be finalized, but they are still expected to get done despite how poorly things went for L.A. in Week 1, ESPN.com’s Alden Gonzalez tweets. A previous report indicated that the contracts are on hold after the brutal loss against San Francisco. On Thursday, the Rams formally announced their new deal with defensive tackle Michael Brockers, so it stands to reason that extensions for Fisher and Snead might not be far off.

We’ve been hearing about new deals for Fisher and Snead all offseason long but, so far, nothing has been finalized. While some have questioned whether they deserve extensions given the lack of success they have had in recent years, Stan Kroenke & Co. believe that the organization is headed in the right direction. The franchise also probably wants to maintain some continuity as it breaks into a new market.

Under Fisher, the Rams have gone 27-37-1 and haven’t done better than seven wins in any season. The Rams haven’t reached the postseason in more than ten years.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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