Eerie similarities to 2011 season.

[jacobarch]

This is like deja vu all over again. Look at the similarities between Spags short coaching career and Fishers here in Stl.

2010 - 2011

Spags ball: 2010
Spags comes in and changed the Stl rams philosophy. Drafts players with good heads on their shoulders and brings a defensive mind to stl. The Rams finish their first season with spags at 7-9. With a loss in Seattle to decide if the Hawks will make the playoffs. Rams of course come up short in a tight game
Bradford has a great rookie year. Breaking a couple of QB records in completions and completion %. Almost breaks Payton Mannings passing yard record.

Spags: 2011
For the first time in a long time Rams fans have something to look forward to. It looked like we drafted the right QB and Spags and Co. looked to be the long waited answer for the previously struggling Rams.
Sherman (the rams O cord) left for Cleveland to take a head coaching job. Spags had an important decision to make. Hire another West Coast Coordinator or go with Josh Mcdumps and change the Rams offensive philosophy. Spags decided to go with Josh. We all know the rest of the story...No offseason, 2nd year QB in his second system, bad drafting, bad FA signings, and a horrible offensive line. It definitely was a recipe for disaster and it was just that. With Bradford going down with a ankle injury everyone thought the season was over for the Rams.
Clemens came in (against a team we thought we'd lose against) vs. The Saints and we blasted them and everyone said, Bradford who???
Then the real fun began. We lost to every team except the Browns which we should of lost anyways because of a horrible missed chip shot. Short to say Spags and co. made the wrong decisions in the offseason and it cost the entire FO their jobs.

New era Fisher 2012:
Fisher comes in and once again changed stl. philosophy by almost completely changing over the Rams roster. Making a monster deal with the Skins for RGIII that gave the Rams life once again in the NFL. We now went from one of the oldest teams in the league to the youngest. And I'll let this be known that I commend Fisher and Snead for making this deal, because it now looks like we'll need it.
Fisher takes the Rams and drafts and brings in FA's that he thought played to the Rams strengths. Hiring another WC offensive coord and bringing in the Williams to coach up the young defense.
Year one looked pretty good, going 7-8-1, 4-1-1 in the division, and Bradford having the best season of his short career, it looked like the Rams were back on track. Not to mention the young Defense had a lights out year with a league high 52 sacks.

Fisher 2013:
Fisher in his second year looked to make a push for a playoff run. Having the division opponents number the previous season really had us fans excited to see what this team could do this year. Again being not only the youngest team in the league but one of the youngest in NFL history we knew there were going to bumps in the road this year. But how bad?
With the Firing of Williams Fisher brought in Walton, an unproven commodity in Detroit, Fisher thought he would be a perfect fit for this up-and-coming defense.
Also changing the offensive philosophy to a more spread em out - pass to set up the run game plan.
Short to say this was short lived. The Rams were not a team that could play this type of football. Sam is no Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers and the rest of the players don't even come close to matching up with those teams. One thing I do commend fisher for is changing his game plan after a couple of bad losses this year. while it's not real exciting football it's what he knows best and is what the Rams are set up best for.
Now we're in the same predicament as in 2011. Bradford is hurt and the Rams still have Clemons backing him up. We all know he's not the answer to the Rams problems. I don't think Tom Brady could be the answer to their problems but after 4 years you'd think they could have a decent backup for Bradford. It really is another blunder by the FO of the Rams.

One big difference this year compared to 2011 is Bradford was having his best year to date, After Fisher corrected some things on Offense it looked like the Rams were rolling once again after two wins. I know not all of you agree with this assessment but stats are facts and it's pretty hard to argue with them.

My biggest question is where do we go from here??? I know the season is over, but what do we do to improve this team? Do we keep bradford? Do we hit the reset button on the FO? Or do we keep trucking?

 

[Red_Chaos]

I would say keep trucking, other teams seem to get out of funks (except the browns) why can't we?

but if fisher bolts, the new guy will just tear it apart anyway ._.

 

[jacobarch]

I don't think he's bolting. He's been asked about it and he acted upset that it was even brought up. He has no college experience and the rumor was purely speculation. So I don't even understand why people keep on bringing this up.

 

[Vitamike]

Jacobarch,

Only problem with your scenario....

Spags first year was 2008 not 2009.

So in his first year he put up a record of 2-14.

Combine that with his second year total of 7-9 and that gets you to 9-23.

Jeff was 7-8-1 in his first year and so far this year he is 3-4 with 9 to play.

That gives Jeff as many wins (10-12-1) in a little over 1 1/4 years as Steve had in 3 years here (10-38) and Jeff is not even to the half way mark of Spags tenure.

Don't worry about Fish, he ain't going any where.

 

[jacobarch]

aw thats right i forgot he was here when we had Bulger.....

 

[fastforward]

Spagnuolo was hired by the Rams in 2009. He inherited a 2-14 team and took them to 1-15. I can see some similarities between the 2011 team and the current situation. Spagnuolo knew he wouldn't survive another losing season so he reached for highlight players he thought could make an immediate impact. The team disintegrated from the 1st play of the season, (on which Steven Jackson got injured). By week 8 the team was incapable of beating anyone. Spagnuolo was very unlucky with injuries but he was an awful HC and talent evaluator. Fisher has similarly gambled with flashy talent to the detriment of the team's spine. He's been lucky with injuries until now but Bradford's injury means the season is done. Regardless of who's in charge next year we'll be facing a re-build. 6 of our Week 1 starters will be out of contract and all will be gone, (Saffold, Dahl, Wells, Langford, Witherspoon/Dunbar and Finnegan). With questionable talent at LG, RB, SS, & FS we're unlikely to be contenders next season.
Even before Bradford's injury we were on the lookout for another QB. (We had Bradford's contract option as a safety net). Now that option has gone and barring outrageously favourable recovery reports a new franchise QB has to be obtained by May 2014. It becomes the #1 priority. Since we're facing a re-start it doesn't much matter whether it's Fisher in charge or someone else. Whoever it is has to be there for a 2-3 year period. It would make no sense having Fisher for 1 more year with a new QB and then making a HC change. My guess is that Fisher stays. If he abandons ship now he might never get another shot at the NFL.

 

[ksudodger]

If he abandons ship now he might never get another shot at the NFL.


This is not just ANY job that he is being considered for.. it is a chance to take his Alma Mater and return them to glory. This is the head coaching position for the University of Southern California. AD Pat Haden has already stated he would have no problem paying someone like Fisher more than what Sabin makes. If that is the offer, he would be STUPID not to take it.

 

[jacobarch]

As I said before this is pure speculation created by our lovely media here in the U S of A