Jeff Fisher’s ‘7 and 9 bulls**t’ might have saved his job with the Rams

The Los Angeles Rams fired head coach Jeff Fisher on Monday, after almost five seasons and a 4-9 record in 2016. Rams COO Kevin Demoff spoke to reporters on Monday afternoon to address the firing.

“Collectively we all felt this was the best chance to move forward and finish this season with some direction and hope and begin the process of building for 2017,” Demoff told reporters.

“Starting today, we’ll have a complete review of the entire organization,” he said. “This team is not where it needs to be.”

He was adamant that Fisher was the right hire when they made it five years ago, though. Demoff said that Fisher wasn’t the only problem with the Rams, and that together they have to improve, calling it an organizational failure.

”I would never want to scapegoat Jeff. He’s worked too hard, he’s been too loyal to all of us to do that,” he said.

Demoff did hint that Fisher had a chance to keep his job. “Had this just been a team that finished 7-9, 6-10 and had some close calls the way we did at certain points, I think we may have looked at it differently,” he said. “The way we played the past few weeks really changed the barometer from that point.”

Special teams coach John Fassel, who will be the team’s interim coach, got rave reviews from Demoff.

“The players love him, they have tremendous energy, they play hard for him. I think if you look at our team, our special teams units have been among the best performing. I think for those of you who watch Hard Knocks, the energy, the excitement the players have for coach Fassel is evident.”

A big talking point when it came to the Rams the past few weeks revolved around Fisher’s relationship with Eric Dickerson. Fisher reportedly didn’t want Dickerson around the Rams, and Dickerson said that as long as Fisher was still the coach, he wouldn’t be attending Rams games.

When Demoff was questioned whether Dickerson had anything to do with the firing, he said, “This is solely about on-field performance.”

The job security of GM Les Snead was questioned as well, and Demoff wouldn’t commit to safety when it came to Snead’s job.

“I think collectively we need to take a look at this entire organization and that includes personnel,” Demoff said. “And I think it would be a mistake right now to say that we’re satisfied with where we’re at on the personnel side and to ensure Les would be back.”

Overall, the resounding message to be taken away from Demoff’s presser was when he said, “I think it would be a mistake to say that anybody in the building is guaranteed to come back next year.”

Change came to the Rams organization Monday, and it appears more is in the future.