Fisher undecided on offensive coordinator, hints at other changes
Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/25594/rams-jeff-fisher-undecided-on-offensive-coordinator-hints-at-other-changes
EARTH CITY, Mo. — St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher didn’t announce any changes to his coaching staff on Monday night. But he might as well have.
On multiple occasions in his 20-plus minute season-ending news conference, Fisher made reference to possible forthcoming changes to his staff. He even went so far as to allude to a follow up news conference on Wednesday to discuss whatever changes he has in store.
“We’ll start the evaluation process,” Fisher said. “Go back and we’ll discuss our restricted free agents, our unrestricted free agents and prioritize things from a coaching perspective. Then, we’ll get the ball rolling as far as the self-scouting and things like that. Separately from them, I’ll be dealing with when and if there’s going to be and potential staff changes.”
Staff changes have become a common occurrence for the Rams since Fisher arrived in 2012. Although there haven’t been many in total, there have been plenty of important alterations, namely at the two coordinator positions, every offseason since Fisher arrived. The offensive coordinator job is at the top of this year’s list as Fisher sorts through his various staff options.
Fisher fired offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti with four games left in the season, elevating assistant Rob Boras in his place. The Rams’ offense showed signs of life under Boras, going 3-1 in those games. While the numbers didn’t show much in the way of substantial offensive improvement, Fisher said Monday he was pleased with how Boras handled the job.
“A blocked field goal away from winning four straight,” Fisher said. “The operation was really good. He and [quarterbacks coach] Chris [Weinke] communicated really well. The plays were coming out. There were no issues. The only times we had issues was if we had it with the coach-to-quarterback device. I thought Rob jumped in and took advantage of a very, very difficult situation. And I thought he handled it really well. I’ve had a number of players come by my office today saying, ‘We like Coach Rob.’”
Despite those endorsements, Fisher said he has not yet made a decision on whether to keep Boras in that role or go with other options. Given Fisher’s penchant for being deliberate about such hires, it wouldn’t surprise if he at least took a closer look at potential outside choices. He took his time before settling on Cignetti over Boras a year ago.
“I have not made a decision at this point,” Fisher said. “We landed late last night. We’re all tired, as you are. There’s a potential for staff changes as there always is every year. I’ll be addressing that over the next couple of days, but I have not made a decision with a respect to Rob. But, Rob certainly is deserving of an opportunity to take this over because I thought he did a really good job.”
Beyond the decision at offensive coordinator, it stands to reason the Rams will be looking to make other changes to the offensive staff after that unit finished last in the NFL in yards per game. The receiver group and offensive line, to name two, have been consistent sources of consternation over the past few seasons.
Wherever the changes come, from all indications, we’ll know them sooner than later.
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