Jeff Fisher's odds of being the first NFL head coach fired during the 2016 season shot up to 2-1 in Las Vegas this week. It didn't take long for him to start beating those odds in Los Angeles.
One would think the Rams might lean more toward moving on from Fisher after Monday night's embarrassing 28-0 loss in San Francisco. It would be rather easy, given Fisher is in the final year of his contract.
Instead, ESPN's John Clayton reports the team is about to give Fisher a three-year extension, on the heels of a similar deal for defensive tackle Michael Brockers.
It's unprecedented for a team in the league's current demanding, win-now atmosphere to be this patient with subpar results for this long, especially with some of the talent this team has amassed over the past four years.
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Fisher, 58, has built his reputation on building tough, hardnosed teams that overachieve. His Rams have tended to start slow but rev up in time to produce a few notable upsets, just enough to make it seem like next year is the year.
But as difficult as Fisher admitted the big move to LA. was on his players, this is also when he needs to see the best results from his players. The way they responded physically and mentally against the 49ers doesn't inspire anyone to believe that will happen.
This is the Rams believing this is Coach Fisher from 1997 in Tennessee. You remember him, right? The Houston Oilers had made their big relocation, and weren't even playing in their new permanent home city as the Titans yet. They had to play in a college bowl stadium in Memphis. The next year, they were in Nashville, but went 8-8 again after needing to play at Vanderbilt Stadium.
Then came the magic, Music City Miraclous '99 season when they fell a yard short against the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl.
After Fisher's first four full seasons with Houston/Tennessee, he was 31-33. Then he went 13-3.
With St. Louis/LA, he's gone 27-37-1 since 2012. With a coaching record of 169-157, Fisher's career losses are the third-most in NFL history among head coaches, trailing only Tom Landry (250-162) and Dan Reeves (190-165). It's only Week 2, but it's already evident that awesome fifth year isn't coming this time.
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The Rams might have been accepting 2016 as a lost year, with their eyes already looking at 2019, when owner Stan Kroenke's $2.66 billion City of Champions Stadium will call the team home.
Funny how Fisher's new deal would go through 2019, isn't it?
Fisher might be the kind of leader to get his players through a tough transition on their way back to Southern California, from where he came and once plays. But in terms of producing the necessary results on the field, paying him more to stay is banking on too much.
There's no time to wait until '19. By the time this product on the field gets there, it's trending at best toward treading in place. The Rams need to think more of the present, because it's better to leave Fisher out of their future plans.
