The Mismatch of Jeff Fisher and Los Angeles
Los Angeles Rams head coach Jeff Fisher was born and raised in the same city he now coaches an NFL team. He is a native of the Southland and even played his college football at the University of Southern California. This experience within the city he serves has been invaluable to his approach in the franchise’s return to its historic home.
However, Fisher has been away from Los Angeles for a long time, and the distance is clear in more ways than one. Since leaving the Los Angeles Rams in 1991, he has been a part of smaller market teams and developed a style mirroring those markets. From San Francisco, Houston, Nashville, and St. Louis, Fisher has yet to lead an NFL franchise in a city whose population is as massive and diverse as Los Angeles.
His struggles are indicative of this disparity.
After starting the Los Angeles return with a dismal record of four wins and seven heartbreaking losses, fans of the Mob Squad have become irate with their head coach and his entire staff. During his run with the Rams, both in St. Louis and Los Angeles, he has been unable to find any kind of consistent success and has not once led a winning season.
Without delving too much into his coaching choices or football philosophy, the time would perhaps better be spent looking at his inability to fit into the Los Angeles sports environment, itself.
History of Champions
Los Angeles is a city very familiar with transplant franchises. The Lakers were originally from Minneapolis and the Dodgers were from Brooklyn. Much like the population, the sunshine and glamour bring many to the Golden Coast. “New” and “exciting” are priceless traits in this town that is always looking for the next big thing. However, again like the people of the city, attention can be quick to dissipate.
Both the Dodgers and Lakers have their own decorated histories. The Lakers have earned world championships 16 times, second only to the Boston Celtics and the Dodgers have reached the peak of the league six times. Even the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings have won two Stanley Cups.
Thus, excellence is a standard as would be expected in such a thriving market. This explains a city filled with “fair-weather fans”, as some claim. The loyal Angelinos have seen championship caliber coaches like Phil Jackson, Tommy Lasorda, and Darryl Sutter bring home the league’s biggest accolades, and thus settle for nothing less. If a coach proves to be unable to win, the team will quickly lose support. Deemed fair-weather or simply intolerant of mediocrity, the people of Los Angeles do not accept losing.
As Jeff Fisher settles into his Los Angeles role, he is already being met with fierce criticism for his shortcomings. This kind of vicious fan relations can be expected to continue if the same problems are not solved quickly. Without proper address, he risks losing the NFL fan base the city has been without for so long.
Short Lifespans of Los Angeles Coaches
Coach Fisher has been a part of Los Angeles sports from his days as a USC Trojan. College football has long been dominated in this city by USC and the team has been a contender for large periods in recent history. Even here the revolving door at head coach is apparent. Very recent history provides a great example of the standard to which L.A. coaches are held. Since coach Pete Carroll left to join the Seattle Seahawks, the school has used four different head coaches.
Since Phil Jackson left the Lakers in 2011, the team has seen five different head coaches, each one being shipped out when unable to find success. Since Lasorda left the Dodgers in 1996, the team rotated through eight head coaches, regularly lasting only two seasons. If they could not get it right by then, they were promptly terminated.
Professional football is an even more delicate situation in a city that has spent over two decades without a team. The standard of success is as high as can be, as the city is not quick to embrace what has been a mediocre St. Louis Rams organization. There is no exaggeration in saying that the fans expected the Rams to be contenders immediately.
Thus, moving up to draft the number one overall pick was a brilliant move by the ownership, knowing their supporters expected them to be much better than the previous year’s squad. Selecting a quarterback with the pick was also savvy, as the city now had a young superstar to cheer.
This is where Fisher began to show his deficiencies as a big city football coach. When he stated that he wanted to let Jared Goff develop and play backup to journeyman Case Keenum, the fans were furious.
Big market teams offer an added layer of confusion in that they want high entertainment value in addition to success on the field. Winning supersedes all, but winning without flair is often rebuked.
As the league has now seen, Goff has been solid in his first two starts. Whether this was because he had time to acclimate or he was always ready to play is a moot point. The decision to keep him on the bench until week 11, after already falling to 4-5, did nothing but add to the ire of Fisher’s fan base and spark a campaign to oust him that has only grown stronger since.
A Media-Driven City
During the Rams hiatus to St. Louis, Angelenos organized and rallied very often to bring them back. These efforts were monumental and the hardcore fans saw no effort too big to bring their favorite team back to their home city.
These same fans have a respect and deep admiration of their team’s pedigree. Fisher was and will still be expected to honor this background, even though his time with the Rams was mainly in the Midwest.
One way not to respect the organization’s history would be to start a very public argument with a Hall of Fame running back and Rams’ legend. The story has been reported to its extent, but whether Fisher did ban Eric Dickerson from Rams’ activities or not, the fact remains that he got himself in a situation to be even more despised by his host city. Dickerson has brought glory to this city and the same fans who stood out to rally the team back are the ones who fawn over the historic running back and his legacy. Picking a fight with this legend and insinuating that he is a problem to the team will simply not be tolerated by this fan base.
Los Angeles is a media-saturated town where paparazzi follow movie stars to the gym and make stories from daily errands. The Rams have already had two television shows premiere on top networks HBO and E!. Any coach or player on a Los Angeles team needs to be aware that anything and everything will not only be scrutinized, but made national news.
Just recently, he was caught for his ignorance as to which running back he will be facing for the upcoming week’s opponent. He referenced a player that is currently on the injured reserve, and has not even been on this team for four years. This may have just been a slip or a mental lapse, but in this media-driven city and in a media-driven sport, a coach will get eaten alive for a remark like this.
Jeff Fisher has many talents as a coach, but public address is not one of them. To be fair, many sports coaches lack this tact, but if one wants to coach in a major market, he or she must develop it. For this same reason, a coach like Bill Belichick, known for his media disdain would not be a good fit for Los Angeles, either, although if he could bring the winning culture he has developed in New England with him, that may be a different story.
Conclusion
Jeff Fisher’s problems with the Rams extend far beyond his inability to win or find any consistency. He simply does not fit in with the Los Angeles sports culture. His media deficiencies, excuse-heavy press conferences, and overall losing reputation are not being accepted by the city and will not be anytime soon. Whether it is a “Fire Fisher” shirt or a trending hashtag, fans are not pleased with their coach. To survive in this city, one needs to be comfortable in front of a camera, or at the very least win games. Failing this, especially in the team’s first season back in the city, could lead to an organization without any fans, and thus, without any support or hope.
