Jeff Fisher Fired By Los Angeles Rams -- On Twitter
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Jeff Fisher has served as an NFL head coach for 339 games -- 11th most in history. He entered 2016 for his fifth year with the Rams organization, and he signed an extension prior to the season.
But on Monday, Fisher was fired.
The Rams made the announcement in as unceremonious a manner as possible.
They did it with a tweet.
Now, given the results of Fisher with the Rams, such a fate was well-earned. Accentuated by a blowout loss at home to Atlanta on Sunday, Fisher owned a 31-45-1 record with the Rams. In their new home in Los Angeles, Fisher had the team out to a 3-1 start to the season. However, they lost eight of the next nine -- a stretch in which they were outscored 228-131, or an average score of 25-15 each game.
Sunday's loss dropped Fisher into a tie with Dan Reeves for most losses by a head coach of all time. Reeves owned a 190-165-2 record as head coach; Fisher currently sits at 173-165-1, having coached 18 fewer games than Reeves.
Fisher has held a head coaching job since 1994 except for one year (2011). He's reached the playoff six times, going 5-6. A Fisher-coached team hasn't made the postseason since 2008 and has not won a postseason game since 2003. He has not finished with a record better than .500 since 2008.
Though the firing of a coach who's held the job for five years and was supposed to be the man leading the franchise in a move to a new city doesn't come down to just one or two matters, Fisher certainly increased the number of questions about his job security in recent weeks. In advance of the Rams' game against the Patriots, Fisher spoke glowingly of "Brandon" and "Danny" as threats out of the New England backfield, even though the Patriots don't hand the football to people named Brandon or Danny. And then, during that game, Fisher attempted to challenge a play call, but he could not locate the challenge flag in his pocket.
On Sunday, after losing 42-14 to the Falcons, running back Todd Gurley openly questioned his team's effort on the field.
Fisher had also been engaged in a public spat with Rams great Eric Dickerson regarding the former player's criticisms of the team.
With the effort in question and the team quickly spiraling out of NFL relevancy just months into its new life in Los Angeles, the Rams decided the time was right to make the move.
On Twitter.
Ouch.
