Los Angeles Rams: ‘Free-year’ mentality must be erased
Coach Sean McVay’s task of rebuilding the Los Angeles Rams culture includes ridding the team of its previous ‘free-year’ approach
The Los Angeles Rams rebuilding project is much more daunting after news of a “free-year” mentality that both coach Jeff Fisher and the players possessed. Meaning new coach Sean McVay may not get the immediate results he or Rams fans are seeking.
Forbes recently ranked the franchise’s value at No. 12 in the world at $2.9 billion, a year removed from being outside the top 50. Thanks goes to owner Stan Kroenke’s decision to move the team from St. Louis to the West Coast. But a change in scenery did not create a change in attitude within the team locker room.
Sports Illustrated’s MMQB reported of a conversation it had with the director of the television series,All or Nothing, which followed and chronicled the Rams in 2016, along with the series show runner.
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Director Shannon Furman recalled his impressions of how the Rams players viewed Fisher when news of his firing became public. Fisher’s relationship with his team great for his ego, but ultimately horrible for the franchise:
"I got a feel for that everyday how much these guys liked him. He is loyal to a lot of his players. … It did not surprise me, the emotion that those guys had that day. Everyone had this feeling that Fisher was safe, himself included. A lot of the players thought this was going to be a free year because they moved and they had a lot of other stuff to go through, so everyone was pretty shocked and I think that emotion was really real that day."
Fisher entered last season with a 27-36-1 record with the Rams that included four non-winning seasons. The Rams did give him a contract extension quietly before last season, which could have contributed to his false sense of security.
But any NFL coach who feels secure about his job — other than Bill Belichick — raises a red flag. Not only did Fisher feel secure, he seems to have passed that false hope along to his players. As a result, that lack of urgency manifested itself over the last 12 weeks of the season. What successful group of players would ever believe that it could simply go through the motions one year and regroup for the next.
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Now, rookie head coach Sean McVay has to instill an urgency in a team that has a habit for complacency. Getting rid of the “free-year” mentality will be difficult to accomplish in 2017 alone. That will push back the Rams rebuilding project back. The question is for how long?