Saint Louis Rams: 3 Ways Jeff Fisher Will Change the Culture of the Rams

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The St. Louis Rams have been the most abysmal team in the NFL over the last five years. In fact, they've been historically bad.

Even head coach Jeff Fisher acknowledges it, saying, "No team in NFL history has lost more games in a five-year span than the Rams the last five years."

It's true. Of all the talk about the Raiders and the Lions being two of the worst franchises in history over the past decade, they still have yet to get to the level of losing the Rams have succeeded at. 

If it's up to Fisher, though, that will change.

17 Years of Coaching Experience

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Experience is a valuable commodity in the NFL. The best coaches in the NFL—the likes of Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin and Mike Tomlin—have one thing in common: consistency. 

Fisher spent 17 years as a head coach for the Tennessee Titans. The Titans were never dominant, and in that time they went to the Super Bowl only once, but Fisher has a career 142-120 in the regular season and has won five of 11 playoff games. 

Even if Fisher is not a top coach, he's proven he can make a team consistent, especially on the defensive side of the ball. The Rams fans have dreams of above-.500 records, and that's something Fisher can surely bring. 

Confidence and Swagger

Kevin Demoff, right, advocates Fisher's swagger and confidence
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It's easy to have a down locker room, a down fanbase, when you've lost so many games in such a short period of time. 

Fisher brings a confidence to this team that it did not have before. He's a player's coach, always has been, and that translates in the locker room and on the field. Guys play harder for guys like Fisher. It's just that simple. 

Kevin Demoff, the Rams' executive vice president of football operations and chief operating officer, said it himself on "ITD Morning After" on 590 The Fan. 

One of the things that we were really looking for in the coaching search process was confidence and swagger, someone who would come in—not arrogance, there’s a difference—but someone who would come in, knows they’re going to have success, knows that what they did will work. I think when you walk into our building now, you sense the confidence.

Risk Taking

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No team gets to the next level, especially after residing in the cellar, without a little wheeling, dealing and well-calculated gamble. 

That's what Fisher has always done, and sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn't. He took on "Pacman" Jones, Albert Haynesworth, Cortland Finnegan and now Janoris Jenkins. 

Sometimes things don't work out, like with Jones and Haynesworth. Sometimes they're home runs like Finnegan, who was drafted in the seventh round of the 2007 draft and is now one in the top tier of cornerbacks in the league. 

Jenkins has a lot of off-the-field baggage, but they got him with a second-rounder, and he easily could've been a player to be taken in the top 10. Fisher and company made sure they turned their No. 2 pick into a package of players that could help all over the field instead of just taking a player No. 2 overall. It's those kind of calculated risks that turn a team around.