Why is this year different?

[AvengerRam]

For the last few years, several of us have expressed hope around this time of year. Unfortunately, come October or November, those hopes were generally proven to be misguided.

Hope has risen again.

Why is this year different?

[Fastcat]

Its no different. Im optimistic EVERY year, i goto work telling me fellow football co working fans how good we're gonna be and how we will make a playoff run "if this happens, and that goes right, and player x and y has the breakout season we've been waiting for". I must admit the last 2yrs my optimism has lowered a bit, but has risen again becuase of fisher and co.

[HUbison]

I think the difference is Jeff Fisher. Without that one change, none of the other changes would have happened. No Jeff Fisher, no Les Snead. No Fishead, no firing of DeSpags. No firing of DeSpags, no signing/drafting of Finnegan, Langford, Brockers, Quick, Jenkins, Johnson, etc.

Lots of changes this year, and I think the Fisher change is the one that spawned them all.

[NJ Ramsfan1]

It's Jeff Fisher. He is a coach who has instant credibility based on his past experience as an NFL Head Coach. One would think if anyone can be successful here it's him.

It is unfair to suggest that we've "finally drafted talent". We have absolutely no way of knowing whether these guys will pan out. Talent on paper means nothing. Hacking it at the University of Montana or Northern Alabama doesn't automatically qualify guys for the NFL- they have to prove themselves like any other draftee. And obviously guys drafted by the previous regime were highly regarded and thought to be talented when they were selected.

Kroenke's wallet is important insomuch as it's allowed us to get Jeff Fisher.

Hitting rock bottom doesn't mean we automatically have nowhere to go but up. We can always stay at the bottom- God help us all.

[AvengerRam]

I went with the young talent option.

Looking back, I think that DeSpags' biggest error in "talent acquisition" was the reliance on aging veterans who either gave the Rams very short-term production (i.e. Fred Robbins, Mark Clayton, Na'il Diggs, James Butler, Cadillac Williams) or virtually no production at all (i.e. Jerious Norwood, Ben Leber, Brady Poppinga, Justin Bannan, Mike Sims-Walker).

Fishead, on the other hand, has primarily signed young/in their prime FAs (i.e. Cortland Finnegan, Kendall Langford, Jo-Lonn Dunbar), and has worked hard to acquire both quality AND QUANTITY through the draft. While there is no guarantee that the draftees will pan out, when you have seven picks in the first four rounds, the odds of obtaining players who will provide multiple years of productive play is certainly increased.

[r8rh8rmike]

Fisher is the difference. The last time we had a new head coach who knew exactly what he was doing was Vermeil, and that turned out pretty well. Fisher can concentrate on crafting a winner, not figure it out along the way. Knowing that our coach has a long history of success, gives me hope that this year we turn a big corner.

[RockinRam]

Shut up! It just is! Sheesh.

[MauiRam]

I went with Fisher - easy choice for me. I do believe Stan K. should get a lot of "difference" credit as well. For a time, when the Fisher derby was in full swing, I had my doubts we would land the Fish. Stan simply would not be outdone however, and he apparently possesses enough good sense to know which decisions he (as an owner) needs to make, and which decisions are for the people he delegated the running/coaching of the football team to make. Without Stan's efforts, I believe Jeff Fisher would likely be coaching elsewhere ..

[mde8352gorams]

I went with Jeff Fisher, but I would have chosen two other words, talent evaluation. We clearly seem to have in Jeff and Les 2 very smart football people who can evaluate talent based on a scheme that works for us. Young or old isn't as important as football talent. We can all speak volumes about the past, but most importantly I see Jeff and Les building a team, not simply collecting presumed talent. Much remains to be seen, so let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet.

Go Rams!

[AvengerRam]

Fisher is definitely a good choice. He has 142 career victories as an NFL Head Coach.

Mike Martz, Joe Vitt, Scott Linehan and Steve Spagnuolo have combined for 78 wins.

[HUbison]

Fisher is definitely a good choice. He has 142 career victories as an NFL Head Coach.

Mike Martz, Joe Vitt, Scott Linehan and Steve Spagnuolo have combined for 78 wins.

Remove Martz from the equation, and that number drops to 25.

Holy crap, it's time for a winning coach.

[laram0]

No BRAINER: Jeff Fisher

Fisher is an experienced head coach, AMEN! Done with the hot coordinator experiments, AMEN!

Fisher will and already has his finger prints all over everything. Free agent signings, the draft, undrafted players being brought in. Loses his DC who was going to run "FISHERS" defense anyway. I was excited when we hired Linehan. Followed that up by being excited when we hired Spags. I have to admit the excitement of hiring FISHER is at a much higher level.

Again, Two words: JEFF FISHER!

[berg8309]

FISHER....and all the other things at the same time But really, a lot of them are a product of Fisher and Snead. If we had a different coach, we'd probably have signed different players and done different things, and I can't predict how that would turn out. However, Fisher has a good track record (Solid, not spectacular) and a vision for how to build the franchise, which i feel we have lacked for years. I think, even if we aren't good this year, we'll see significant progress.

[Rambos]

Jeff Fisher, but you can add Les into that mix. They both seemed to be on the same page. Fisher is a very good coach and has put a great staff together, we will get better.

[RealRam]

Jeff Fisher, but you can add Les into that mix. They both seemed to be on the same page. Fisher is a very good coach and has put a great staff together, we will get better.

Two words: Fisher Snead.