
There are two cities in the United States that stand out from all the rest. They are the top two media markets and they stand on opposite ends of our country. New York City and Los Angeles are pinnacles of American life and entertainment, yet the perceptions of the two cities couldn't be more different when it comes to the people who live there. New Yorkers are known as tough and rugged folk who don't take crap from anyone. When it comes to the citizens of Los Angeles, they couldn't be more laid back and care free. One more thing that has set the two cities apart for the past 21 years, since 1994, is the lack of a professional football team in Los Angeles. At the yearly owner's meeting that took place this January in Houston, Texas, by a vote of 30 to 2, Stanley Kroenke's proposal to put his St. Louis Rams in a brand new multibillion dollar stadium in Inglewood, California, just outside of Los Angeles, was passed. Most media speculation regarding the outcome of this endeavor has been mostly positive because it is going to put more money in the pockets of the NFL owners and the Rams get to go back to their original home in Los Angeles. After conducting my research, I agree that this was the right move for the NFL as a whole for multiple reason to be explained later, but the degree of success the Rams will have as a franchise will hinge on the coaching and general managing abilities of Jeff Fisher and Les Snead respectively. The Rams have made recent strides in an effort to become competitive again, but they haven't had a winning season since 2003, and have since made questionable personnel decisions. The only way for the Los Angeles Rams to be successful in the eyes of the citizens of Los Angeles is to fire head coach Jeff Fisher, and get a head coach with an exciting game plan. The reasons behind why my argument for firing Jeff Fisher is valid because Stan Kroenke has already done his part in setting the Rams up for success financially, the people of Los Angeles have plenty of other things to do than watch a mediocre football team for a hefty cost, and finally, Jeff Fisher hasn't done enough in his current tenure as head coach to warrant sustaining his position as the head coach of an NFL franchise.

Rams owner, Enos Stanley Kroenke is only a small part of the problem as to why the now Los Angeles Rams have been such a disappointment under his ownership while they were in St. Louis. In the 21 season they were the St. Louis Rams they successfully had only 4 seasons with a record above .500. None of those seasons came while Kroenke was the majority owner of the team. Steven A. Smith, an analyst on the ESPN sports talk show, First Take, stated, "Stan Kroenke's priority does not appear to be winning," (First Take). This statement was made in an analysis of Kroenke's decision to move the Rams from St. Louis to Los Angeles as well as Kroenke's statements regarding the current state of St. Louis and how no NFL team could possibly thrive in that environment. The speculation that Kroenke is stabbing his hometown in the back is not without its merits. Stan Kroenke was born 2 hours outside of St. Louis, Missouri. "His birth certificate reads Enos Stanley Kroenke. He was named after Enos Slaughter and Stan Musial, the Cardinals stars who are arguably the two most iconic people in the history of St. Louis," (Zirin). And now, Kroenke is screwing his people out of their second NFL team? It may sound bad, and the citizens of St. Louis may not be happy, especially after they offered him, "$500 million in public funds," to build a new stadium, but I believe it was the right move for the NFL as a whole. 

Not many people have heard of him, or could even recognize Kroenke on the street, but he is no slouch in the business world. "This unassuming, private man from the guts of America, with a Midwestern drawl, also owns the NFL's [Los Angeles] Rams; the NBA's Denver Nuggets; the NHL's Colorado Avalanche; the Pepsi Center, where the Nuggets and the Avalanche play; the Colorado Rapids of MLS, as well as their stadium; the National Lacrosse League's Colorado Mammoth; [the English Premier League's Arsenal Gunners;] and Altitude Sports and Entertainment, a regional sports network," (Wertheim). Kroenke knows what he's doing. He has made a fortune in real estate and he married into the Walton family. They own Walmart. To Kroenke, this move to Los Angeles is purely a money making venture. To go along with that, the NFL has wanted to put a team back in Los Angeles ever since they lost the Rams and Raiders before the 1995 NFL season. Now, Kroenke put an offer in front of the rest of the NFL owners that they couldn't refuse. He is paying for this whole endeavor out of his own pocket. This isn't just a stadium we are talking about. We are talking about an entire complex that will cost approximately $3 billion to put an NFL team in the second largest media market in the United States. Well respected NFL inside reporter, Adam Schefter, discussed what else this move means on YESNetwork, and he brought up the fact that this most likely will bring more than just an NFL team to Los Angeles. He explains that Superbowls will be played there, the NFL will bring the combine and the Draft to LA, and even a studio for NFL Network will be built there. Kroenke put too much on the table for the NFL to pass up.

While most of Rams failures came under the ownership of Kroenke, he shouldn't really take the full brunt of the blame. No, he did not handle the departure from St. Louis in the most professional manner, but in the end, business is business. That's what all of Kroenke's properties and franchises mean to him. His role as an owner of the Rams and all of his other teams ends with making sure he is turning a profit. That is why he likes to own the land his teams play on. In the off chance any of these leagues or his teams go under, he will still be able to make a profit off the land. Wertheim's article points out just how Kroenke operates his teams. "Never, though, did Kroenke interfere in matters of team strategy or personnel ...  [H]e is regarded as a solid and conscientious partner, a good corporate citizen, easy to work with and easy to find. At league board meetings he does not seek an active role in shaping policy. Though he still considers himself principally a real estate developer, he is a regular (if inconspicuous) presence at the games of his teams... Tellingly, his clubs tend to operate safely under the salary cap," (Wertheim). This quote speaks volumes to the reasons behind why the Rams' perennial failures are not his fault; however, he may want to look into making some changes if he wants to have the full support of the citizens of Los Angeles.

Los Angeles is a pinnacle of leisure and extravagance. There are hundreds of things to do on a daily basis if you live there, and the weather is always nice. LA is home to a city of people who feel as though they own the world and are jaded to a level I could never understand. Since the Los Angeles Rams and Raiders left Los Angeles after the 1994 season for St. Louis and Oakland respectively, the NFL has been looking for an opportunity to put a team back there. Los Angeles never asked the NFL to bring them another team. That's not the kind of people they are. They really couldn't care less about having their own team, especially if that means dealing with hours of traffic to watch a mediocre football team compete for a few hundred dollars. You can be sure those tickets won't be cheap. Unlike other cities that want an NFL team to put them on the map and are willing to front public money in order to build a stadium, Los Angeles didn't put up a single cent to bring the Rams back. Los Angeles resident and ESPN analyst on the popular sports talk show, Around the Horn, Bill Plaschke, put it best in his article when he wrote, "[W]e didn't ask you to come back. Oh, we may have whined occasionally during Super Bowl weeks, but we didn't hold giant rallies or send emotional letters or really miss you that much. We play fantasy football, we watch DirecTV, we drive to Las Vegas for a three-team parlay. We've had our fill of the NFL without actually having a team," (Plaschke). This attitude towards bringing back the Rams epitomizes the Los Angeles mindset. 

To go along with the notion that LA fans are just jaded and bored in general, ESPN First Take's Skip Bayless, who used to be a sports reporter for the LA Times back when the Rams were originally in LA stated, "The Rams crowds that I covered through 6 straight division winning years ...  were basically sit back, sit on your hands, wait for the first touchdown before you yell kind of crowds," (First Take). He uses this statement as a comparison to the Rams crowds he saw at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis during their few good years, and how much more passionate those fans were than those he watched in LA. This is a city drenched in stardom, and is widely considered to be the entertainment capital of the world. Anyone living in this kind of environment will eventually succumb to the same jaded tendencies that defines Los Angeles today. This is a city of people who will not support a football team run by Jeff Fisher because he is a boring coach. He will ground and pound the ball. He settles for field goals. He has been to the playoffs only 6 times in his 21 seasons as a head coach in the league and not once in his 4 years coaching the Rams. Once the initial glamor and excitement from the new stadium wears off in Los Angeles, the fans will realize that the Jeff Fisher product being displayed on the field is not up to their standards and will result in a loss of support for the franchise.

Plain and simple, Stan Kroenke needs to let go of Jeff Fisher. His boring brand of football and his poor record are not what needs to be brought to Los Angeles. They have built up a decent roster, especially on the defensive side. They have an up and coming superstar at the running back position in Todd Gurley. They even have an effective swiss army knife type player in Tavon Austin. This can be attributed to Fisher as well as their General Manager, Adam Gase, who was appointed the position the same time Jeff Fisher got the job 4 years ago. However, a record of 27-36-1 is nothing short of mediocrity, and as much as Kroenke likes to let his staff manage his franchises, he needs to step in and find a new head coach with a game plan that will excite the fans in LA. 

What is most likely keeping Kroenke from firing Fisher is how well respected Fisher is within the entire NFL community as well as the media. Stephen A. Smith points out on First Take that Fisher makes $7 million annually in his head coaching gig, which is only $500,000 less than 4-time Superbowl winner, Bill Belichick. That is a fact that should not go unnoticed by anyone. There is no excuse for Fisher to be able to keep his job, get paid so handsomely, and put out a product that stinks. Yes, Kroenke does have a history of paying his coaches well, but that does not excuse the fact that Fisher should not be the coach being paid that well. Skip Bayless goes on to address the fact that Fisher's staying power can be attributed to his knowledge of the game and his place on the NFL's Competition Committee. However, in the interest of fairness, to both other coaches looking for an opportunity and to the fans in Los Angeles, Fisher's record as a head coach does nothing to suggest that he deserves to continue his tenure as head coach of the now Los Angeles Rams.

The NFL is about to strike it big with this deal. There is zero doubt in my mind that there are big profits to be made by bringing the Rams to Los Angeles on Kroenke's dime. The problem I have with everything going on here falls in the hands of Kroenke's managing of his staff, particularly Jeff Fisher. I honestly think Fisher is a good head coach. He definitely knows the game. The problem is that his game plan is outdated in the NFL. The people of Los Angeles need star power and they need excitement in order to stay interested in the Rams because everyone knows they can spend their free time and money in dozens of other ways if they felt so inclined. That will most certainly be the case if the Rams keep Fisher around for too much longer. Kroenke is a business kingpin, but he can't let his good graces with Jeff Fisher mask the fact that his head coaching abilities are obsolete. The Rams should let go of Jeff Fisher. They have left everything else behind in St. Louis. They need to leave Fisher behind as well.

