Georgia Frontiere would be proud.
After all, today marks a homecoming of sorts for Jeff Fisher, who's announced that he'll become the St. Louis Rams’ new head coach.
It’s not the first time that Fisher’s been asked to repair an abysmal Rams team.
In 1991, he joined the Los Angeles Rams as defensive coordinator, hoping to rebuild its defense, with many in L.A. believing that Fisher was the heir apparent to the head-coaching position. Instead, at a time when Fisher still had a reported two years remaining on his $170,000 contract, then-Rams head coach Chuck Knox fired him.
It was a move that ran counter to Frontiere’s desires. She had “specifically asked Knox to strongly consider keeping Fisher,” the Los Angeles Times reported in January 1992. Nonetheless, the team had given Knox control, and he'd decided that Fisher was out.
Today, as Fisher rejoins the Rams—the same franchise that defeated his former Titans by a mere yard in Super Bowl XXXIV—the situation's changed dramatically: The Rams are still in search of a general manager, the team holds the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft, and Fisher is in charge.
The only thing beyond his control, ironically enough, could be how negotiations with the Edward Jones Dome's lease play out in the coming weeks and whether the team eventually ends up back in Fisher's native Southern California.
Either way, Fisher is essentially tying up loose ends. “The only thing I’m disappointed with is I didn’t have a chance to finish what I started,” Fisher told the Times in 1992.
Now he has his chance.
