New Rams coach Jeff Fisher is bringing 17 years of head coaching experience with him to St. Louis, but Kevin Demoff, the Rams’ executive vice president of football operations and chief operating officer, says Fisher is bringing more than that.
According to Demoff, Fisher has brought with him a sense of confidence that the Rams didn’t have before his arrival.
“One of the things that we were really looking for in the coaching search process was confidence and swagger,” Demoff said on ITD Morning After on 590 The Fan. “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.”
Of course, confidence and swagger only get you as far as your players’ talent allows. Fortunately for the Rams, Demoff says they’re better in the talent department as well.
“Our team is, I think, far more talented than it was a year ago,” he said. “It may take some coaching for them to get there, it may take some time. . . . I think what you feel in the building is confidence -- this group is pretty good, they’re going to get there sooner rather than later. We’ve got an elite quarterback in Sam Bradford, we’ve got some weapons returning that missed last year, we’ve got speed, we’ve gotten bigger, we’re going to be bigger, faster, stronger.”
If that’s true, that’s the real good news: Swagger is nice, but getting players who are bigger, faster and stronger means a lot more for making a team better.