For one fleeting four-game stretch in 2013, Jeff Fisher offered hope he could turn the now Los Angeles Rams into genuine playoff contenders.
It was the first four games of Fisher’s second season with the Rams, and after pulling them from the dregs of the NFL to a far more respectable 7-8-1, Fisher appeared willing to do something he’d never done in his head coaching career: change and adapt.
As one of the staunchest supporters of smashmouth football, Fisher’s teams were generally only missing the leather helmets when it came to an offensive philosophy.
When Fisher took a year away in 2011, after he lost his job with the Tennessee Titans, the most pressing question was whether he had used that time to come to grips with the reality of an ever-evolving league.