Firing Jeff Fisher with three games remaining gives the Los Angeles Rams ample time to identify and pursue their next head coach.
They will be looking to improve an offense that ranked 31st in touchdowns scored (137) during four-plus seasons under Fisher. They will want a coach who buys into rookie quarterback Jared Goff. If their next coach possesses the credentials to move the needle in the cluttered Los Angeles market, all the better.
The Rams could make other changes to their leadership, which could in turn affect how a coaching search might proceed. And there could be other considerations. Three of the stronger current candidates -- Jim Schwartz, Steve Spagnuolo and Scott Linehan -- could be excluded for the wrong reasons. Spagnuolo and Linehan were Rams head coaches previously, while Schwartz has a long association with Fisher from their days together in Tennessee.
In the meantime, here's a quick look at six potential candidates with offensive pedigrees:
Josh McDaniels
Offensive coordinator, New England Patriots
How a candidate will operate within an organization's walls can be one of the great unknown variables when a team hires a new coach from the outside. Since McDaniels was the Rams' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2011, some team officials would have a better feel for him. McDaniels lasted only 28 games as the Denver Broncos' head coach in 2009 and '10. How much has he grown from that experience?
"Josh McDaniels came out on fire in Denver with a 6-0 start and his ego ended up being his downfall," a former McDaniels associate said. "Looking back, Josh says, 'I did that to myself.'"
