Jeff Fisher was fired in December of 2016 amid his fifth consecutive losing season as head coach of the Rams.
One year later, he told ESPN, "I had a lot to do with that roster," referring to the club Coach of the Year, 31-year-old Sean McVay, turned overnight into a division champion and juggernaut.
Well, with the 2017-18 season now complete, Fisher isn't wrong in saying he had a lot to do with the roster, particularly the QB room in his final offseason. Let's quickly recap what his quarterbacks have done in the subsequent 14 months since Fisher's firing:
Jared Goff, the No. 1 overall pick in 2016 who threw 6 touchdowns and 7 interceptions as a rookie in Fisher's offense, was recently named 2017's Most Improved Player by the PFWA. He threw 22 more touchdowns and the same number of interceptions, while raising his completion percentage nearly 8 full points, his yards per attempt by nearly 3 full points and his passer rating by a cool 36.9 points.
Case Keenum began the 2016 season as the starter over Goff, compiling a 9:11 TD-to-INT ratio and 76.4 rating before getting the hook. After signing a one-year, $2 million deal with Minnesota, making him in our opinion the biggest free-agent bargain of the 2017 offseason, the Minnesota Miracle Man led the Vikings to a division title and NFC championship game with a 22:7 TD-INT ratio and 98.3 rating.
Finally, Nick Foles, whom Fisher cut on the eve of training camp, just earned Super Bowl LII MVP honors for standing in and exchanging haymakers with Tom Brady: 373 yards, 4 total TDs and 41 points. Foles in the postseason completed 72.6 percent and totaled 7 TDs to 1 INT, 9.2 (!) YPA and a 115.7 rating.
So basically, Fisher not only should've accepted the Coach of the Year award on behalf of McVay the other night, he pretty much won the Super Bowl for the Eagles too.
I wonder if Fisher will also take credit for originally grooming Jim Schwartz, the Super Bowl-winning defensive coordinator whose unit surrendered just 601 total yards — the most ever by a winning team in an NFL game, regular or postseason?