Rams interim coach John Fassel focused on winning finaleBy Alden Gonzalez
LOS ANGELES -- John Fassel knows this is all very temporary. He is the interim coach, filling in after the Dec. 12 firing of Jeff Fisher while continuing to fulfill his duties as the Los Angeles Rams' special teams coordinator. Fassel won't be the head coach next season. Heck, he might never be an NFL head coach again. So before his duties are finished, he wants a win, and he wants it at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
He has one more chance.
"I’m not going to let my last week as an interim head coach just kind of fizzle and die out, be done in a week and call it an offseason," Fassel said after Saturday's crushing 22-21 loss. "I’m going to do my best to get this team a win and say, 'One day I won the game as a head coach in the Coliseum.'"
The Rams have lost their only two games under Fassel, getting blown out by Seattle on a Thursday night and losing late to San Francisco on Christmas Eve. They have dropped 10 of their past 11 overall, falling to 4-11. The injuries have caught up, with Robert Quinn, Benny Cunningham, Cory Harkey and Bradley Marquez among those recently being placed on injured reserve. And all that's left is a home game against Arizona on Sunday, before the Rams can finally move on from a miserable first season back in L.A.
"I have an idea," Fassel said when asked how he will motivate his players going into that final game. "I’ll share it with you [the media] maybe [this] week, but it’s something I’ve used before with special teams, and I think it’ll be something they can really think about. Whether it motivates them or not, it gives them something to think about for the rest of their lives."
The Rams have two former head coaches on staff -- assistant head coach Dave McGinnis and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. But Fassel was named interim coach in part because of his knack for energizing and motivating a group. He'll face a tough challenge this week, his Rams seemingly dispirited and disinterested. The organization has experienced a grueling calendar year, starting with the move from St. Louis to training in three different Southern California cities (Oxnard, Irvine and Thousand Oaks). And they faced a rigorous travel schedule, one that included five trips to the eastern half of the country and a week-long stint in London.
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