LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Rams' first year back in Southern California finished with a 4-12 record and went down as the franchise's 10th consecutive losing season. They lost their last seven games, two of them on late meltdowns and five of them by lopsided scores. And all throughout, their offense was statistically the NFL's worst by a wide margin. Now the search is underway for a new head coach and a new direction.
The man leading that search, chief operating officer Kevin Demoff, insists that the Rams are not in a rebuilding phase.
"I think this team has talent, still has a very young core at its heart, and we need to find our way," Demoff said in a recent phone conversation. "But this is not a rebuild to me whatsoever. This is maximizing the talent we have. And we do have to go into the offseason and improve our personnel across the board. It’s what we said when we made the coaching change. It’s not just a coaching issue. We need to get better on the personnel side."
In search of hope, Demoff looks at close, down-to-the-wire losses to three playoff teams -- the Detroit Lions, New York Giants and Miami Dolphins -- as an indication that the Rams may not be far from contention. And he points out the fact that the Rams were 6-2 in an eight-game stretch that included the last quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016, a record matched by only seven other teams.
"Every year in the NFL you should be able to compete," Demoff said. "And I think the hard part about the NFL is looking at teams who go from worst to first, how competitive they get quickly, and making that push."
The Rams, who will spend the week interviewing coaches for teams who are either out of the playoffs or on a first-round bye, remain open-minded in their search. They are not yet ready to commit to someone who is either offensive- or defensive-minded. One way or the other, though, they must completely reconfigure the offensive staff and somehow improve a unit that has gained the NFL's fewest yards each of the last two years.
So much of that will hinge on their quarterback, Jared Goff, who was drafted first overall in 2016 and played horrendously as a rookie.
Demoff believes coming back as a second-year player "will make an extraordinary amount of difference" for Goff. He brought up the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Jameis Winston and the Tennessee Titans' Marcus Mariota, two quarterbacks who made strides in their second year and nearly pushed their teams into the playoffs. He also brought up Derek Carr, who has improved his Total QBR each season -- 38.2 in 2014, 49.2 in 2015, 62.8 in 2016 -- and boosted the Oakland Raiders' record right along with it.
The interview process is also a chance for the Rams to get outside perspectives that can help answer key questions, all of which center on losing 11 of their last 12 games.
Was it coaching, personnel, the move? All three?
Did we not draft well enough, or not develop well enough?
Are we simply not talented enough, or did we underachieve?
The Rams have reportedly requested interviews with at least 10 coaches, a list that includes Kyle Shanahan (Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator), Josh McDaniels (New England Patriots offensive coordinator), Sean McVay (Washington Redskins offensive coordinator), Harold Goodwin (Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator), Matt Patricia (Patriots defensive coordinator), Teryl Austin (Lions defensive coordinator), Vance Joseph (Dolphins defensive coordinator), Steve Wilks (Carolina Panthers assistant coach), Anthony Lynn (Buffalo Bills interim coach) and Doug Marrone (Jacksonville Jaguars interim coach). Wilks, who has spent a long time with Ron Rivera, interviewed on Tuesday.
Ideally, the Rams would have a new coach in place around the middle of January, at which point they'll determine the fate of general manager Les Snead and then go about assembling a staff. Then it's time to address the roster. They need to replenish depth throughout their defense. They need to inject talent at receiver. They need to reconfigure their offensive line. And they need to do it all without a first-round pick.
A lot of work is ahead, but Demoff believes the Rams can get back on track with one offseason.
"We need to improve scoring points, but we have a defense that’s competitive, we have a special teams that is competitive," Demoff said. "It’s really about how quickly we can get the offense up to speed."