Published: Jan. 2, 2012 at 1:00 PM

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 2 (UPI) — Steve Spagnuolo was fired Monday as coach of the St. Louis Rams, who finished the 2011 season tied with Indianapolis for the worst record in the NFL.

St. Louis fell 34-27 Sunday to the San Francisco 49ers, a loss that left the Rams 2-14.

Although they had the same league-worst record as the Colts, the Rams will have the second overall selection in the 2012 NFL draft.

The Rams also fired General Manager Billy Devaney.

“I would like to personally thank Steve and Billy for their dedication to the St. Louis Rams organization over the past several seasons,” Rams owner Stan Kroenke said in a statement. “This was a difficult decision for many reasons. We have tremendous respect for Steve and Billy as people and football professionals.”

St. Louis was 10-38 in three seasons with Spagnuolo as coach. The Rams went 1-15 his first year and were 7-9 in 2010 before slipping back this season, which started with six consecutive losses.

There is the quick update of the day.

Article updated: 1/2/2012 10:42 AM

After finishing 2-14 this season, St. Louis Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo, left, and general manager Billy Devaney are now looking for work. Both men were fired with one year left on their contracts.   Associated Press/2010 file

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ST. LOUIS The St. Louis Rams have fired coach Steve Spagnuolo and general manager Billy Devaney.

The team made the announcement Monday, a day after the team wrapped up a 2-14 season that tied for the NFL’s worst record.

The Rams made a six-win improvement last season and played for the NFC West title in the finale. But they were just 10-38 overall in three seasons with Spagnuolo and Devaney calling the shots.

Devaney joined the front office in 2008. In his four years as GM, the Rams were 12-52.

Owner Stan Kroenke fired both men with one year remaining on their contracts, and with fan interest dwindling. The Edward Jones Dome was been about half-filled much of the year.

The Associated Press

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According to a post-game report today by cbssports.com, St. Louis Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo says the Rams have:

“character and fight…to build anything, the base has to have a rock-solid foundation and that’s there,” he said.  “We’ve got to wait eight months to play a game, but I’m glad that’s there.”

The question in St. Louis right now is who will be the head coach for that game in eight months?  

That decision is expected to be announced on Monday, according to a report by Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who cites league sources.  

In three seasons under Steve Spagnuolo, the Rams went 10-38.  

Hopes were high in St. Louis entering 2011.  

Many picked the Rams to win the NFC West.  Michael Lombardi of the NFL Network asserted that St. Louis would be the league’s breakout team.  

However, the Rams faltered during an 0-6 start before winning two of three, including the season’s biggest win, an upset victory at the Edward Jones Dome over record-setting Drew Brees and the playoff-bound New Orleans Saints. 

But then they lost their final seven contests, including the finale today at home versus NFC West champion San Francisco.  

In Spagnuolo’s defense, however, the Rams players never seemed to quit and the roster was ravaged by injuries throughout the year.

Some notable players lost for the season include Sam Bradford’s top receiving target, Danny Amendola (as well as rookie Greg Salas), the teams’ top three cornerbacks (Ron Bartell, Bradley Fletcher and Jerome Murphy) and both starting offensive tackles (Rodger Saffold, Jason Smith)—among others.

The team also lost three-time Pro Bowl running back Steven Jackson for several games before suffering long-term injuries to quarterbacks Sam Bradford and A.J. Feeley.

With that said, 2-14 is still 2-14. And 10-38 is still 10-38.  

In the NFL, it’s the bottom line that counts. And the bottom line doesn’t look good for Spagnuolo’s Rams. Expect him to be relieved of his head coaching duties as early as Monday.

According to a report by Albert Breer of the NFL Network, Jeff Fisher is ready to return to coaching. The St. Louis Rams and San Diego Chargers are listed as possible options for Fisher.  

Shane Gray covers the St. Louis Rams year round. To check out the rest of his work, go here.  You are also encouraged to follow him here on Twitter.   

Leave any suggestions in the comment box.

AP

Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo could soon be fired.  But while they may be able to take his body out of St. Louis, there’s one fairly important part that will be left behind.

Asked by Anthony Gargano of FOX Sports Radio regarding where Spagnuolo will be in 2012, he said “the St. Louis Rams,” without hesitation.

“That’s where my heart is,” Spagnuolo added.  “That’s where my dedication is, and drive.  You know, when I came here, this was never about me. . . .  I was very blessed to share an experience in New York where we won a Super Bowl and have that ring that everybody’s shooting for.  I came here in hopes that the people here would be able to experience that.  So what drives me is being able to bring that for other people, and we hope to continue to do that.”

Spagnuolo described the 2011 season in St. Louis as a “bump along the road, or a bunch of bumps.”  It remains widely believed that Spagnuolo will bumped off after Sunday, even though John Czarnecki of FOXSports.com has suggested that Spagnuolo could stay and G.M. Billy Devaney could go.  In the end, both could go.

And perhaps Spagnuolo will then have that chance to help people in another city experience a Super Bowl victory.

Maybe, unlike St. Louis, a city that has never experienced that.

Maybe, you know, Philadelphia.

That’s all for today.

By R.B. FALLSTROM

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

A month ago, the San Francisco 49ers became the first team to clinch its division, shutting out the St. Louis Rams to win the NFC West. Beat them again in the finale, and there’s a nice bonus for the Niners: the No. 2 seed in the NFC and a first-round bye.

Sure, they’re in. There’s still plenty of incentive for a franchise that’s made a rapid rise to the top under rookie head coach Jim Harbaugh.

“Anytime you could lock up a bye, you’d take it,” quarterback Alex Smith said. “Great opportunity for us, we’ve just got to go seize it.”

They couldn’t have picked a more vulnerable opponent.

The bedraggled Rams (2-13) are in danger of a dubious honor — landing the No. 1 pick in the draft for the second time in three years. All it’ll take is dropping their seventh in a row and the Colts winning at Jacksonville and again they will be at the bottom of the barrel.

St. Louis, just 10-37 under third-year coach Steve Spagnuolo and 12-51 with fourth-year general manager Billy Devaney, could be on the verge of a housecleaning. That’s led to a lot of questions this week about trying to save Spags’ job.

“We don’t worry about things we can’t control,” middle linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “He’s that way, we’re that way. We’re just going to go out there and play our rear ends off.”

Owner Stan Kroenke has been silent on the subject of what comes next for the Rams, who had been viewed as a franchise on the rise after last year’s six-win improvement. Now they’re playing to a half-full stadium and reduced to muttering about injuries that have decimated the secondary and offensive line besides a persistent high left ankle sprain that almost assuredly will knock out quarterback Sam Bradford for a sixth game.

Attendance is likely to be more sparse than usual given the noon CST start coming off New Year’s Eve partying. The Rams asked Thursday for a 24-hour extension to meet NFL sellout requirements.

The 49ers (12-3) have already doubled their win total from a disappointing 2010 season, and even with a loss can get the No. 2 seed and bye if the Saints lose at home against the Panthers. If they can repeat the performance from the 26-0 whipping they handed out in San Francisco, Harbaugh would be just the fourth coach in NFL history to win 13 games in his first year. Two 49ers coaches have already done it, George Seifert going 14-2 in 1989 and Steve Mariucci at 13-3 in 1997.

San Francisco could also land its first 13-win season since ’97. A sixth road win would match their total from the previous three seasons, rewarding them for attention to detail.

“The biggest thing that I’d point to is a lot of little reasons that a lot of people think are the minutia that aren’t important that add up to make all the difference,” Harbaugh said. “And our guys continually do the little things, and they stack on each other and they build on each other. And lo and behold, you win games in high pressure situations, or find ways to do enough things right to win games and get better.

“Enough of those things lead to championships.”

The 49ers are stout on defense, on pace for a franchise record while allowing a league-low 13.5 points per game, and sound on offense behind come-back quarterback Alex Smith. They lead the NFL with a plus-26 turnover ratio, with the most takeaways (36) and the fewest turnovers (10) in the league.

Aldon Smith has 14 sacks, one shy of the NFL rookie record. Cornerback Carlos Rogers and free safety Dashon Goldson, two of the 49ers’ four Pro Bowl starters on defense, have six interceptions apiece.

Kicker David Akers, who has set an NFL record with 42 field goals, and punter Andy Lee are both Pro Bowlers, too.

They’ve stayed healthy, too, with 30 players appearing in every game and 12 making every start. That dwarfs the Rams’ totals of 14 and four. The 49ers have eight Pro Bowl representatives, the Rams none.

“They’ve put it together and you get on a roll,” Spagnuolo said. “It works both ways. You get on a roll winning, confidence and boom, boom, things are working and clicking.

“It happens the other way, too, where you can’t really find any continuity.”

The 49ers have won six of seven in a series knotted at 61-61-2, and Frank Gore always seems to get some of his best days against the Rams, totaling 832 yards and 11 touchdowns in 10 games. He’ll be facing a defense in danger of setting a franchise record for rushing yards allowed in a season.

The Rams have been giving up an NFL-worst 154.5 yards per game and if they surrender 159 yards it’ll break the previous franchise worst in 2008. The 49ers got 144 yards the first time around.

The 49ers’ biggest worry might be encountering an opponent trying anything and everything to finish with a good taste.

“They have nothing to lose, so they can come out with whatever,” linebacker Patrick Willis said. “For us, there’s a lot riding on this game. We have to come out and play like we have all season. We know what’s at stake.”

Most every week, the Rams stay in it for a while and then a key play or two goes the wrong way and it snowballs to the finish of another failure. That was the case in the first meeting when the 49ers were held to three field goals in the first half, then busted loose with a pair of big plays — pass plays of 52 and 56 yards to Michael Crabtree and Kyle Williams.

Special teams have sprung several leaks in recent weeks, and the offense is the NFL’s worst, averaging just 11 points with 15 touchdowns in 15 games. They’re coming off a 27-0 loss at Pittsburgh, the second time they’ve been shut out the last month.

It’s been a complete bust of a comeback season for new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

“No regrets, no regrets,” McDaniels said. “Every year is different, every year is a challenge in this league. You have to do everything you can to try to help the team win.”

More slogging lies ahead. The Rams totaled just 157 yards and were just 3 for 13 on third down in the first meeting against San Francisco.

Steven Jackson became the seventh player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in seven straight seasons last week. Against the 49ers, he got just 19 yards on 10 carries.

“It was what we expected and they gave us exactly that,” Jackson said. “We’re going to have another tough time on Sunday but as long as you keep them balanced, and keep them out of what they want to do, we’ll be fine.”

Journeyman Kellen Clemens is expected to get his third straight start at quarterback. He passed for 91 yards last week in a 27-0 loss to the Steelers after throwing for 229 yards and a touchdown the previous week in a 20-13 loss to Cincinnati.

“If there’s a defense that’s better than Pittsburgh,” Clemens said, “we’re playing them this week.”

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ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo is likely to return to Philadelphia to become the Eagles’ defensive coordinator if, as expected, he is fired at the end of the season.

Spagnuolo, an Eagles assistant from 1999-2006, is “all but certain” to replace first-year coordinator Juan Castillo in Philly as Rams owner Stan Kroenke clears the deck in St. Louis, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Spagnuolo left Philadelphia to become the Giants defensive coordinator.

The 52-year-old’s reputation boomed after helping to mastermind the Giants’ shock victory over the undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, has led St. Louis to only 10 wins in his first three seasons as a head coach.

The same report suggests Kroenke will also fire general manager Billy Devaney and move for A.J. Smith, should the Chargers GM be fired by San Diego along with head coach Norv Turner.

But the newspaper quoted league and agent sources as saying Smith will end his association with Turner to instead hire ESPN analyst Jon Gruden as his head coach should he be hired as Rams general manager.

Sources said that Gruden, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders head coach, plans to return to the NFL next year despite signing an exclusive five-year contract with the sports network in October, which is scheduled to begin in September 2012.

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Billy Devaney made this mess by making horrible draft picks and even worse free agent signings. Poor Steve Spagnuolo was asked to clean the mess up, but injuries and bad luck handcuffed Spags almost before the season ever started.

I’ve argued it might be better to keep Spags, simply because it would be better for Bradford to have the continuity of playing under the same offensive coordinator. Having said that, there are rumors Josh McDaniels is going to Kansas City, so keeping Spags is no guarantee that Bradford will run the same offense again next year anyway.

Either way, if Spags stays or goes, is 2012 going to play out much different than 2011? Even with a healthy secondary, a better O-line, and an extra weapon or two, are the Rams really going to catch the Niners?

I just don’t see it happening.

If the Rams don’t improve dramatically in 2012, Spags will get fired next year. So why not just speed this whole process up? Because by dragging our feet on this whole coaching situation, we are stunting Bradford’s growth. Think of QBs like Jason Campbell, who played for one coordinator after another…

It ruined their career before it ever started.

The Rams are going to go as far as Sam Bradford takes them. If he ends up being a bust, and the team has to change directions at the QB position, then it’s going to be another five years or more before the Rams are competitive. So Rams owner Stan Kroenke needs to do everything in his power to make Bradford successful.

Perhaps the most important thing Kroenke could do to help Bradford would be to wipe the slate clean and let Bradford start over with a new coach and a new GM.

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(c)2011 the Belleville News-Democrat (Belleville, Ill.) Distributed by MCT Information Services

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Dec 16, 2011 – St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford is officially listed as doubtful for his team’s Week 15 game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Bradford watched the Rams practice on Friday while wearing a walking boot on his sprained left ankle. According to the team, Bradford has not officially been ruled out, but head coach Steve Spagnuolo acknowledged that it would be a stretch for Bradford to play this week. 

Bradford suffered a high ankle sprain in October, which caused him to miss two games that month, including a Week 8 upset over the New Orleans Saints. The nagging injury refuses to go away, thanks in part to a Rams’ offensive line decimated with injuries and disappointing play. 

The Rams decided to play Bradford last week, even after he missed all but one practice leading up to the game. The second-year quarterback re-aggravated the injury in a Monday night thrashing by the Seahawks in Week 14. With just three games left to play, there is already talk about whether or not the Rams should shut Bradford down for the season. 

Kellen Clemens worked with the first team again in Friday’s practice, and will make the start this week in Bradford’s place. The Rams acquired Clemens prior to their Week 14 game on Monday. Clemens was released by the Houston Texans prior to joining the Rams. Clemens has not started a regular season game since 2009. 

For more on Bradford and the Rams, check out Turf Show Times. 

Read More: Kellen Clemens (QB – STL), Sam Bradford (QB – STL), Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks, St. Louis Rams

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On Monday, Dec. 12, the St. Louis Rams lost their 11th game of the season in a 30-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. With the defeat, Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo’s record with the team dropped to 10-35.

I’m not sure how to deal with watching my team fail to deliver once again. It feels like the Rams are stuck in a losing culture and simply don’t know how to get out of it. However, I believe that’s not true. The franchise made some choices this season that have contributed to the teams’ failures.

Here is a look at three decisions the Rams made that have altered their season:

No quarterbacks coach

The team was wrong to begin the year without a quarterbacks coach for Sam Bradford. It doesn’t make sense for the Rams to invest millions of dollars in a franchise quarterback if they aren’t willing to bring in someone to develop him. I understand the plan was for offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to work with Bradford, but he responsible for installing a completely new system. That should have been McDaniels’s focus. A young quarterback needs someone to mentor him, especially in a season like this one, and a quarterbacks coach could have done that.

Giving Josh McDaniels too much power to run the offense

Let’s be honest here. The Rams didn’t have many weapons to begin the season with. There wasn’t one breakaway receiver or established tight end on the opening day roster. In hindsight, it seems rather idiotic for Spagnuolo to bring in a coach who likes to throw downfield more when the team doesn’t have the personnel to fit that type of offense. What’s worse is that both McDaniels and Spagnuolo have yet to learn from this mistake. They keep keep making poor decisions with the offense.

A prime example of this is when the Rams were on the Seahawks’ goal line in the fourth quarter of Monday’s game. The team has one of the league’s best running backs, but instead of putting the ball in Steven Jackson’s hands in the first five plays, McDaniels rolled a gimpy Bradford out of the pocket twice and ran him on a quarterback sneak. Why on earth would the Rams trust Bradford to get in the end zone instead of Jackson? Eventually, McDaniels called a run for Jackson, and the team’s all-time leading rusher scored on the play.

I believe McDaniels is a solid offensive football mind who could do a great job with the team in future, but he needs to quit being so stubborn and call plays that fit with the personnel available. Spagnuolo should have reined in some of these poor decisions by now.

Passing on Torrey Smith in the draft

The Rams offense has been limited this year without a speed receiver to stretch the field. However, the team had the chance to draft a deep threat in the second round of the 2011 NFL draft, but the Rams’ front office passed on him. Maryland’s Torrey Smith was regarded as one of the fastest receivers available, and he was sitting there for the Baltimore Ravens when they selected him with the 26th pick of the second round. Though he’s been inconsistent with the Ravens, Smith has established himself as the team’s primary deep threat and has posted huge days against the Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals this season.

If general manager Billy Devaney had selected Smith in the draft, defenses would have been forced to play the Rams differently this season. The club’s current receivers (including Brandon Lloyd) don’t scare anyone, but if the team had begun the year with a solid deep threat on the roster, the entire offense would have been more dynamic than it is now.

Looking forward

The team has to reverse some of the decisions it has made in the past eight months. Hiring a quarterback coach to mentor Bradford is a must, as is drafting a speed receiver. I’m not sure what the right call is with McDaniels, because I don’t believe he was ever given enough talent to work with. However, the team’s next head coach needs to rein in McDaniels if he remains with the Rams.

I understand these three factors aren’t the only issues the team has to deal with. The rush defense needs work, and the offensive line is a mess. Of course, injuries were a problem too. However, some of the Rams issues could have been minimized if there was better decision-making in the front office. Hopefully, that changes for next season.

Derek Ciapala has been a Rams fan since he was a child and the team was in Los Angeles. His favorite Rams moments include Flipper Anderson’s 336-yard receiving night against the Saints in 1989, and their miracle 1999 run to their first Super Bowl victory. You can follow him on Twitter @dciapala.

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Read More: Tom Brandstater (QB – STL), Sam Bradford (QB – STL), Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, St. Louis Rams

As if the St. Louis Rams needed any more obstacles for Sunday’s road matchup against the San Francisco 49ers, the team is starting to prepare for Sam Bradford missing Week 13 with an ankle injury. Bradford originally suffered left high ankle sprain in Week 6 against the Green Bay Packers, after which he missed two games, and now he re-aggravated the injury in the Week 12 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. 

Bradford was walking with a limp in practice on Friday, and did very limited work with the first team offense before giving way to veteran quarterback Jay Feeley, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The team is making subtle preparations for having to play Feeley on Sunday as well, resigning QB Tom Brandstater to the practice squad to help take the scout team load off of Feeley for Friday’s practice. 

Head coach Steve Spagnuolo didn’t sound optimistic about Bradford on Friday:

He was very limited. Didn’t do much at all. He’s still a little sore. So we’ll see where we are (Saturday), and as always, this will be a day-to-day deal…We wanted to make sure we didn’t play him until we knew he could get himself in and out of trouble, so that’ll be part of the decision.

via Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.

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