St. Louis Rams hire Jeff Fisher as coach | NFL - The Seattle Times

ST. LOUIS â€" Jeff Fisher ended nearly two weeks of drama in St. Louis and Miami by deciding to cast his lot with the Rams as their next coach.

"The process has been lengthy, but for good reasons," the 53-year-old Fisher said Friday. "I took a lot of time looking at and exploring in detail the noneconomic issues of both clubs."

Much to the chagrin of Rams and Dolphins fans, Fisher had a deliberate timetable in mind when he started the process, and for the most part he stuck to it.

"It's not about my salary," Fisher said. "It's about the opportunity to win games."

As if proving that point, Fisher chose St. Louis before contract details were finalized. According to sources familiar with the negotiations, Fisher actually informed Rams owner Stan Kroenke sometime Thursday he wanted to be the next coach.

Fisher was 142-120 from 1994 through the 2010 season with the Tennessee Titans' franchise and his salary is expected to average about $7 million per year. It is expected Fisher will have final say on personnel matters.

"I'm really excited that the Rams are the best fit for me," Fisher said. "I hope I'm the best fit for the Rams, and am looking forward to finalizing the (contract) details and coming to work."

St. Louis was 2-14 this season, and coach Steve Spagnuolo was fired Jan. 2.

Although the Rams have holes to fill throughout the roster, Fisher thinks highly of core players such as quarterback Sam Bradford, running back Steven Jackson, defensive end Chris Long and linebacker James Laurinaitis.

Miami officials met with four other coaches during the search. According to the Sun Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., they are interim coach Todd Bowles, Green Bay offensive coordinator Joe Philbin, Cincinnati defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and Chicago special-teams coordinator Dave Toub. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said the team also will consider other candidates to replace the fired Tony Sparano.

Sparano was hired as offensive coordinator of the New York Jets.

Notes

• Jets coach Rex Ryan insisted Mark Sanchez has the support of the organization, and said the embattled quarterback shouldn't feel uncomfortable when he returns to the locker room. Some teammates and members of the organization anonymously questioned Sanchez's work ethic and leadership abilities in a New York Daily News story this week.

"I'll tell you this, if it's not all of them, it's the majority that have a great deal of confidence in Mark Sanchez," Ryan said.

The Jets were 8-8 and missed the playoffs.

"We do have an open-door policy and we encourage our players to express themselves," Ryan said. "Saying things and not putting your name on it? That's not being a Jet. So that's going to change, without question."

• Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson, a former All-Pro who had knee surgery Dec. 30, gave a progress report on his recovery.

"I feel like the first week was the toughest part for me, not being able to sleep, waking up every two hours, just dealing with the pain and the frustration, looking ahead like, 'Wow, I've got a long way before I'm able just to move around and walk,' " the 26-year-old Peterson said. "But after that first week, I feel like things really just started to calm down.

"The pain started to subside. "

• First-year Jacksonville coach Mike Mularkey announced the Jaguars are retaining defensive coordinator Mel Tucker and hiring Bob Bratkowski, former Atlanta quarterbacks coach, as offensive coordinator.