Brooks Out As Rams Coach Former Oregon Ducks Coach Canned After Second Straight Losing Season

One day after the St. Louis Rams finished their season with a comeback victory over the New Orleans Saints, coach Rich Brooks was fired.

The Rams were 6-10 this season after going 7-9 in Brooks’ first season in 1995.

That regression might not seem so bad except Brooks started his rookie year 5-1. He also proclaimed his team a playoff contender in training camp each season.

The Rams called a 7 p.m. EST news conference to make the announcement. Team president John Shaw had met earlier Sunday with owner Georgia Frontiere, minority partner Stan Kroenke and several other club executives to discuss Brooks’ future.

The signs hadn’t looked positive. For weeks, Brooks had scheduled a final season wrapup news conference on Sunday, but that was pushed back to Monday right after the finale.

Rams management also has noted that expansion teams Carolina and Jacksonville made the playoffs in their second season while the Rams languished.

Brooks, who had two years left on a four-year contract that will pay him approximately $600,000 a year, took his postgame news conference as a final chance to defend his so-so record.

The Rams were sad sacks when he was hired in 1994, with one of the worst records in the NFL this decade at 36-76. Brooks noted his first two years were better than any two since 1989-90, when the Rams won 11 and five games. He also pointed out that the Rams have eight NFC West victories the past two years against four in the previous five.

“We haven’t made the progress that I expected,” Brooks said. “I expected us to play better, I’m sure everybody did. Management, fans, everybody wants more.

“There are still some pieces missing, but I think the future is bright for this franchise.”

Many of his players felt the same way.

Backup quarterback Jamie Martin, who threw two second-half touchdown passes to rally the Rams in the finale, said it was too soon to give up on Brooks.

“It’s extremely unfair he’s in this situation now,” Martin said. “I don’t think you give a guy two years to turn a program around and say ‘OK, that’s enough, you’ve had your chance.’ “He’s a good coach, everybody likes him, and I think he hasn’t had enough time to do the job.”

That speaks to one reason he night not have been retained - because he was too nice of a guy who had run a loose ship.