Rams cut loose entire coaching staff as head coach search begins

The Rams told their assistant coaches on Monday they can seek employment elsewhere.

As the Rams search for a new head coach begins, management is cleaning house.

The Rams told their assistant coaches on Monday they can seek employment elsewhere. That includes defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and offensive coordinator Rob Boras. Williams is one of the closest friends of former head coach Jeff Fisher, who was fired on Dec. 12.

After Fisher was fired, the Rams appointed special teams coordinator John Fassel as the interim head coach for the final three games. The Rams lost all three and Fassel had a meeting Monday evening with executive vice president of football operations and chief operating officer Kevin Demoff and general manager Les Snead about his future.

"I don’t really know where it’s at today," Fassel said Monday afternoon. "I hope to get a chance to talk to Kevin and Les about whatever they want to talk about — whether it’s a head coaching interview or whether it’s an information gather on where I see the team headed and where it needs to head to become what we want it to become. So, whatever you want to call it, I would very much welcome the opportunity to sit down and just have a good football conversation about, from my perspective, what I think it’s going to take for the Rams be an NFC West division champ.

"I talked to Kevin a few days ago, a few days before the game, and he said to keep Monday evening, Monday night available to talk about the job and the future of the Rams. It was a little bit open-ended, but I looked at it as just an opportunity to talk football, especially since it’s fresh in our mind, as far as what went right and what went wrong and how we fix what went wrong. I hope we get to talk a little ball."

As for those Rams assistants, defensive line coach Mike Waufle is one of the league's most-respected position coaches and won't be unemployed long.

The Rams' first season back in Los Angeles was beyond disappointing with a 4-12 record and seven straight losses to close the schedule.

Demoff sent a letter to season ticket holders on Monday telling them the Rams will begin interviewing head-coaching candidates on Tuesday. One of those candidates is expected to be Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.