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."
Rams fans who voted in two polls agreed with that notion. A St. Louis Post-Dispatch poll was 3-1 in favor of retention and a Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat poll was 5-1.
Being the people's choice couldn't save Brooks. One reason he night not have been retained was because he was too nice of a guy who had run a loose ship.
The Rams tied a team record for penalties with 133, although there was only one infraction Saturday, and he seemed powerless to stop the mistakes. At one point, he threatened to bench defensive tackle D'Marco Farr, who had jumped offsides several times, but it was only a threat.
Progress also depends on one's perspective. Last year, the Rams allowed a team-record 418 points and this year they permitted 409. This year, they set a team record with 42 fumbles and rookie quarterback Tony Banks was sacked 48 times.
Belatedly, Brooks turned surly. At the end of the first quarter Saturday, he chewed out his offense and at halftime he went on a locker room tirade that many players credited with waking up the team.
"Let's just say if we had been at the house and we were all a bunch of kids, several of us would have been grounded," tight end Aaron Laing said. "It worked, got us going.
"They've got to bring him back."
The Rams didn't agree.