ASSOCIATED PRESS Los Angeles Rams head coach Jeff Fisher speaks to the media Friday at Manhattan Beach after meeting with players for the first time in California.

By Joe Curley of the Ventura County Star

MANHATTAN BEACH - The Conejo Valley Rams?

It's looking more and more likely that, after arriving west from St. Louis, the reborn Los Angeles Rams plan to settle down up the coast a bit in the Conejo Valley. And only spend weekends in the city.

Rams Chief Operating Officer Kevin Demoff said Friday the NFL franchise has narrowed down its options for an in-season home to two potential sites in a target area that stretches from "Woodland Hills to Thousand Oaks," as it hopes to "build a community" in the area.

"I think when you're looking to move an organization of a number of people, (you look for) affordable housing, good public schools and a chance to build a community," Demoff said. "Not having players and staff driving from miles away.

"I think we were always looking to find a place where we could keep the community together, the staff together and really deliver something else.

"UCLA coaches have always historically lived out in Westlake and Agoura."

Demoff was speaking after the Rams held their first team meeting in Los Angeles since the move from St. Louis was approved Jan. 12 to help guide the players through the move west.

"There's is a chance we'll be able to do a temporary slash permanent facility out there in the Thousand Oaks area," head coach Jeff Fisher said. "So we're encouraging everyone to look in that area to minimize the drive time."

Cal Lutheran University has been in discussions with the Rams about becoming the location for their temporary in-season training facility. It would require building extra practice fields and space for team personnel to work on campus.

CLU president Chris Kimball spoke with Rams officials Thursday to get an update on where CLU stands in the process.

"It is fair to say that they are telling us they are interested in us, but nothing has been finalized," Kimball said. "I don't know, and I have not asked, if they are doing the same with others and I would not want to speculate on that."

The Rams are building a new state-of-the-art stadium in Inglewood, but it's not scheduled for completion until the 2019 season. The Rams are planning to play the next three seasons at the Los Angeles Coliseum, but they still need a base for their day-to-day operations.

The Rams haven't had any contact with Moorpark College, according to athletic director Vance Manakas. Los Angeles Pierce College play-by-play announcer Ethan Hanson tweeted Thursday that the Woodland Hills school hasn't had any contact with the Rams either, according to Athletic Director Bob Lofrano.

Ventura County is already playing a major role in the team's four-stage move from St. Louis. Fisher said that the team would "be up and running" at River Ridge Fields in Oxnard by April 11, with the first phase of offseason organized team activities beginning April 18.

"The reason we went to Oxnard was the offseason facility was a hotel," Demoff said. "Not only was it a turnkey NFL facility that the Cowboys have used, (the players) can fly on a plane April 17 and start the offseason program April 18. They don't have to find housing."

Fisher called River Ridge, which hosts the Dallas Cowboys training camp, "an ideal situation."

"We'll be up and running," Fisher said. "We'll have a training room, a weight room, an equipment room set up, meeting space, office space."

The team will be located in Oxnard into June, before moving to UC Irvine for training camp in August.

"We're looking at the UC Irvine facility, potentially for training camp," Fisher said. "That's looking good. We just haven't nailed down our temporary facility."

Demoff said the negotiations for the Rams' in-season facility, their "temporary permanent" home through 2018, could last into April.

"We're making progress, but there's still certainly a couple weeks, maybe a month," Demoff said. "I think it's a couple of sites, with the primary focus on trying to narrow it down and get to one pretty quickly, understanding what our options are.

"We've had a good sense. We've spent the last two months narrowing probably from four choices to two. I'd say we're probably at a couple now and hoping to close in on one soon."