THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- There was a thought, not too long ago, from the upper levels of the Los Angeles Rams' organization that Jeff Fisher was the man to lead this franchise at least into its new stadium in Inglewood, California, set to be unveiled for the world in 2019. And somewhere within it was the sentiment that it would be unfair to judge Fisher until the relocation was behind the team and he had more time to groom rookie quarterback Jared Goff.

But then this season happened.

The moment between Fisher agreeing to his extension -- sometime this summer, Rams COO Kevin Demoff stated during Monday's 45-minute news conference -- to the 14th week of the NFL season featured too much calamity at a time when public image mattered too much.

There was the season-opening Monday Night Football embarrassment against the San Francisco 49ers, a team that has not won another game since. There was the public spat with Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson, the Rams' most important alum. There was the eight losses over a stretch of nine games, the last three blowouts. There was the 165 career defeats, tying Dan Reeves for an NFL record. There was, big picture, the continual rash of penalties and persistent offensive struggles for a team that hasn't finished with a winning record in 13 years. And there was, from a public-relations standpoint, the constant excuse-making which infuriated a fan base that clamored for his firing.

In the end, the Rams had no choice but to let Fisher go.

And though Demoff chalked the struggles up to an "organizational failure" and said Fisher's dismissal was "solely a performance-related issue," the noise that surrounded this organization would've made it impossible to justify bringing Fisher back, even with an extension that had him locked up through 2018. The collective moaning from the nation's second-largest media market had become deafening.

"This is going to be a very attractive opening," Rams COO Kevin Demoff said while announcing the firing of Jeff Fisher. Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

"It would be easy to say that played into it," Demoff said. "I think what that overlooks is the fact that all of that is generated off the won-loss record. And when you look at the fans, when you look at anything that's happened these past few weeks, everybody's been frustrated about losing eight out of nine and having some tough losses. And it all comes down to how we're performing on the field.

"There were none of these issues when we started the year 3-1, or when we were back in August hosting the Cowboys. This team has had some really high highs this year and some low lows. But this is purely from a football perspective. Are we headed in the right direction? Do we have the necessary hope that we need? And I think the answer to that right now is we're not sure, and we thought it was time to make a change. But this is solely about on-the-field performance. The rest of it comes and goes with wins and losses."

The timing seems cruel, with a road game coming up on Thursday night. But the Rams' next three opponents are division rivals: the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals. They're teams the Rams know well, with game plans in place that will make it easier on a coaching staff that will now operate under John Fassel, who was elevated from special teams coordinator to interim head coach.

More importantly, it gives the Rams a leg-up on a coaching search that will eventually involve other teams.

"This is going to be a very attractive opening," Demoff said. "You look at the opportunity to play for a really good owner, in a great market, in what will be a world-class stadium, with a young quarterback, and back-to-back offensive and defensive rookies of the years in Aaron Donald and Todd Gurley. There's talent on this roster."

And there will be a big-name coach -- whether it's Jon Gruden or Jim Harbaugh or someone else -- who will look at this roster and believe he can make it great.

Fisher essentially built it, along with general manager Les Snead, whose job status also seems tenuous. He took over a team that had lost 65 of 80 games over a five-year stretch and immediately made it competitive. But as Snead admitted last week, "We've probably been competitive for too long." This market demands contention, especially when you're an NFL team that has been gone for more than two decades.

The way this season unraveled, culminating in a 42-14 blowout loss in front of a dejected home crowd of 82,495, basically forced the Rams' hand.

"I don't think this move is designed to appease the fans in a short moment," Demoff said. "I think this move is looking at a period of time over five years, where we think, as an organization, we needed to be better. The hire we make and the direction we take as a football team is going to go a long way to saying whether we got this right or not. It's easy to stand up here and say we're going to make a change. The hard part is getting the change right. We obviously want to win the fans' trust back. But changing coaches doesn't win the fans' trust back. Winning games and building a great organization is what brings your fans back."