St. Louis Rams Fire Defensive Coordinator Tim Walton

Dec 15, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher watches during the second half against the New Orleans Saints at the Edward Jones Dome. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kane-USA TODAY Sports

It was reported earlier Wednesday afternoon by Jim Thomas of the St. Louis post dispatch the St. Louis Rams have fired defensive coordinator Tim Walton.

The Rams brought in Tim Walton after the Rob Ryan experiment didnt work out and not wanting to go by a committee like they did in 2012.

Dec 1, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher stands on the sideline during action against the San Francisco 49ers in the second quarter at Candlestick Park. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Walton was a third down specialist and secondary coach in Detroit before coming to St. Louis, but the ironic part is, those seemed to be the two weakest spots of the Rams defense last season. The Rams finished ranked 14th on third down and had the 14th ranked pass defense.

The Rams defense was inconsistent all year and never seemed to reach their full potential. They came into the season with hopes of having a top ten defense, but that just wasn’t the case and it looked like Walton just wasn’t ready for the big jump from position coach to coordinator.

Jeff Fisher said earlier this offseason that coaching changes wouldn’t be made as Fisher has mentioned the importance of stability and consistency in the locker room. It is uncertain of who could replace Walton, but one interesting scenario could be Gregg Williams who Fisher initially hired

Williams was in Tennessee last season after being reinstated by the NFL after being suspended due to the bounty scandal that he had with the Saints. Williams is no longer under contract with the Titans and it isn’t likely that they bring him back. It would make a lot of sense that Fisher bring Williams to St. Louis.

Another candidate would be for the Rams to go in house and go with David McGinnis who sort of took over as coordinator in 2012 under the committee system. McGinnis seemed to do a pretty good job.

It is uncertain who and when the Rams will hire their new defensive coordinator, but after the disasters that past two offseason you have to expect a lot of thought will go into it.

With the firing of Walton you also have to wonder about the safety of Brian Schottenheimer. The Rams offense was pretty vanilla all season and a change and some creativity would be nice.

Schottenheimer looks to be safe for now, but after the firing of Walton, nothing can be too sure.