Rams owner Stan Kroenke is eager to win some football games. That is why he spent top dollar to hire Jeff Fisher as his new head coach.

“We have developed a model that we have a lot of confidence in,” Kroenke said during his Tuesday news conference. “At the center of that is a experienced, confident head coach who has been in a lot of different situations. Jeff is absolutely what we were looking for. I told Jeff early on that's the way we viewed the world of sport — how important it was to find that kind of coach."

On the other hand, Kroenke isn’t eager to guarantee the Rams would remain in St. Louis forever and ever.

“The chronology of what occurs with the lease is public knowledge,” Kroenke told reporters. "I don't think for me to comment on that process is timely."

The St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission, which manages the Dome, must give the Rams a proposal for improving the stadium, including a financing plan, by Feb. 1. The proposal is supposed to be one that the CVC “reasonably believes” would put the Dome in the top quarter of all stadiums in the National Football League.

Kroenke noted that “there is a team in place” to deal with the CVC proposal. "We’ll see how it sorts itself out," he said.

He also noted that his commitment to St. Louis as part of the Rams ownership group is nearing 20 years.

“I haven’t taken a lot of 'jack' out of this market,” Kroenke said, pointedly referencing negative media coverage of this matter. “I’ve put a lot of 'jack' into it.”

That spending included giving Fisher a five-year, $35 million contract and the budget needed to hire top-notch assistant coaches like defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

This was Kroenke's first big hire since becoming majority owner of the franchise. His management vision and financial commitment to winning won over Fisher.

“We met several weeks ago, spent a day together,” Fisher said. “I felt philosophically we were on the same page.”

Big-spending Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross also made a hard push for Fisher. Why did Jeff choose the Rams?

“My decision was very, very simple,” Fisher said. “It was based on the collective vision shared by Stan and Kevin (Demoff) about the future of the franchise . . . restoring the franchise to a position of significance.”

Much has been made of the relationship between Fisher, Jeff’s agent Marvin Demoff and Marvin’s son Kevin, who runs the franchise's everyday operations.

But it was Kevin’s willingness to build a football organization to Fisher’s parameters that sold the deal, not any familial and professional ties. The Rams hired their coach before selecting their next general manager.

By design, Fisher will have considerable clout on all football matters, including the GM selection. “This is a collective effort,” Fisher said. “I’m not going to get into who has final say. You have to make decisions together.”

There is plenty of heavy lifting to do, since the Rams haven’t posted a winning record since 2003.

“There’s quite a challenge ahead to become competitive in the division again,” Fisher said. But, he added, “It won’t take long.”

After rolling to a 12-4 mark that season under Mike Martz, the team staggered to 8-8, 6-10, 8-8, 3-13, 2-14, 1-15, 7-9 and 2-14 finishes during the seasons that followed. The “Greatest Show on Turf” became a distant memory.

Interim coach Joe Vitt couldn’t halt the free fall. Neither could head coach Scott Linehan, interim coach Jim Haslett and head coach Steve Spagnuolo.

When the latest squad went into a death spiral, Kroenke took swift and bold action. He fired Spagnuolo and general manager Billy Devaney and set his sights on Fisher, who posted a 142-120 record coaching the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans franchise.

“The more time we were together, the more comfortable we got,” Kroenke said.

Once Fisher became comfortable with Kroenke, he spent time with Sam Bradford to assess the young quarterback.

“This year was difficult for him,” Fisher said. “You have to look back at his success and progress in his first year. He has the chance to become a top quarterback in the National Football League very soon.”

As for the rest of the team, Fisher wants it to pass block, run the ball, play stout defense and get the ball back for the offense.

“The philosophy is very simple,” Fisher said. “We want to do whatever it takes to win football games. We want to be a tough, physical football team.”

That is what the boss is counting on. While Kroenke won’t say how long the Rams will play at The Ed, he believes he knows how they will play there under Fisher.

“He is a great leader, a great teacher,” Kroenke said. “His teams are tough and they fight.”