ST. LOUIS -- The winless St. Louis Rams fired coach Scott Linehan on Monday, the morning after a fourth straight lopsided loss to start the season.

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Jim Haslett file photo

Defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, once the coach of the New Orleans Saints, will replace Linehan on an interim basis. The Rams made the decision in the middle of the night and made it public several hours later.

"I have enormous respect for Scott Linehan as a person and believe under the right circumstances he will be regarded one day as a fine head coach," owner Chip Rosenbloom said in a release. "Unfortunately, the situation with the Rams as they exist today is no longer acceptable and we have to make a change."

Linehan had an overall 11-25 record in his first head coaching job. The Rams have been outscored 147-43 this season, and have allowed at least 30 points in seven straight games dating back to last year.

The move was made heading into the Rams' bye week and several hours after the Buffalo Bills outscored them 25-0 in the second half of a 31-14 victory Sunday.

St. Louis has lost 17 of its last 20 games overall.

"This is not really the way you want to become a head coach, at somebody else's expense," Haslett said at a news conference to announce the move. "I feel for him and his family. "We're going to do to the best we can to try to get this thing turned around."

One big change under Haslett: practices will be open to media. Linehan closed workouts after the first 20 minutes.

"You can watch practice, you can be on the field," Haslett said. "You're not going to see anything you don't see in any other game."

The 0-4 start is the second straight for the Rams, who lost their first eight games last year en route to a 3-13 finish that landed them with the second pick in the draft.

A sign at Sunday's home game read: "Congress. Now bail out the Rams."

Linehan briefly addressed players Monday morning and then left Rams Park with his wife, Kristin, driving away in an SUV without speaking to reporters or even making eye contact.

"He just told us that we're winners," said rookie defensive end Chris Long, Linehan's last first-round pick. "We're not winning right now, but there's winners in the room.

"He's going to do well, he's going to find a place where it's going right."

Haslett was fired as coach of the New Orleans after the 2005 season, and joined the Rams on Linehan's first staff in 2006. Rick Venturi, assistant head coach and linebackers coach, was elevated to defensive coordinator.

The Linehan era was mostly a dreary time for the franchise, especially on the heels of the wild highs and lows of predecessor Mike Martz, who helped the Rams win their lone Super Bowl after the 1999 season and led them to a second Super Bowl as coach in the 2001 season.

The Rams were 8-8 in 2006, Linehan's first season. The team rallied to win four of its last six games after Linehan turned over play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Greg Olson.

Numerous offensive line injuries, beginning with seven-time Pro Bowl tackle Orlando Pace's season-ending shoulder injury in the opener, paved the way for last year's poor season. Linehan reclaimed play-calling duties that year after three games.

Linehan, 45, again relinquished the play-calling this season after replacing Olson with Al Saunders, among several moves in a staff overhaul. Other changes were made, with training camp moved to a remote location in Mequon, Wis., and Linehan attempting to inject more energy into a his low-key personality.

On Sunday, he benched quarterback Marc Bulger, the highest-paid player in franchise history, and went with 38-year-old backup Trent Green. That was one of six lineup changes for the Bills game.

None of it worked.

The Bulger benching also widened cracks in team unity. Running back Steven Jackson criticized Linehan on his weekly radio show, saying that was the wrong move, and there were reports Bulger no longer wanted to play for the coach.

Bulger left the Edward Jones Dome via the visitor's locker room after Sunday's game, a hat pulled down over his head, and hasn't spoken to reporters since he was benched last Tuesday. Linehan knew his job was in jeopardy Sunday, having been put on notice by Rosenbloom. He emptied the playbook, going for first downs twice on fourth down and using a handful of trick plays with a juggled lineup led by Green.

The firing was the second in-season coaching change by the Rams this decade. Martz was replaced after five games in 2005 by interim coach Joe Vitt due to medical reasons. Martz was let go the day after that 5-11 season.

The last Rams coach removed during the season for non-medical reasons was Bob Waterfield, replaced by Harland Svare after eight games in 1962 when the Rams were in Los Angeles.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)