Is Jeff Fisher on the hot seat in Tennessee?
It’s hard to imagine a NFL coach keeping his job for a long time. It’s a league where no job seems secure and anyone can lose their position in a second.
Super Bowl-winning coaches such as Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden and Brian Billick were all relieved of their coaching duties just a few years after they brought a Super Bowl to their franchise. With that in mind, it is remarkable that Jeff Fisher has remained head coach of the Tennessee Titans for 15 straight seasons, dating back to when they were still the Houston Oilers. What’s even more interesting is that Fisher has yet to win a Super Bowl with the Titans, yet he remains with the team.
Fisher has accumulated a 136-110 record as the Titans’ head coach with a 5-6 record in the play-offs. He has led them to one Super Bowl appearance with two appearances in the AFC Championship, but the franchise has also had nine non play-off seasons under Fisher.
Some fans have called for the Titans to fire Fisher before, but Fisher always seems to turn things around when his job is on the line. Just last season, the Titans started 0-6 and were coming off an embarrassing 59-0 defeat to the New England Patriots. As fans were calling for his head, Fisher turned things around quickly leading the Titans to an 8-2 finish, saving his job.
The Titans have gotten off to other slow starts under Fisher. In 2002, they started 1-4 before finishing 11-5 and reaching the AFC Championship. In 2006, the Titans started 0-5 but finished 8-8 and were only eliminated from play-off contention on the final day of the season.
Fisher’s coaching career began just as his playing career ended. Drafted in 1980 by the Chicago Bears, Fisher played four seasons with the Bears as a defensive back and return specialist. In 1985 Fisher suffered a career-ending ankle injury in the fourth game of the season. Fisher still wanted to be involved in football and was hired as an assistant to Bears’ defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan.
After the Bears won the Super Bowl that season, Ryan left to coach the Philadelphia Eagles and brought Fisher with him as his defensive backs coach. Two seasons later, he was promoted to defensive coordinator at the age of 30. The young Fisher led the Eagles defence to a league-best 30 interceptions and 62 sacks in 1989. The next season the Eagles held the best rushing defence and were second in the league in sacks.
In 1991 Fisher headed out west to become the defensive coordinator with the Los Angeles Rams. He was reunited with his college coach from USC, John Robinson. The next year he joined the San Francisco 49ers for two seasons as their defensive backs coach. In 1994 Fisher joined the Houston Oilers as their defensive coordinator under head coach Jack Pardee.
Pardee was fired during the 1994 season and Fisher took over as the interim head coach for the final six games of the season. The Oilers decided to retain Fisher as their coach and his legacy began with the team drafting Steve McNair third overall in the 1995 draft. Fisher improved the team to a 7-9 record that season. The Oilers then drafted Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George that year and had an 8-8 record in 1996.
The team then moved to Tennessee. After two seasons and a pair of 8-8 finishes, the team changed its name to the Titans and Fisher led them to a 13-3 record in 1999 and reached the Super Bowl.
In the Wild Card round of that play-off run, Fisher unveiled perhaps one of the greatest plays ever designed. That play included a planned lateral on the kick-off return in what became known as the Music City Miracle. The Titans scored on that play in the game’s final seconds to save their season. In the Super Bowl the Titans narrowly lost to the St. Louis Rams 23-16 coming up one yard short of tying the game on the final play.
Fisher has led the Titans to five other play-off appearances since then, but the team has not won a play-off game since 2003. Some have wondered how much longer Fisher will be kept around as the Titans head coach. While he’s considered one of the best coaches in the league, the results haven’t been consistent and the franchise is still without a championship.
The beauty of Fisher’s tenure is that he has led teams with limited talent further than anyone would have guessed. The franchise is not known for spending large amounts of money on big-name players, and that has forced Fisher to make do with what he’s had. He has done a remarkable job but there are only so many seasons a franchise can go without a Super Bowl. Many wonder if Fisher has to get the job done soon or risk losing his job.
Fisher needs some help from management. They have to start going after more free agents and paying their stars or else Fisher will continue having to coach low-calibre teams to high calibre records. He may continue to fall short of the ultimate goal - winning.
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