The Titans recorded a 13-3 regular season record in 2008, matching the best record in team history (1999, 2000). The win total pushed Fisher's career record to 133-108 (.552), vaulting five spots on the NFL's all-time win list past Sid Gillman (123), George Seifert (124), Jim Mora (125), Dick Vermeil (126) and Mike Ditka (127) into 22nd place among head coaches.!
The NFL's longest-tenured head coach, Jeff Fisher is second among active coaches with 133 victories.
With the recent departures of Seattle's Mike Holmgren, Indianapolis' Tony Dungy and Denver's Mike Shanahan, Fisher ranks second among all active head coaches in career wins behind only New England's Bill Belichick (153).
The organization's all-time leader in coaching victories recently took time out to talk about how he broke into the coaching profession and his keys to longevity in the NFL.
TITANS ONLINE: How did you first get started on the NFL coaching path?
FISHER: It was about the third week of training camp in 1985 with the Chicago Bears and I had been fielding punts before practice. We had just changed practice fields and I stepped in a hole. I messed up my ankle pretty bad and it required some surgery. I had surgery at the end of training camp/early in the season. I came back, rehabbed and actually traveled with the team with a cast on my leg and kind of helped out Buddy (Ryan) on the sideline. I rehabbed and came back and practiced the last four or five weeks, but wasn't activated for the latter part of the '85 season or for the playoffs. It was a great experience. At that time, the defensive staff consisted of only three people: Buddy Ryan, who was on the sideline, Jim Larue, the secondary coach, and the defensive line coach, Dale Hopp. Buddy was the only defensive coach on the sidelines, so he needed some assistance with personnel substitutions, adjustments and things like that, so I helped him out that season.
TITANS ONLINE: How did that experience translate into you becoming an assistant coach?
FISHER: Later that season, we were in the second week practicing for the Super Bowl down in New Orleans. It was Wednesday or Thursday and I was standing back with Buddy behind the defense during practice and he said, 'Hey, I think I'm going to take this head coaching job with Philadelphia. I want you to come and coach the secondary and put the defense in.' I was really kind of taken back by it because I fully intended on coming back and playing in Chicago. I said, 'When do I need to let you know?' And he said, 'I need to know by next Sunday,' so I had a week to think about it. I actually turned him down. I hung up the phone, but 20 minutes later I called him back and said, 'Did you give my job away?' He said, 'No,' and I said, 'I'll see you at the airport' and that was basically it.!
Fisher got his first coaching experience as a player for the Bears, assisting coach Buddy Ryan on the sideline.
TITANS ONLINE:What did you learn from Buddy Ryan as a head coach?
FISHER: I learned a lot of things from Buddy. He always wanted a tough, aggressive, physical, nasty team that consisted of smart players. That's a tough combination to get, but that's the way to win.
TITANS ONLINE:How did you embrace your opportunity to become head coach of the Houston Oilers back in 1994?
FISHER:You never really know whether you're going to be ready for the challenge, and certainly back in 1994 there were challenges. We were 1-11, the team was split and divided, we changed the offense during the season and we had a lot of things to overcome. But you just kind of follow your gut and the experiences that you've had up to that point and hope you make the right decisions. Fortunately for me, we pulled that team together in five weeks and I was given the opportunity several weeks later to take over full-time.!
Fisher got his chance as a head coach, taking over for the Oilers during the 1994 season.
TITANS ONLINE: Are you amazed at what you were able to accomplish back then and even now in your coaching career?
FISHER: At that time you don't think about it. You're concerned about the one day, one week, one year at a time. That's the approach I still take. I think when it's all said and done, whenever that is, I think I'll be able to reflect back on what's been accomplished. I'm very fortunate to be surrounded with a lot of good people, starting with our owner and administration, and things have just fallen into place with us.
TITANS ONLINE: How have you been able to survive for so long in a league that has introduced several new young head coaches in recent years?
FISHER: Continuity and stability is very important. If you look around the league, there are 10 to 12 teams that just can't get over the hump and win their share of games because there's constant change. I think continuity is very important. Coaches get the opportunities to become head coaches because they've proven themselves. They just don't wake up one morning and all of a sudden forget how to coach. I think we need to give coaches more opportunities and be more patient with them because most of them know what it takes to win ballgames.
TITANS ONLINE:You've been described as a player's coach. What does that mean, and do you see yourself as a player's coach?
FISHER: I don't really know the definition of a player's coach. My job is to get them to do the best they can as a team, to get them to maybe do better than they think they can. I think the most important thing is being able to communicate with the players. There's an open line of communication and a comfort level. !
Fisher's current and former players say their coach is a good communicator who understands their perspective.
TITANS ONLINE: What are the most important factors in being a successful head coach?
FISHER: The three most important things are the ability to communicate. Secondly, you have to earn the trust of your players and they have to trust you. The other thing is you have to be able to set specific guidelines for what you expect and you have to sell things from the standpoint of the strengths and weakness of your opponent -- from what it's going to take to win this game to the type of commitment it's going to take in the off-season.
TITANS ONLINE: How do you maintain the trust of your players?
FISHER: I think there's always situations that are going to come up and you have to deal with it, you have to be honest. The unknown can be a tremendous distraction for the players. There shouldn't be any unknowns. The truth should be laid out, even if it's behind closed doors and you move on. I think if they trust you, then they'll trust your decisions and won't second-guess you.
TITANS ONLINE: How do you want people to remember you as an NFL head coach?
FISHER: I'm not planning on leaving this game any time soon. Maybe you need to ask me that question in 10 or 20 years.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT JEFF FISHER
"As players, we respect his approach, the way he communicates to his team. We understand he's the head coach, but he doesn't put himself on a pedestal like he's an untouchable person that you can't go and talk to. He understands what goes into playing football at this level. For younger guys, they have a guy who's been through what they're going through. He understands how to get his point across to his players without being a stickler, but at the same time, having discipline within his team."!
— TITANS LB KEITH BULLUCK
"He is structured, but at the same time, you're not banging your head against the wall trying to get things done. He's a guy that's sympathetic to the players and knows when to work and when to back off. He sticks to his core principals and structure, but is always willing to adapt and change to get better, all with the goal of doing things the smoothest way to win a Super Bowl. When he gets up and talks to the team, he commands respect. He has the right temperature of the situation involving his team. He stays current. That's why players always want to run through a wall for this guy. He's intense, he puts himself in the players' minds, plus understands what it takes to get it done each week."!
*— *FORMER TITANS TE FRANK WYCHECK
FISHER FACTS:
• At USC, played in the same defensive backfield as future NFL stars Ronnie Lott, Dennis Smith and Joey Browner.
• Was a seventh-round draft pick by the Chicago Bears in 1981.
• In 1985, served in an "unofficial assistant coach" capacity while on injured reserve during the Bears run to Super Bowl XX.
• In 2006, Fisher's Chicago Bears record of 509 punt return yards in a season (1981) was broken by Devin Hester (600). Fisher still holds the team record for most punt returns in a season with 58 in 1984.
• In 1988, at the age of 30, became the NFL's youngest defensive coordinator under Buddy Ryan.
• Serves as Co-Chairman of the NFL Competition Committee.
• Ran the Country Music Marathon in 2002.
• Fisher is an avid golfer and fisherman.
