Jeff Fisher

Jeffrey Michael "Jeff" Fisher (born February 25, 1958) is the former head coach of the Tennessee Titans of the NFL. He has a 146-120 career record as an NFL head coach.

Early life
A native of Southern California, Fisher starred as a high school All-American wide receiver for William Howard Taft High School (Los Angeles, California) in Woodland Hills.

Playing career
Fisher later went on to star as a USC Trojan under coach John Robinson. During his collegiate career (1977–80), he played alongside such defensive stars as Ronnie Lott, Dennis Smith, and Joey Browner. Fisher's USC teammates also included star offensive lineman Bruce Matthews, whom he would coach years later with the Oilers and Titans. Fisher and the Trojans won a national championship during the 1978 season, and in 1980 he was honored with a Pac-10 All-Academic selection.

Fisher entered the NFL as a 7th round draft pick of the Chicago Bears in 1980 and appeared in 49 games as a defensive back and return specialist in five seasons.

He earned a Super Bowl ring after Chicago’s 1985 Super Bowl season, despite spending the year on injured reserve with an ankle injury that prematurely ended his playing career. In 1983, Fisher had suffered a broken leg on a punt return when he was tackled by then-Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Bill Cowher, the future head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coincidentally the two became rivals as head coaches beginning in the AFC Central in 1995; Fisher's Oilers/Titans squads came out with an 11-7 record against Cowher's Steelers.

Early coaching career
Realizing his playing days were over, and not content to be idle, Fisher wanted to still be involved with professional football. In 1985, the Bears put him on injured reserve, so during this time he became a defensive assistant to Buddy Ryan, the Bears' defensive coordinator. After the 1985 Bears won Super Bowl XX, Ryan left Chicago to become the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and Fisher went with him. He joined the Eagles as a defensive backs coach and in 1988 was promoted to defensive coordinator at the age of 30, becoming the youngest one in the league at that point. Fisher found great success despite his youth, and the 1989 Eagles defense led the NFL in interceptions (30) and sacks (62). The 1990 squad led the league in rushing defense and was second in sacks.

In 1991, Fisher headed west to be reunited with his college coach John Robinson, serving as the Los Angeles Rams’ defensive coordinator for one season. The next two seasons, he served as the defensive backs coach for the San Francisco 49ers. These years as an assistant to George Seifert placed Fisher in the Bill Walsh coaching tree. On February 9, 1994, Fisher again became a defensive coordinator, this time for the Houston Oilers under Jack Pardee. Fisher succeeded his one-time mentor Ryan, who left the post to become the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

Head Coach
On November 14, 1994, Pardee was fired, and Fisher was promoted to replace him for the last six games of the season. The Oilers retained Fisher as head coach, and the Oilers drafted quarterback Steve McNair in the 1995 NFL Draft. The new coach did not disappoint, leading the team to a 7–9 record in 1995, tied for second place in the division. The following year the Oilers added Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George, and they achieved an 8–8 record. However, an inability to get a new stadium deal in Houston caused owner Bud Adams to relocate the team to Tennessee for the 1997 season.

In the team's first two seasons in Tennessee the Oilers compiled a two-year record of 16-16. In 1998, the team's home games moved from Memphis to Nashville.

In the 1999 season, which saw the renaming of the team to the Tennessee Titans, the Titans finished with a 13–3 regular season record, going all the way to Super Bowl XXXIV, in part due to the Music City Miracle. There the team fell to the St. Louis Rams, 23–16; wideout Kevin Dyson was tackled one yard short of the end zone with no time remaining, in what became known as "The Tackle". Tennessee achieved the same record the next year, but were defeated in the AFC playoffs by the Baltimore Ravens who would go on to win Super Bowl XXXV.

The 2001 season was a disappointing one for the Titans, as they could only muster a 7–9 showing. The beginning of the next season proved to be even worse, with the franchise starting off with a 1–4 record. Following one home loss, owner Bud Adams made the comment to reporters that perhaps the Titans "were getting outcoached." This provided a spark the team needed, and they finished the season with a 11–5 record and made it to the AFC Championship Game.

The 2003 season saw more success, with yet another trip to the playoffs and McNair winning the League MVP award. Again, they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots, but the team's progress did not go unnoticed. The 2004 season, however, was plagued by injuries from the start, and Fisher's worst record as head coach (4–12) was the result. Following the season, many veteran players (such as Samari Rolle and Derrick Mason) were cut in an effort to comply with the strict salary cap. The relative youth of the team resulted in a disappointing 2005 season as well. Before the 2005 season, Fisher hired Norm Chow out of USC to be his offensive coordinator.

In 2006, the Titans finished a better-than-expected 8–8. Quarterback Steve McNair was traded to the Baltimore Ravens and Vince Young was drafted, but began the season as backup to Billy Volek and Kerry Collins. The season began slowly at 0-3 before Volek was replaced by Kerry Collins and, later, Young. The team ultimately started 2-7, but following a 27-26 loss to the Baltimore Ravens and McNair, the Titans erupted to win six straight games, including a 24-point rally to beat the Giants. With this promising record the Titans exercised their right to extend his contract by a year, keeping him as the head coach through the 2007 NFL season season.

In 2007, he led the Titans to a 10-6 record and made the AFC playoffs as the 6th seed, but lost in the opening round to the San Diego Chargers.

In 2008, Fisher led the Titans to a 10-0 undefeated streak only to be upset by Brett Favre and the New York Jets midway through the 2008 season. Young was benched after the first game due to emotional stress and replaced by Collins. The Titans finished 13-3 and secured the number 1 seed in the AFC, yet lost in the second round of the 2008 NFL Playoffs to the Baltimore Ravens.

In 2009 the Titans lost in overtime to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the season's opening game. The loss began a six-game slide that reached its nadir in a 59-0 slaughter by the New England Patriots. Collins, at the public recommendation of Titans owner Bud Adams, was benched and replaced by Young; the Titans responded by winning eight of their next ten games, highlighted by a dramatic comeback victory over the Arizona Cardinals, a season-ending comeback against the Seattle Seahawks, and a hard-fought overtime win over the Miami Dolphins. Highlighting this season was the play of running back Chris Johnson; in his second year of professional football (he'd been drafted 24th in the 2008 NFL Draft) Johnson broke Marshall Faulk's record of total yards from scrimmage with 2,509, becoming the sixth back in NFL history to rush over 2000 yards.

On January 27, 2011, it was formally announced that Fisher and the Titans had mutually-agreed to part ways following a buy-out of one remaining season on Fisher's contract. At more than 16 full seasons, Fisher had been the longest-tenured NFL head coach with one team among active head coaches.

Competition committee
Fisher is Co-Chair of the NFL competition committee along with Atlanta Falcons President Rich McKay.

Coaching tree
NFL head coaches under whom Jeff Fisher has served:
 * Mike Ditka, Chicago Bears (1985)
 * Buddy Ryan, Philadelphia Eagles (1986–1990)
 * John Robinson, Los Angeles Rams (1991)
 * George Seifert, San Francisco 49ers (1992–1993)
 * Jack Pardee, Houston Oilers (1994)

Assistant coaches under Jeff Fisher who have become NFL head coaches:
 * Gregg Williams, Buffalo Bills (2001–2003), currently the Defensive Coordinator for the New Orleans Saints.
 * Jim Schwartz, Detroit Lions (2009–present)
 * Mike Munchak, Tennessee Titans (2011–present)

Personal
Fisher has three children. One son, Brandon, played linebacker for the University of Montana. Another son, Trent, is currently a defensive back for Auburn University.