Five Increasingly Common Misconceptions About Jeff Fisher

keep up the good work

And I understand that it’s not all Nick Harper’s fault, because I think he had a pretty decent to solid season just last year. He just proved that if you put him on an island and don’t get enough QB pressure, he’s toast.

We’re a small market town, and a young football one at that. Fisher has never had an extended period where he’s let the Titans suck, so we as fans don’t know how bad it can get. Personally, I don’t want to go through what the Raiders and Chiefs (among other teams) are going through, and while Fisher made some head scratching decisions this season, this post is great for making people sit back and consider what they’re saying when they say they want Fisher fired.

But I think Fisher needs to grow a little. I try to be flexible in life. Like when I realized dairy made me fart a lot and get sinus infections, I stopped eating it.

in the off season, Fisher needs to ponder: (1) Should he really be blindly faithful to veterans?, (2) He should really consider bringing back that fake to the wideout middle bubble screen he used to run 3 times a game with McNair and Wycheck, and (3) He should prepare a Hoosiers speech where he stands up and says, “Bulluck goes, I go. Bulluck stays, I stay.”

But I hope one of the articles in the series are the more legitimate gripes (more truthful than truthy ;-).

On the W/L record insufficient, I often hear radio announcers that don’t like Fisher tilt it the other way, and proclaim how many winning seasons (leaving out the .500 ones). It always seemed to me like an unbiased comparison would just be wins losses in terms of games over his tenure compared to the same of other teams in the NFL. Never seems to get done that way, though.

I understand that he made some questionable decisions during this season but it is also true that few coaches have what it takes to bring a 0 – 6 team to almost making the playoff. I now VY was integral part of that turnaround but it take a good coach to handle the whole situation.

Good to hear some refreshing optimism to Fisher, instead of all the negative pessimism.

Its nice to see someone post something positive about Coach Fish. He was one of the reasons why I became a Titans fan.

All valid points, and it actually somewhat makes me rethink things. But I still will always go back to this point: The ultimate goal of any NFL franchise is to win a Super Bowl. Jeff Fisher has not gotten us one, yet we keep giving him chance after chance, while other teams have fired coaches in a much shorter time span for not doing so. I mean, how long do we give the guy? Do we keep him around as long as we have .500 seasons and playoff berths here and there, or do we pull the plug and get a guy who can strike the fear of God in his players? One who players will be afraid to walk back to the sideline to after they fumble the ball away or allow someone to run through them and block a kick in a playoff game. That’s what I’m after. But if mediocrity’s your thing, let’s keep at what we’re doing!

….to the recurring idea that Jeff Fisher is the single most unluckly Head Coach and repeated victim of circumstance in the history of the NFL.

No, he’s not terrible, but he’s also NOT THAT GOOD. He’s a by-the-book coach who has ridden the miracle of one year to an impossibly long tenure. Without that one year, there has been ALMOST no real success.

As far as the talent not being good enough to win the Super Bowl, I remember taking a pretty unanimous hell at the beginning of the year for suggesting just that. Now all of the sudden it must have been the talent because it can’t be Fisher? Or is Haynesworth just the most valuable player in the history of the NFL, so much so that even his 50% play time made the entire difference in whether this team is a contender or pretender?

9 of Fisher’s 15 full years as Head Coach have been .500 or below. Not 2, 3, or even 5 – NINE of them. He has one division title in the last six years, and no playoff victories in seven years. That’s not all Floyd Reese and the Gremlins. The Reese thing is especially funny to me, since one could muster that Reese’s contracts were the reason Fisher had any better-than-..500 success in even those years (take away much of the talent Reese kept around with those contracts designed to make a few year run at it, and I bet we’re talking a much longer stretch of .500 or less seasons).

You can’t blame EVERY year on everyone else. And I’ve said it before: no team in the NFL this year can more squarely point the finger of blame on one person’s decision-making more than the Titans can with Jeff Fisher in 2009.

There is waaaaaaaaaaaay too much tenure anymore to blame circumstance and bad luck. Those talking points work better in a much shorter window. No coach in the NFL has been given the chances Jeff Fisher has given – and I can hardly imagine another team going seven years without a playoff win bringing back that same coach for another season. Nobody had been given as much chance as Jeff FIsher – nobody.

One of the best you have ever written. Great work!

There were (assumed) a series of assumptions that were made in the off-season that turned out to be wrong:

1) Cecil could replace Schwartz without missing a beat. That didn’t happen. I’m not ready to write-off Cecil…if memory serves me correctly, it took awhile for Schwartz to get up to speed after replacing Williams.
2) Veterans wouldn’t age. You covered this well.
3) The secondary is good enough that a strong pass rush won’t be needed.
4) A return man is not important.
5) If Hentrich gets hurt, he can easily be replaced.

I’m sure there are others.

I just have a different philosophy than Coach Fisher. The offense should try to score every time they have the ball (see the Patriots). A team can never score too many points. IMO, the margin for error using a ball control/field position philosophy is too small.

1.) Whose fault was it that this wasnt a SB caliber team? Yes we may be ranked 22nd in sacks, but be honest, how can you get a sack when all the opposing QB has to do is a simple three-step-drop and throw at Harper? See Brett and the Jets last season ruin our undefeated season, and you will see what Im talking about. And this was before Harper “lost a step”. If he was the weakest link LAST year….

2.) Lead=prevent defense+run game= NO Super Bowl victories.

3.) Win/Loss record isnt poor, but isnt above average either. As I stated 2 months ago, Jeff Fisher is a 8-7-1 coach. A little better than 8-8, but never can finish 9-7. EVER.

4.) I cant disagree with you on this one.

5.) I wouldnt say he doesnt like rookies. More like, they arent good enough to be on the field(with the exception of a few) and he wont put them out there in order to mask piss-poor management of quality draft picks.

This was a Super Bowl caliber roster, and Jeff Fisher blew it.

It wasn’t. His arrogant mentality was a problem, though. I happen to think Albert Haynesworth is the best player in the NFL. Even if you don’t agree, I think we can agree he’s a top 10-15 player.

If the Colts lost Peyton Manning, do you think they’d let Sorgi run the same offense? What about the Saints if they lost Drew Brees? The comparisons are different because the positions are different. I don’t think the impact is any different, though. You don’t lose a player like that and continue to run the same defense like he never left. You just don’t.

The loss of a player like that is so dramatic. You have to know that it’s going to have a trickle down effect on your defense.

Last year we were a Super Bowl caliber team, but this squad got old, quick

No, it didn’t. That’s now how aging works. It’s not necessarily linear. An expectation that performance will fall precipitously in one year isn’t reasonable either. These players were at similar talent levels last year. Fisher knew what he had with Harper. A good coach would have seen the writing on the wall and told his GM to go out and get another corner.

*Side note: You want another example. Watch Nebraska’s corners next year. They won’t suddenly age. They will, however, take a hit in stats with the loss of Suh.

2: Jeff Fisher goes into prevent defense and runs the ball as soon as he gets ahead.

True, he does that. He also goes something like 50-2 with the lead in the 4th quarter (can’t find the exact stat, but this was brought up during several broadcasts last year).

Football Outsiders did a study on 4th quarter comebacks a few years ago. It is here. Jeff Fisher is not in the top ten coaches since 1996 at holding a one score, 4th quarter lead. Maybe he’s held a bunch of 4th quarter leads between now and then. FWIW, they go on to say:

Turning our attention to head coaches, seven of the last 10 Super Bowls have been won by coaches who rank among the 10 best at holding a one-score, fourth-quarter lead (Table 3). Nine of the top 10 have either been to a Super Bowl or coached in multiple championship games, with the exception being Jim Haslett.

And, last, I’ll address both of these:

3: Jeff Fisher’s W/L record is insufficient.
4: Jeff Fisher has stunk in the playoffs since 2003

In my opinion, playoff wins are all that matters. Other things are important, but ancillary. I can excuse not winning a Super Bowl. I think that involves a mix of superior talent, luck, and being hot at the right time. However, good coaches find a consistent way to be in the playoff mix year in and year out.

I just see a lot of Fisher apologists. That’s OK. I understand it. The question is when is enough, enough? There has to be some sort of litmus test or drop dead date because these years of “just doing enough to keep the fans satisfied” may never end….

2: Jeff Fisher goes into prevent defense and runs the ball as soon as he gets ahead.

 

True, he does that. He also goes something like 50-2 with the lead in the 4th quarter (can’t find the exact stat, but this was brought up during several broadcasts last year).

Does anyone know how Fisher fares when playing from behind?

1. This was a Super Bowl caliber roster, and Jeff Fisher blew it.
I don’t think really that many of us thought this was our Super Bowl year, but this was a playoff roster. I think Fisher has had 4 Super Bowl rosters and we have been there once. This team was ill prepared it showed in the preseason. The team was lethargic, probably as a result of a weak/easy training camp.
2.Jeff Fisher goes into prevent defense and runs the ball as soon as he gets ahead.
His prevent and running the ball while ahead cost us the Texans game and almost the Dolphins game. Every year this happens. It is a problem.
3.Jeff Fisher’s W/L record is insufficient
His win loss record is ok. Maybe a lot of guys are into win/loss records. The Steelers win/loss for this decade isn’t much different than ours, but they got two rings. Back to the point above he has had at least 3 Super Bowl caliber teams and has not won it during his time in TN. How many more times before it is too many? He gets a pass on two years from the salary cap situation, but Reese also gave him 2 to 3 Super Bowl teams he didn’t get it done with.
4.Jeff Fisher has stunk in the playoffs since 2003
Absolutely, two losses with the number one seed in first game. If he is given credit for making the playoffs or his win/loss record then he also gets blame for the losses. The team was flat in the playoff game last year, Fisher should not have rested the players the last game of the season as they were increasingly not sharp on offense and needed the work.
5: Jeff Fisher doesn’t like rookies, and we suffer because of that.
I don’t think this is really an issue. He liked Mouton TOO much. Britt he has not been fair with. This point should have been, he shows too much loyalty to veteran players. Nick Harper, Jevon Kearse and Alge Crumpler should have been released before the season started. With that money the Titans could have added a defensive back, and would have made the playoffs if the corner was only decent. Lack of defensive back depth and belief in Mouton can be attributed to Fisher. Fisher’s loyalty to Lamont Thompson and Chris Brown cost the Titans games also.

I got hal’s the other day.

Consider this information in your answer:

There are 16 teams in the AFC. Fisher has coached 16 years and won one AFC Championship. Average.

Throw out the first year, because he didn’t coach a full season (it was a losing record, BTW).

6 winning, 4 losing, 4 even, and one more season that’s even or worse. Average.

He’s won 4 division titles in 16 years. That’s 25%. There are four teams in the division (I know that was different earlier in his career). Average.

The alleged “defensive” coach, has only had 4 top ten scoring defenses. He’s only had two top ten scoring offenses.

When is enough, enough? At what point is it time to move on from Fisher? Would it take a catastrophic season to get there for you, or would two more years of not getting past the first round of the playoffs be enough to show Fish the door?

MEDIOCRITY is the word.
1. Last year, this team went 13-3. Playoffs should’ve been a lock. Period. The coach should be held accountable if he puts an “old” team on the field. He should apply the same level of attention to the roster as he does his moustache.
2. Fisher does get too conservative and predictable with play calls. It loses us games. Period. 47-2 record on the road while playing with the lead into the 4th……who cares! Postseason record is 5-6. Pathetic.
3. Fisher’s overall win-loss record is…..drum roll please………….MEDIOCRE. Period.
4. As mentioned previously, a postseason record of 5-6 is pathetic. All wins and losses reflect the coach. Period. Fisher’s playoff record DOES stink.
5. Playing rookies? If you’re team “got old, quick,” you’d better infuse some youth into the lineup.

These topics wouldn’t be mentioned if “Bird” Adams wouldn’t of forced his hand. Fisher would be straight up
F-I-R-E-D.