RYAN’S HOPE : After Learning the Buddy System During a 5-Year Playing Career Eagles’ Fisher Becomes Youngest Defensive Coordinator in NFL

An impulsive decision that cost Jeff Fisher about $100,000 might turn out to be the best investment of his life.

As the Chicago Bears took an easy Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots in January, 1986, Fisher watched from the sidelines as a member of the Bears’ injured reserve. Still, Fisher had hopes of returning to action for his sixth season in the NFL.

Then Buddy Ryan made him an offer during the off-season he almost refused.

Ryan, the Bear defensive coordinator who was in the middle of a power struggle with Coach Mike Ditka, jumped to the Philadelphia Eagles as head coach while his stock was on the rise. One of his first moves was to offer Fisher a position on his staff coaching defensive backs.

This was not an easy decision for Fisher, who would receive $140,000 plus incentive bonuses from the Bears if he was to make the team the following season. The coaching position paid only $50,000.

Given a week to decide, Fisher called Ryan on the final day with his mind made up.

“I can’t take the job,” Fisher told him. “I appreciate the offer and am honored.”

Fisher hung up the phone but wondered uneasily if he had done the right thing. Fisher’s girlfriend at the time and future wife Julie stepped in and said, “Let’s go for it.”

“I called him back five minutes later and said, ‘Buddy, did you give my job away?’ He said ‘Nope.’ I told him I’d see him at the airport in the morning,” Fisher said.

Fisher, 31, has been flying up the coaching ladder ever since. Three-and-a-half years later, the Taft High graduate has been promoted to defensive coordinator, making him the youngest defensive coordinator in the National Football League. And, coming off their first Eastern Division title in eight seasons, the Eagles appear to be soaring in the same direction.

Because Ryan has a reputation as a defensive genius, Fisher might appear to be little more than a puppet. In fact, Fisher says Ryan gives him plenty of room to be creative.

“The ability to adjust a defense is critical and (Ryan) allows me to make the decisions,” Fisher said.

Ryan had no reservations about promoting Fisher to the defensive-coordinator position left open when Wade Phillips jumped to the Denver Broncos after last season.

“If he hadn’t been ready, I wouldn’t have given it to him,” Ryan said.

And as Fisher’s duties have increased, earning respect from the players seemingly is not an issue.

“It was obvious the way he taught defensive backs that he knew what he was doing,” said Terry Hoage, the Eagles’ free safety. “Of all the people Buddy could have picked, I don’t think there was anyone more deserving than Jeff.”

Mike Golic, an Eagle defensive tackle, says Fisher’s career as a player gave him the insight needed to coach in the NFL.

“He knows what he’s doing out there,” Golic said. “He’s definitely got the (players’) respect.”

Ryan and Fisher have worked together for the past eight seasons, beginning when Fisher came to the Bears in 1981 as a rookie out of USC.

Immediately, Ryan spotted Fisher’s ability to understand the game.

“I like smart players that are tough,” Ryan said. “He was smart and tough.”

When Fisher checked into the Bear training camp in the summer of ‘81, Ryan was heading up the defense under former head coach Neill Armstrong. Ryan was working on perfecting a defense that would later lead him to notoriety as a defensive innovator.

Nicknamed the “46,” the effectiveness of the eight-man defensive front alignment left offenses puzzled. Ryan called it the “46” because it called for linebacker Doug Plank (who wore jersey number 46) and Fisher to enter the game as extra defensive backs in passing situations.

The Bears used an archaic playbook that Fisher says Ryan may have Xeroxed from his days as an assistant with the Minnesota Vikings (1976-77). That left players such as Fisher responsible for teaching the newer players Ryan’s defensive schemes.

Today, variations of Ryan’s defense are widely used at all levels of football, from high school to the NFL.

Whether it was the “46,” Ryan’s help or just plain fate, Fisher’s promotion to the ranks of the NFL reads like the antithesis of Murphy’s law: Whatever can go right, will go right.

As a wide receiver for Taft High in 1975, Fisher’s career was given a boost by the carelessness of a groundskeeper at Chatsworth High who let the sprinklers run all night, flooding the middle of the field before Taft’s league game against the Chancellors.

With poor footing up the middle, the Toreadors were forced to throw to the outside where Fisher became the beneficiary. His 12 receptions for 258 yards set a City Section record and he scored three touchdowns to lead Taft to a 25-23 victory.

Hal Lambert, Taft’s coach, remembers the Toreadors pinned deep in their own territory with time running out and clinging to a four-point lead. Lambert told his quarterback to take a safety so they could kick the ball away. In the process, Chatsworth didn’t rush its defenders as the Taft quarterback scrambled around in the end zone looking for a receiver. Fisher saw what was happening and came back and tackled his own teammate.

Fisher went on to earn West Valley League Player of the Year honors.

Lambert, now a real estate broker and a volunteer assistant at Taft, says he could always count on Fisher. “Jeff could do anything on the football field you wanted him to do,” Lambert said.

In Fisher’s junior year, both USC and UCLA contacted him but nothing materialized until he took matters into his own hands after the Chatsworth game. Fisher was already set to attend the University of Santa Clara on a baseball-football scholarship, but he reconsidered.

“I sent letters out to USC and UCLA indicating I was still interested,” Fisher said.

His letters paid off. USC offered him a last-minute scholarship and Fisher decided to concentrate on football.

Fisher was moved to the Trojan secondary where he played alongside future NFL stars Ronnie Lott, Joey Browner and Dennis Smith. After his senior year, Fisher reasoned that with so much talent surrounding him, he would be overlooked in the NFL draft.

“I didn’t think I’d get drafted and if I did it would be late,” Fisher said.

Once again fate interrupted Fisher’s plans when he received a call from the Chicago Bears telling him he was their sixth choice in the draft.

Keith Van Horne, Fisher’s ex-roommate and Trojan teammate at USC, was the Bears’ first pick the day before. Van Horne touted Fisher to the Bears, who took a chance on the defensive back.

Even as the Bears’ sixth pick, Fisher was the team’s third defensive back selected. “Knowing that, I knew it was going to be a competitive situation,” Fisher said.

At a press conference soon after, Fisher was asked if he returned punts. He immediately replied, “yes.” Fisher slightly overstated his case. At USC, Fisher fielded the short punts, totaling only eight in his Trojan career, six of them fair catches.

As a rookie, Fisher played in passing situations and returned punts. He returned a punt 88 yards for a touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his only NFL touchdown, and finished second in the NFC in return average (11.8).

Fisher earned a starting position in 1983--his third season--when safety Gary Fencik injured a groin early in the season. Fisher started the next five games but broke his leg while fielding a short punt against the Eagles at Veterans Stadium.

Fisher turned it into a break for the best, however. He became Ryan’s sideline shadow, learning the intricacies of football from a coach’s perspective.

“He was a kid interested in the total game,” Ryan said of Fisher’s initiative. “He really impressed me.”

Fisher came back in ‘84, finishing sixth in the NFC in punt-return average (8.6) as the Bears advanced to the NFC championship game before losing to the 49ers.

As a backup in the Bear secondary during the ’85 preseason, Fisher suffered an ankle injury but kept playing until he decided to have surgery at the beginning of the season. Fisher again used his rehabilitation time to help Ryan.

Clipboard in hand, Fisher rooted his teammates on as they compiled an 18-1 record and posted a victory in the Super Bowl. Little did he know, less than one week after the season, he would hang up another set of spikes and enter the ranks of the coaching fraternity.

During his limited time on the field, Fisher accumulated 1,125 yards on 120 punt returns for a 9.4 average. Now, possibly only a few short years away from an NFL head coaching position, Fisher is putting the time he spent on the sidelines to use.