With Titans in New Home, Pressue on Fisher to Win

Joe Cool is furious.

Titans coach Jeff Fisher, who earned the nickname for his calm demeanor and ever-present sunglasses, gives the entire team a tongue-lashing after third-string quarterback Steve Matthews fumbles a snap from backup center Craig Page during a two-minute drill.

A day later, someone forgets to call a timeout during another two-minute drill. Fisher explodes.

“The coach is on a plane on his way to California because he got fired,” he yells.

Yes, the pressure might be getting to Fisher, whose team has gone 8-8 in three straight seasons.

Owner Bud Adams expects improvement now that the Titans have a new stadium and state-of-the-art practice facility. And that means the franchise’s first playoff appearance since 1993.

Another .500 performance and Tennessee might look for a new coach.

Fisher, 32-38 in four-plus seasons, said he has not been told his job is on the line, but acknowledges the team must play better.

“I’d much rather be known for winning and doing things right and getting into the playoffs than what we’ve been given credit for--just surviving,” said Fisher, whose contract runs through the 2000 season.

Survive, indeed. No coach in NFL history has gone through what Fisher has endured.

He was hired 10 games into the 1994 season when Adams began feuding with the city of Houston. Adams wanted a new stadium and the city refused to help.

Fans began turning on the Oilers, who left for Tennessee after the 1996 season. The team practiced in Nashville and played 200 miles away at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis in 1997, then moved to cramped Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville last year. Crowds were the smallest in the NFL at both venues.

Through it all, Fisher has been Joe Cool.

“For him to be the leader of the pack and hold it all together is really a tribute to him,” offensive coordinator Les Steckel said.

Now, with the team renamed the Titans during the offseason and ready to move into sparkling Adelphia Coliseum, Fisher is ready to cut loose.

“We have been through an awful lot. This is what we’ve been waiting for. This was the reward for the abuse that we’ve taken and the difficult times we’ve had and the distractions,” he said.

Only five other NFL coaches have been in their current jobs as long as Fisher, and all have had at least one winning season. Four of them, Denver’s Mike Shanahan, Minnesota’s Dennis Green, Pittsburgh’s Bill Cowher and Jacksonville’s Tom Coughlin, have been to the playoffs.

Still, Fisher’s players believe in him and think the team’s headed in the right direction.

“I would run through a wall for him because he gave me an opportunity to play and perform, and I’ll always be grateful to him,” Pro Bowl tight end Frank Wycheck said.

The 41-year-old Fisher grew up in California and was a high school All-America. He played defensive back at USC, where his teammates included safety Ronnie Lott and his coach was John Robinson.

Fisher played 49 games in five seasons for the Chicago Bears before an ankle injury ended his career in 1985. He spent much of that Super Bowl season working with Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan as an unofficial coach.

He followed Ryan to Philadelphia as a defensive backs coach and worked his way up to coordinator before heading to the Los Angeles Rams in 1991. He was secondary coach with the San Francisco 49ers in 1992 and 1993.

He got his shot at head coach during the Oilers’ disastrous 2-14 season of 1994. Adams fired Jack Pardee in November and made Fisher, then defensive coordinator, interim head coach.

At 36, he was the youngest head coach in the league. Despite losing five of six games, Adams took the interim away from Fisher’s title for the 1995 season.

Before the first exhibition game that year, Fisher broke the news to his players that Adams was negotiating with Nashville.

The coach has a firm-but-understanding relationship with his team.

He kept Henry Ford out of minicamp in June because the defensive end reported at 291 pounds, not 285 as Fisher had demanded. But unlike some other coaches, Fisher will not punish players who miss curfew or commit other minor infractions--provided they have good excuses.

Fisher also has a sense of humor. A penalty by Tomur Barnes in overtime cost the team a game against Miami in 1997. Afterward, while reciting the injury list from the game, Fisher said Barnes would undergo an MRI test to see what he was thinking.

There is no laughing, however, when it comes to Fisher’s desire to win.

“There were times I wondered three, four years ago if I’d be here long enough to see the opening of the new stadium,” he said.

“I’m a coach. I’m going to do the best I can. I’m just very fortunate to be in the situation right now that I am to have weathered this storm, to be able to continue with what we’ve been building and to go ahead and see the opening.”