Former NFL head coach named inaugural coach for USFL Michigan team
Former NFL head coach Jeff Fisher has been named the head coach of the Michigan Panthers, one of eight teams in the relaunch of the USFL, the organization announced Thursday.
Fisher last coached in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams, as he spent five years with the Rams, coaching the franchise for four years in St. Louis and one year in Los Angeles. Prior to his dismissal in 2016, he amassed a 31-45-1 overall record with the Rams.
Fisher coached one other franchise through relocation in the Tennessee Titans. He spent 17 years as the Titans’ head coach, first coaching three seasons with the Houston Oilers, and he had a .542 win percentage with the organization.
Through 22 years as an NFL head coach, Fisher boasts a 173-165-1 overall record at the helm. He went a career-best 13-3 as a head coach three times with the Titans, one time, in 1999, leading the Nashville-based team to the Super Bowl in its third season post-relocation.
A native of Culver City, California, Fisher attended USC and was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the seventh round of the `1981 NFL Draft. With the Bears, he served as a return specialist and a defensive back, playing five NFL seasons before he went into coaching in 1985. He stayed in Chicago for that first stint, as he held a one-year role as a defensive assistant coach for the Bears.
Prior to being named interim, and later permanent head coach of the Houston Oilers, his first NFL head coaching job, Fisher spent three seasons as the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive backs coach, two seasons as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator, two seasons as the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive backs coach and one year as the Oilers’ defensive coordinator.
Though Fisher has been out of coaching for a few years, he served the 2021 season as an advisor of sorts to Tennessee State football, helping head coach Eddie George acclimate to the new gig.
The USFL reboot is set to kick off on April 16, 2022. Fisher will coach the Panthers, one of eight teams, and the other coaches include Larry Fedora (New Orleans Breakers), Skip Holtz (Birmingham Stallions), Kirby Wilson (Pittsburgh Maulers), Mike Riley (New Jersey Generals), Todd Haley (Tampa Bay Bandits), Kevin Sumlin (Houston Gamblers) and Bart Andrus (Philadelphia Stars).