Jeff Fisher

The Arena Football League will have a familiar face taking over as interim commissioner.

Former NFL head coach Jeff Fisher told reporters Tuesday that he will be the league's new interim commissioner. He was already the president of operations for the Nashville Kats.

"This league is good," he said. "We're looking forward to continuing and finishing the season."

This comes amid questions about the league's long-term viability.

Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk noted the league is down from 16 teams to 12 after the Minnesota Myth, Philadelphia Soul, Iowa Rampage and Georgia Force all folded. Williams pointed out that some of the team owners around the league wanted Fisher as a temporary replacement for commissioner Lee Hutton.

While Fisher is best known for his days as an NFL head coach, he was also involved in the Alliance of American Football in 2019 and the USFL prior to joining the Arena League. He was the head coach of the USFL's Michigan Panthers in 2022.

Still, he is a familiar name to most football fans because of his role in the NFL.

Fisher was the head coach of the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans for 17 seasons from 1994 through 2010. He went 142-120 overall and even reached the Super Bowl during the 1999 campaign.

In all, he reached the playoffs six times during his tenure but never took home the Lombardi Trophy.

Fisher also coached the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams from 2012 until he was fired 13 games into the 2016 season. He was not as successful with the Rams and went 31-45-1 with zero postseason appearances.

His Rams teams finished below .500 in each of his five seasons.

Jeff Fisher is returning to professional football as a head coach in the USFL. 

The Michigan Panthers announced Fisher's hiring on Thursday:

The Panthers were announced as one of eight members of the new United States Football League that is set to debut this spring. 

Fisher and Larry Fedora (New Orleans Breakers) were the final two head coaches announced by the league. 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) were previously hired.

The USFL announced on Tuesday that games will be played at Protective Stadium and Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Fisher, 63, is returning to the head-coaching ranks for the first time since he was fired by the Los Angeles Rams in December 2016. He has a 173-165-1 record with six playoff appearances in 22 seasons as an NFL head coach between the Rams and Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans.

Week 1 of the USFL season will begin on April 16 with the Birmingham Stallions hosting the New Jersey Generals at Protective Stadium. The full regular-season schedule has yet to be announced. 

Rosters will be determined by a player-selection meeting on Feb. 22-23. Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported players must sign a contract with the USFL prior to the meeting to be eligible for selection. 

The 2022 season will consist of a 10-week regular season, followed by two playoff rounds. The championship game is scheduled to be played on July 3.    

Former NFL head coach Jeff Fisher is among the candidates in USC's coaching search following the firing of Clay Helton, according to The Action Network's Brett McMurphy.

Fisher, an alumnus of USC, compiled a 173-165-1 record in 22 seasons with the Tennessee Titans and Los Angeles Rams.

Former Trojans star Carson Palmer inadvertently spilled the beans on whom his alma mater is targeting during an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show. He cited the Pittsburgh Steelers' Mike Tomlin as a possibility and alluded to Penn State's James Franklin, Iowa State's Matt Campbell and Cincinnati's Luke Fickell:

Even though he has an existing connection to the school, Fisher would be an odd choice for USC.

The school famously struck gold with Pete Carroll, who had been fired by the New England Patriots and wasn't one of the top candidates on the athletic department's wish list.

But Carroll was 50 in his first year with USC, and he had worked as an assistant for  Arkansas, Iowa State, Ohio State, North Carolina State and Pacific prior to moving to the NFL.

Fisher, meanwhile, will turn 64 in February, and the extent of his college coaching experience is working as an advisor for Tennessee State this season.

A better analog for Fisher might be Arizona State head coach Herm Edwards.

Edwards, who had been out of the sport since 2008, took over the Sun Devils ahead of the 2018 season. In addition to mixed results for ASU on the field (22-15 overall record), the NCAA is looking into potential violations the program committed.

The steadily diminishing returns of the Helton era demonstrated the need for USC to hire a head coach who can energize prospective recruits in the way Carroll and his staff did. The Trojans currently sit 43rd in 247Sports' composite team rankings for 2022. They've watched as Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal has poached some of the best talent in Southern California.

It's difficult to envision Fisher as somebody who can make USC the pre-eminent recruiting power in the Pac-12 again.

The downturns Florida State, Miami and Nebraska are evidence of how quickly a one-time powerhouse can get mired in quicksand because of a series of bad coaching hires. That could be USC in a few years if athletic director Mike Bohn whiffs on Helton's replacement.

With so much on the line, Fisher would raise eyebrows.

Former Houston Oilers, Tennessee Titans and St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams head coach Jeff Fisher explained he never drafted a player based on sexual orientation after former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden said the NFL encouraged him to do so.

Fisher released a statement and said "the NFL never encouraged or discouraged me regarding the selection of a potential prospect."

Fisher was the head coach of the Rams when they selected Michael Sam with a seventh-round pick in the 2014 NFL draft.

Sam had publicly come out as gay before the draft.

Part of an extensive report from the New York Times' Ken Belson and Katherine Rosman regarding Gruden's use of racist, anti-gay and misogynistic language in emails from 2011 to 2018 revealed the former coach, who has since resigned, suggested NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell pressured Fisher to draft Sam.

Gruden used anti-gay language to describe Sam and Goodell.

The emails also revealed he exchanged emails with pictures of topless women with former Washington Football Team president Bruce Allen, complained about women working as referees and did not like when players protested systemic racism and police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem.

Outside of the New York Times report, Andrew Beaton of the Wall Street Journal reported Gruden used a racist trope when discussing NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith, who is Black.

As for Sam, he never appeared in a game at the NFL level.

However, he was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and a consensus All-American in 2013 with the Missouri Tigers when he tallied 10 sacks.

Fisher was the head coach of the Rams from 2012 to 2016 and finished with a 31-45-1 record.

Eddie George turned back the clock to his playing days when seeking advice on whether he should accept the Tennessee State football head coaching job.

Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk noted the four-time Pro Bowler decided to accept the position after speaking with his former Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher.

"I was still very lukewarm on the idea of taking the opportunity," George said. "I was probably at a 30 percent chance I would do it at that point … I said, 'Hey man, I want to talk to you about this. Listen to this ridiculous idea: I just got approached with this opportunity to coach at TSU.'"

Fisher told George he believes the running back "would be awesome," which convinced George to accept the job.

"Jeff drafted me in 1996," George said. "We went on an amazing run here in Tennessee. And he knows how to push my buttons. I tell you I was ready to run through a brick wall when I got off the phone with him. I said, Let’s do it."

George was a Heisman Trophy winner at Ohio State and entered the NFL as a first-round pick of the Houston Oilers in the 1996 NFL draft.

He played nine years in the NFL for the Oilers/Titans and Dallas Cowboys, eight of which came with Fisher as his head coach. George was the 1996 Offensive Rookie of the Year and helped lead the Titans to the Super Bowl during the 1999 campaign.

Tennessee State announced the hiring on Tuesday:

The Tigers were just 2-5 during their most recent season and haven't made the FCS playoffs since 2013. George is replacing Ron Reed, who was with the school since 2010.

He is the latest in a line of former NFL players who accepted head coaching positions in the FCS.

Ed McCaffrey became the head coach of North Colorado in December 2019, and Jackson State notably hired Deion Sanders to become its head coach.

While George does not have head coaching experience, he is familiar with the state of Tennessee from his playing days and figures to resonate with recruits given his NFL career.

The Tennessee Volunteers might be considering a longtime NFL coach as they look to fill their head coaching vacancy.

Former Tennessee Titans and St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher told The George Plaster Show on Monday he has been contacted about Tennessee's coaching search, although not specifically by the people who would make the hiring decision.

He also said he "is ready to talk if they want to talk" and has "a coaching staff ready."

Fisher served as a head coach from 1994 through 2016 in the NFL ranks and finished with a 173-165-1 record, six playoff appearances and a spot in Super Bowl XXXIV. His Titans lost that Super Bowl to the Rams, but his resume is a testament to his longevity.

The former USC defensive back does not have any coaching experience in the collegiate ranks, but he is a household name who is familiar with the Tennessee area from his time leading the Titans.

Tennessee is in a messy situation despite its historical status as an excellent football program.

Last week, it fired Jeremy Pruitt for cause, along with assistants Shelton Felton and Brian Niedermeyer and seven other staff members. The school wrote a termination letter to Pruitt which said, in part, "Your failures are likely to lead to significant penalties to the University and has jeopardized the eligibility of our student-athletes."

The letter also said, "The University concluded that the NCAA will likely find that you failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the football program."

As well, athletic director and former head football coach Phil Fulmer stepped down from his position.

Tennessee went 3-7 in 2020, the team's eighth losing season since its last campaign of double-digit wins in 2007. It has fallen behind the majority of its rivals in the daunting SEC and faces an uphill battle to return to national prominence if the NCAA does levy punishments against the program.

Whether it is Fisher or someone else, the next head coach will be tasked with a significant rebuilding project.

Former NFL head coach Jeff Fisher could have his eyes on a college job, if the right one were to become available. 

During an appearance on Nashville Sports Radio's The George Plaster Show, Fisher said he would have "a great deal of interest" in the University of Tennessee if head coach Jeremy Pruitt was no longer with the program.

Pruitt's future with the school has been a subject of speculation amid an investigation to determine if the football team committed NCAA violations. 

Per Blake Toppmeyer of the Knoxville News Sentinel, the university opened an internal investigation last month into allegations of recruiting violations and impermissible benefits to athletes. 

ESPN's Mark Schlabach reported running back Eric Gray didn't play in the Vols' 34-13 loss to Texas A&M on Dec. 19 because of the investigation. 

Appearing on 104.5 The Zone Wednesday, ESPN's Chris Low said the fact that the school has hired an outside law firm to assist in the investigation isn't a good sign: "Looking at it from where we are right now and talking to some people, I think it's going to be difficult ... for [Pruitt] to be the head football coach." 

Tennessee finished the 2020 season with a 3-7 record and has gone 16-19 in three years since Pruitt took over.

Fisher has been out of coaching since being fired by the Los Angeles Rams in December 2016. The 62-year-old has a 173-165-1 record in 22 seasons as an NFL head coach. 

He knows the Tennessee area incredibly well after serving as head coach of the Tennessee Oilers/Titans from 1997-2010. 

Former NFL head coach Jeff Fisher is reportedly among the candidates who could replace Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason if he's let go by the school.

Adam Rittenberg of ESPN reported the news, highlighting Fisher's continued popularity in Tennessee after his tenure with the Titans.

Fisher is 173-165-1 as an NFL head coach and has been out of coaching since his dismissal in Los Angeles during the 2016 season. 

Mason is in the midst of his sixth consecutive losing season at Vanderbilt. The Commodores have reached just two bowl games since he took over for James Franklin, who had led Vanderbilt to consecutive top-25 finishes before taking the Penn State job.

Vanderbilt is currently 2-5, though the school is coming off a marquee win over Missouri. Athletic director Malcolm Turner has been noncommittal to keeping Mason on the job.

“As with any situation in any program, I'm constantly evaluating our programs. (Mason) has been a great partner already, and like I said, he is the right leader for our program, and I know he's very focused on what we need to fix and how we get this turned around," Turner said on WNSR-560 when asked if Mason would return next season, per Gentry Estes of the Tennessean.

It's unclear if Fisher would be interested in leaving his post-coaching life to take over a Vanderbilt program that presents its share of issues. Vanderbilt has a difficult time competing in the SEC due to its budgetary constraints and high academic standards. The program has perennially ranked near the bottom of the SEC for decades save an occasional strong season or two.

It's also unclear if Fisher's name has enough national cache to make him a worthy hire. At this point in his career, Fisher's best-known coaching trait is his ability to perennially coach 7-9 or 8-8 teams. 

Former Los Angeles Rams and Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher is reportedly "in line" to coach the XFL's Houston franchise, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.

Fisher told Charlotte Wilder of SI.com that he hasn't accepted a coaching gig in the XFL, however, which he later tweeted himself:

The 61-year-old spent 22 years as an NFL head coach, going 173-165-1 in his career with six postseason appearances and one Super Bowl appearance.

In his five seasons with the Rams, however, he never posted a winning record or made the playoffs, though the organization has made two postseason appearances under Sean McVay since Fisher was fired after the 2016 campaign.

Fisher developed a reputation by the end of his career of fielding average—or worse—teams. His squads finished with a 7-9, 7-8-1 or 8-8 record 10 times.

That was a major talking point after Thursday's reports:

As for the rest of the league, a number of teams have already appointed head coaches:

The XFL is set to return in 2020 after its lone season in 2001. It will introduce a number of unique rules, including the option to go for one-point, two-point or three-point conversions after touchdowns and an overtime session that will include five shots at a two-point conversion for each team, among other changes to the traditional NFL format.

The league will feature eight franchises.