It was never a secret that Jeff Fisher wanted to get back into coaching. The 59-year old was no doubt left with a sour taste in his mouth after the way things ended last year with the Los Angeles Rams. After so many seasons of going 7-9, his team finally hit the wall in 2016 to go 4-12. Fisher was fired with three games left, leaving many thinking his days as a head coach were done.
Now all of a sudden he is back in the picture. It was reported recently that he not only eyes a return but has three teams in mind. They are Cleveland, Indianapolis and Chicago. All three jobs could be available come the start of January. All three teams are desperate to find the winning formula again. Fisher has a proven track record of fostering competitive teams.
The question of course is whether the Bears have mutual interest in him. Well it turns out there may indeed be some.
Jeff Fisher connection to the Bears may be spurred by outside influences
Now before anything else it should be noted that the prevailing belief is Fisher isn’t the Bears’ end all, be all target. This situation is born more out of developing circumstances. Much of it brought on by others outside the organization. I reached out to a source who informed me of how the buzz got started at Halas Hall.
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“I’m told there’s a twist to it. Pace is going from team to team getting recommendations. He has also contacted (Bill) Polian, Mack Brown, and (Mike) Ditka for recommendations. Several have recommended Jeff Fisher.”
If nothing else this is proof that Fisher still garners a lot of respect across the league. The approach itself shouldn’t be a surprise. Pace is known for being thorough and doing his homework. He’s a detailed man. Getting input from others is one of his ways of operating. He’s a big believer in consensus. If several people go out of their way to recommend Fisher, then it’s something worth exploring to him.
Much of the Fisher question centers on age and the QB
Fisher coached 22 seasons in the league, compiling a record of 173-165. He made the playoffs six times with the Tennessee Titans and reached Super Bowl XXXIV in 1999. To be fair whenever he’s had a good quarterback, he’s done really well as with Steve McNair or Kerry Collins. He even got a 10-6 season out of Vince Young in 2007. His problems with the Rams typically centered around the QB position.
Sam Bradford looked like a hit but he couldn’t stay healthy. Over the following years they tried Austin Davis, Nick Foles and Case Keenum. Unfortunately questionable coordinating and bad surrounding personnel doomed him despite strong defenses and a steady running game. Sound familiar? It’s just too difficult to envision Fisher will be able to solve that problem for Mitch Trubisky anymore than he could for the others with his former team.
Nonetheless, the Bears are going to kick the tires anyway.
