Overrated. A word normally reserved for ultra hyped teams who fail to live up to the hype. A word reserved for athletes who are highly drafted can’t-fail prospects coming out of college but flop. A word chanted by countless college students in the gym and on the field when their team upsets the favorite.
But can NFL coaches be overrated? ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio says yes. He opined on the NFL’s most overrated and underrated NFL coaches in a chapter from his new book, The Paolantonio Report: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players, Teams, Coaches, and Moments in NFL History.
One of the coaches on his overrated list, was the Tennessee Titans’ Jeff Fisher. Fisher just completed his 14th season at the helm of the team he has directed since 1994. He took over for the not so kind dismissal of run-and-shoot guru Jack Pardee with six games left in the season.
So what exactly makes Fisher overrated in Paolantonio’s view? For starters, Paolantonio takes issue with the fact that Fisher has compiled a win-loss record of just 115-99 in his tenure as coach.
He targets Fisher for his slate of five winning seasons, four losing seasons, and four 8-8 seasons, in addition to his 5-5 postseason record.
Even the Titans’ remarkable run from 1999-2003 isn’t sacred. Fisher’s Titans posted an overall mark of 56-24, including back-to-back 13-3 seasons. Also a 23-16 loss in Super Bowl XXXIV to Dick Vermeil’s St. Louis Rams, the hyperbole-branded “greatest show on turf.”
Nevertheless, in order to discredit Fisher’s success in those years, Paolantonio finds fault in the manner the Titans concluded those seasons.
Regardless of Paolantonio’s opinions (and let’s admit this book is nothing if not a collection of opinions), Fisher deserves the approval he has gained as one of the NFL’s best coaches.
It’s quite easy to forget that Fisher skippered the troubled transition of the squad from Houston to Tennessee between the 1996 and 1997 seasons. For two miserable years the Tennessee Oilers/Titans were a collection of transients. First playing in Memphis’ Liberty Bowl during 1997 and then at Nashville’s Vanderbilt Stadium during 1998.
Although the Titans have sold out 83 consecutive home dates at 68,798 seat LP Field (add 10 more sellouts for the 2008 season), during those bleak days in the autumn of 1997 and 1998, television cameras revealed a lot of fans disguised as empty seats.
The fact that Fisher was able to muster back-to-back 8-8 seasons with little support from the community speaks volumes about his ability to rally the troops.
As for Paolantonio’s contention that Fisher can’t get it done during the playoffs? Let’s take a closer look at those season ending contests.
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