DETROIT — Jeff Fisher has a lot of memories of playing and coaching football in Michigan.
He has memories of the Thanksgiving Day games, even if he never played in one against Detroit. He remembers the old Pontiac Silverdome, where there were some great Bears-Lions clashes when he was a player in Chicago. He remembers coaching against Barry Sanders, "that little running back that used to run around and make everybody miss, year after year." And then there was 2011 when, with Fisher between NFL head coaching jobs, he spent a significant amount of time in Detroit, attending several games and practices with his oldest son, Brandon Fisher, on Lions coach Jim Schwartz's staff as a defensive assistant.
But one memory that, interestingly, stands out perhaps most of all was from 2008, when Fisher's Tennessee Titans came to Detroit to play the 0-11 Lions. Easy task? You'd think, and you'd be wrong. Talk about a no-win situation for the opposing team. Win? Well, you're supposed to. Lose? Well, what the hell.
"When you're playing a team that hasn't won a game," Fisher said over the phone this week, "those are hard games to get your team ready to play."
Of course, it ended up being smooth sailing for Fisher and the Titans. They won, 47-10, and handed the Lions their 12th of 16 losses, to no wins, that awful year.
Now, all these years later, Fisher is out to win for the football fans of Michigan. He is the head coach of the Michigan Panthers in the inaugural season of the rebooted United States Football League, the latest attempt at spring football which begins Saturday night with the New Jersey Generals playing the Birmingham Stallions in a game that will be broadcast on both Fox and NBC.
Michigan opens at noon Sunday against the Houston Gamblers, in a game that will air on NBC.
This is the first head-coaching gig for Fisher, 64, since a five-year run with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams ended after the 2016 season. He was head coach of the Houston and Tennessee Oilers/Tennessee Titans from 1995 through 2010. He's had opportunities to coach again, but stayed retired — until the USFL came calling. He is one of the marquee faces of the upstart eight-team, 10-week league.
"I have a place in my heart for this game, but more importantly, it's an opportunity for me to help young players realize their dream, and then in addition to that, help young coaches further their careers," Fisher told The Detroit News in a phone interview this week. "And then in doing so, I get to get back on the sidelines doing what I absolutely love doing. It's not like I need to do this, I chose to do this.
"There's a need for spring football."
Whether there's a thirst for it, among the fans, remains to be seen. Spring leagues have come and gone over the years, usually quite quickly. The latest attempts, rebooting the XFL and the Alliance of American Football, for which Fisher was an adviser, didn't last past the inaugural season.
The USFL believes it's better positioned to succeed for a couple reasons, starting with its owner, the media behemoth Fox, which is investing more than $150 million and giving the league prime air space. Then there are the logistics: The league is operating entirely out of Birmingham, Alabama, to save costs. The playoffs and championship games will be played at Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio.
The USFL hopes to move into the eight markets, including Detroit, starting in 2023, but that's not guaranteed. Still, the USFL has confirmed it has had initial discussions with venue operators in the Metro Detroit area.
The league was able to sign on several marquee coaches, including Fisher, as well as Mike Pereira as head rules official, adding legitimacy to the operation.
"Everyone in this is working together," Fisher said. "Everybody is under one roof for training camp, shared practice facilities, and dining halls. Everybody's in this together. There's a respect factor that permeates throughout this league and it's been evident.
"I knew very early on that this one was going to be successful."
The USFL, according to Brian Woods, the league's co-founder and president of football operations, isn't out to be a feeder program for the NFL. It's out to stand on its own. The talent level won't be on par with the NFL, obviously, but it doesn't have to be — just like Major League Soccer is plenty successful in the United States, despite being well below the talent level of other global soccer leagues, like the Premier League.
That said, Fisher is excited about what his team has on the roster, starting with its No.1 draft pick, former Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson.
Patterson will compete with former Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch for the starting job, though both are expected to see a significant amount of playing time.
"I'm not surprised at his leadership, his competitiveness and everything," Fisher said of Patterson, noting that there have been limited reps in training camp because of the shared facilities, rainout days, etc. Fisher estimated Patterson has only thrown with shoulder pads four days in camp.
"He's done everything we've asked of him."
There are two other players from Michigan colleges who were on the roster as of Wednesday (the final rosters were due Thursday). They included Eastern Michigan linebacker Terry Myrick ("He's gonna be a really good member of our special teams group," Fisher said) and Grand Valley State defensive tackle Kyshonn Tyson ("You'll see a lot of him," Fisher said).
A third player from Michigan, former Michigan State linebacker Taiwan Jones, decided against playing in the league, and instead is focusing on an upstart business venture. He was taken in the 21st round of the USFL draft. Fisher applauded Jones' decision to do what his heart desires. "I was really impressed with his decision," Fisher said.
Fisher, whose seven-person coaching staff includes former Saginaw Valley State assistant Jeff Imamura coaching special teams and defensive backs, said it's tough to evaluate his team compared to the others in the league, because the draft was a position draft, so every team pretty much got the players it wanted.
As for the rules of the league, it's an NFL model, with some exceptions — for instance, teams can go for one, two or three points after a touchdown. And, to answer the most-burning question, yes, you will be able to bet on the USFL, which could be the prime reason why this league has a better of chance of succeeding than spring leagues before it, given the rapid rise in legalized sports betting across the country in recent years.
Off the field, there is one thing to keep an eye on — a pending lawsuit filed by some of the old owners of the 1980s USFL, which is objecting to the 2020s version using its team names and logos, including that of the Panthers, who played in the USFL from 1983-84 out of the Silverdome, were owned by the late A. Alfred Taubman, and won the league's inaugural championship. The new USFL has made the case the old team names and logos were so long dormant, they are fair game; it has acquired all trademarks. The lawsuit was filed in March, and there's a hearing Monday. The league begins play two days earlier. That there was no preliminary injunction ordered would seem to signal good news for the new USFL.
"It didn't come out of the blue," Fisher said of his opportunity to coach again (after serving as an adviser at Tennessee State in 2021). "I've entertained a lot of different options over the last four, five years, and this one, from a timing standpoint, ended up being just perfect.
"This isn't about me. It's about the league and it's about our team."
It's about spring football, which is back, yet again.
Meet the Michigan Panthers
— Head coach: Jeff Fisher
— Assistant coaches: Eric Marty (offensive coordinator), Daniel Carrel (defensive coordinator), Jeff Imamura (special teams/defensive backs), Neil Callaway (offensive line), Kwahn Drake (defensive line), Tony Brown (defensive line), Mark Stewart (running backs)
— Schedule: April 17 vs. Houston (noon, NBC); April 22 vs. New Jersey (8, USA); May 1 vs. Pittsburgh (2:30, USA); May 6-8 vs. Philadelphia (TBA); May 13-15 vs. Tampa Bay (TBA); May 21 vs. Birmingham (1, NBC); May 28-29 vs. New Orleans (TBA); June 3-5 vs. Philadelphia (TBA); June 11-12 vs. New Jersey (TBA); June 18-19 vs. Pittsburgh (TBA)
