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Jeff Fisher

Jeff Fisher

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2019 — 2021
4W·0L·3P·0 open
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All Takes

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Jeff FisherJeff Fisher

Greg Williams' practice style stunted Sam Darnold's development

The things that Sam [Darnold] sees on the practice field from Gregg Williams will set a quarterback back years. You remember when Sam Darnold said 'I was seeing ghosts'? Well, part of that, that's part of the process, and I'm not blaming it on Gregg, but there needs to be a progression. You can't bring a young quarterback on with all that stuff going on.

Subjective coaching analysis, but widely supported by Darnold's eventual failure with the Jets.
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Jeff FisherJeff Fisher

There is no athlete on defense equivalent to Lamar Jackson

There's never been one like Lamar and you know you can just you can tell I mean the defenses are outnumbered and that's the that's the idea... now you can't even, with Lamar, you can't even spy the dude because there's no athlete on your defense that's equivalent to him.

Lamar Jackson won the 2019 MVP unanimously, validating the idea that defenses had no answer for his athleticism.
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Jeff FisherJeff Fisher

Analytics ruined the Cleveland Browns

You know, the analytic thing is obviously it's trending right now. We saw what it did for the Browns a few years ago. It ruined the organization because that's what they stood behind. But everybody's interested in that. And basically, analytics are all based on past, based on history.

The 'Moneyball' Browns era led to a historically bad record, though it eventually yielded the draft picks that made them competitive again (Garrett, Mayfield).
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Jeff FisherJeff Fisher

The NFL should return to having only one week between the Conference Championships and the Super Bowl

There's only one week between championship game and Super Bowl. Last time [it happened in 1999]. There's always been two weeks. So could you imagine that happening now? I would love it... Why don't they do that? Bring it back to January 30th.

The NFL has considered shortening the gap, but the two-week window is currently the standard for media and recovery purposes.
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Jeff FisherJeff Fisher

Modern NFL executives and coaches don't watch enough game tape

There's no substitute for putting tape or film or video... on and watching a guy play. There's no substitute, and there's not enough good people in the league that are studying tape. I would go on a limb and say there's executives in this league that don't know how to watch tape or would rather not watch tape.

This is a frequent complaint of older coaches against the 'analytic' era. It can't be objectively proven, but it represents a significant divide in NFL philosophy.
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Jeff FisherJeff Fisher

NFL coaches are better suited for college recruiting than people think

Someone that says something along those lines with respect to a – directed towards an NFL guy that's looking at college I think is pretty simple-minded because as NFL guys, we're on college campuses all the time during the spring... the attraction to me with respect to the college game is to be able to go get a young man as he enters the university – before he makes some decisions that affect him later in life.

This is an opinion on coaching philosophy and the effectiveness of NFL backgrounds in college sports.
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Jeff FisherJeff Fisher

Most NFL players suffer from sleep disorders caused by their phone usage

Every player in the National Football League, I say every, but most of them have sleeping disorders. And you go, oh, they got sleep apnea? No, no. They just don't go to sleep early because they're on their phone.

While 'sleep disorders' is a clinical term, the negative impact of blue light and social media on sleep is well-documented in sports science.
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Jeff FisherJeff Fisher

I am ready and willing to return to coaching football in the NFL

I didn't know what my cabin in Montana looked like in September. And so I got an opportunity to do that. But you can only take so many trips to Alaska or Argentina... so I'm good with coaching again.

Fisher did not receive another NFL head coaching or coordinator job, but he did return to coach the Michigan Panthers in the USFL in 2022.
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Jeff FisherJeff Fisher

NFL draft picks cannot be accurately graded until three or four years after they happen

I always like the draft grades that are going to come out on Monday. Teams are going to get A's and B's and C's and D's... but they don't circle back three or four years after. Because that's when you really grade the draft.

Widely accepted logic in sports evaluation.
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Jeff FisherJeff Fisher

Jon Gruden will struggle with the logistical distractions of the Raiders' move to Las Vegas

[Jon Gruden] doesn't have any idea what he's about ready to go through because... they don't know where they're going to play in 2019 right now... there's the first distraction I think associated with their move.

The Raiders' 2019 season was filled with drama (including the Antonio Brown saga) and they played in Oakland one last year before the move, with Gruden's teams failing to make the playoffs that year.
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Jeff FisherJeff Fisher

If attacked by a black bear, you should defend yourself and hope it stops biting you

If an attack is imminent and it's a big bear, a black bear, you're going to defend yourself. ... I would defend myself and hope it would stop biting me. ... I just don't want him to eat me.

Standard wildlife advice for black bears is indeed to fight back (unlike brown/grizzly bears where you play dead).
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Jeff FisherJeff Fisher

Steve Wilks was treated unfairly by the Cardinals and should have been given more than one season

I think it is the fact that a lot of it... I don't like seeing is what happened in Arizona. Because Coach [Steve] Wilks is a good person. And he's a good man. And he needs to be given more opportunity than what he got. One year. Especially when you go into a roster like that.

While a matter of opinion, Wilks' firing after one year is widely considered one of the quickest hooks in modern NFL history.
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Jeff FisherJeff Fisher

The Alliance of American Football (AAF) will be an exciting league because everyone involved loves football

I watched some practices and this is going to be an exciting little deal. And the one thing they all have, everybody in that league has in common is they love football.

The AAF was technically 'exciting' for a short period but famously folded before finishing its first season in April 2019 due to financial collapse.
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Jeff FisherJeff Fisher

Early morning NFL meetings are counterproductive for millennial players who don't sleep

Today's guys don't sleep. And so if you're a young head coach and you're listening to this program, don't start your meetings at six. Start your meetings at nine. ... After having breakfast, you get them up six and get breakfast seven, they're done.

Many modern coaches (e.g., McVay, McDaniel) have moved toward later start times or prioritized sleep health, supporting Fisher's logic.

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