Apparently someone is hinting that it’s time to rev up the Jeff Fisher Bears rumor mill and they need to stop that right now. It isn’t a secret by this point that head coach John Fox is on the hot seat. After seasons of 5-11 and 3-13, that’s going to happen. The guy is 62-years old and many wonder if he’s mentally and physically equipped to see this rebuild through.
Hence why many are already looking towards 2018 for possible replacements. Several names have already been placed on the list. Michigan head coach John Harbaugh, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and Saints head coach Sean Payton are the most popular names. Well Matt Miller of Bleacher Report believes another should be added.
Jeff Fisher Bears reunion after three plus decades?
It’s his belief that if Fox is gone, either former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops or former Rams head coach Fisher should be considered prime candidates. His reasoning for why? Obvious, and a little weak to be honest.
“There was plenty of speculation that Stoops would be in line for a job with the Chicago Bears if John Fox is gone after this season. That wouldn’t surprise me, but I’d also keep this name in mind: Jeff Fisher.
Fisher played for the Bears and spent one season there as a coaching assistant in 1985. It’s too soon to say Fox is done after only two seasons on the job, but if he’s out, these are two names I expect to be linked to that job.”
There are just so many things wrong with that prediction that it would be too difficult to lay them all out. So the next best thing is to run through the most obvious problems. Starting with this simple fact that got so summarily ignored.
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He’s no different from Fox
Fisher is going to be 60-years old in 2018. So in essence the Bears would just be getting a slightly younger version of Fox. Think about it. Two older head coaches who’d already run two franchise before landing in Chicago. Both have defensive backgrounds. If anything one could argue the Bears would be trading for the poor man’s version of Fox.
He was never really that good
There is one fact that is impossible to ignore regarding Fisher as a head coach. He may have a strong reputation among the NFL higher-ups, but he has never really been a man known for results. Thus far he’s coached 22 years in pro football. In all that time, he made the playoffs a total of six times. Six. Not only that but his record in the postseason was 5-6 and he failed to post a winning record over his previous seven season. Oh and no rings either. Feeling the hype yet?
His track record protecting his QBs is bad
To be fair, Fisher actually has a solid reputation when it comes to developing quarterbacks. Steve McNair was a three-time Pro Bowler and MVP for him in Tennessee. He even got two Pro Bowls out of Vince Young. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was Fisher had a hard time keeping his guys protected. McNair was hit a lot during his years as starter, resulting in 18 missed games when the two were together. Young missed his fair share as well. Jared Goff was sacked 26 times in just seven appearances during his lone stint with Fisher.
It’s time for the Bears to stop living in the past. They tried that with Marc Trestman. They’ve tried it with John Fox. There is zero reason to think Jeff Fisher will suddenly figure things out and learn how to be a Super Bowl-winning head coach. He had over two decades. Way longer than other head coaches ever got. It’s high time this franchise looked to the future.
