Former Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher will have the opportunity to control a new football franchise, as he was named the coach and general manager of the Michigan Panthers in the United States Football League (USFL).
Fisher coached in the NFL for more than two decades for multiple teams. He made six playoff appearances, losing Super Bowl 34 as the leader of the Titans. Most recently, Fisher served as an advisor to Eddie George at Tennessee State for the 2021 season.
Ready for the hunt 🐾 We got our man. pic.twitter.com/lNGlAV3Xna
— Michigan Panthers (@USFLPanthers) January 27, 2022
The Panthers are one of eight teams playing in the new league that will launch on April 16 and stream on Fox and NBC.
In addition to Fisher, Larry Fedora, who previously coached at the University of North Carolina, will lead the New Orleans Breakers.
The duo is the final two coaches in the league to be named: Skip Holtz (Birmingham Stallions), Kirby Wilson (Pittsburgh Maulers), Mike Riley (New Jersey Generals), Todd Haley (Tampa Bay Bandits), Kevin Sumlin (Houston Gamblers), and Bart Andrus (Philadelphia Stars).
Each team will play their games in the inaugural season at either Protective Stadium or Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. They compete in a 10-game regular season.
Players will be selected during a meeting on February 22-23, and training camps will open March 21.
The USFL is a reboot of the league that launched in the 1980s, aimed to rival the National Football League. However, the league could not impact the NFL, collapsing shortly after it was formed.
Similar leagues have attempted to challenge the football powerhouse, but all have been unsuccessful. For example, the XFL, owned by WWE CEO/president Vince McMahon and Alpha Entertainment, shut down after play was stopped during the coronavirus pandemic. The Alliance of American Football did not make it through their inaugural season.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Jeff Fisher” by Michigan Panthers.
