By Mike Kahn
CBS SportsLine Executive Editor
Nov. 26, 1998

Suffice to say Jeff Fisher is a secure man.

Nobody

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could be coaching the Tennessee Oilers, have any kind of success and not be a confident and centered man. Keep in mind, they are playing in Nashville this season, after being in Memphis last year and Houston the year before.

Oh, yeah, and next year, they will be re-named the Tennessee Titans.

"I like it," Fisher said of the new name. "It's important the people of Nashville have an identity for their team."

NOT ONCE DID Fisher bother mentioning the need for an identity for the football team. That's not his style. He has maintained the rugged mentality of a defensive back every year he has coached, from the time he became an assistant in 1986 to 11th game of the 1994 season, when he replaced fired Jack Pardee as head coach and defensive coordinator of the Oilers. That occurred in his first season with the club after just 10 games as the defensive backs coach.

Evidently, he's not shy.

"You can't be in this sport," Fisher said.

So when the Oilers (Titans or whatever you want to call them) come to Seattle this weekend to play the Seahawks, don't believe for a moment they'll be intimidated by the long flight or antagonistic crowd or jet lag. That's not the way Fisher has built the mental fiber of this football team.

"We're road warriors," Fisher said. "That's the only way to describe us. We've had to be that way to survive in this league."

Perhaps that explains the records of 2-4 at home and 4-1 on the road this season. They had won five of six games before falling apart last week against the New York Jets in a 24-3 loss. There wasn't a lot of explanation, and Fisher isn't about to make excuses.

"It amounts to making plays on defense, creating opportunities, getting pressure, tackling receivers, things we just didn't do," Fisher said. "Can you think of a big play on defense? I can't think of a big play. We just didn't make one. We had a good run the (previous) six weeks and we have to get back on another one, period. And we're running out of time."

THERE'S NOT A LOT OF QUESTION THAT HIS heart always has and always will be on defense, although he has the makings of a great offense around young quarterback Steve McNair, running back Eddie George, and wide receivers Yancey Thigpen and Willie Davis (particularly if Thigpen could only stay healthy).

But

Jeff Fisher says he wants to see things through in Tennessee. (Allsport)

it is defense where the Oilers will get in your face. A cornerback in the USC super defensive backfield with Ronnie Lott and Joey Browner, which helped win the national championship for John Robinson in 1978, Fisher was a seventh round pick of the Chicago Bears in 1981. For five years, he was just another tough guy for Buddy Ryan. When an ankle injury and other limitations ended his NFL career in 1985 -- and he just so happened to win a Super Bowl ring -- he stuck with his mentor Ryan.

Ryan's well-publicized ego clash with Bears coach Mike Ditka allowed for Ryan to become coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. Fisher began his coaching career as the defensive backfield coach from 1986-88, then was the defensive coordinator his final two years there with Ryan. And when Ryan left, he joined Robinson for a year on the staff of the Los Angeles Rams, then bounced to San Francisco for a couple of years after Robinson was fired before rejoining Ryan, who was defensive coordinator for the Oilers.

"He's smart and tough," Ryan said of his protégé. "I never had any doubt Jeff would be a good head coach."

Of course, there were plenty of dissenters when Fisher took over for Pardee on that failing team of 1994. The Oilers were 1-9 when he took over and 2-14 when he finished. Since then, he has dealt not only with a talent-problem that has gradually been addressed, but the moving of the franchise annually. Fisher, 40, has coached the Oilers to a 29-30 mark since that interim season, and despite the opportunity to return with his wife to their native Southern California and be the coach at USC, he just couldn't bolt the Oilers.

"I'm a Trojan for life," Fisher said. "I had a great career there. I've got a lot of friends there. However, I'm very happy with what I'm doing now. I want to finish the job I started with the Oilers."

An attitude that could make a Buddy proud.