The latest spring football experiment will involve a few former NFL coaches. The United States Football League’s second effort will feature former Titans and Rams HC Jeff Fisher as one of its coaches.
Fisher, 63, will coach the Michigan Panthers in the rebooting league, which is set to begin play April 16. Fisher has not coached since the Rams fired him late in the 2016 season.
Fisher was also linked to a job with the second XFL iteration but did not end up coaching in that 2020 winter/spring effort. The veteran sideline leader coached the Oilers and Titans for 17 seasons and lasted five years with the Rams, steering two franchises that ended up relocating. The Titans made the playoffs six times under Fisher, but the Rams did not rebound from their lengthy swoon during his time in St. Louis and Los Angeles. The former AFC champion HC is the NFL’s 12th-winningest coach, with 173 wins.
Former Chiefs HC Todd Haley, ex-Chargers HC Mike Riley and longtime NFL assistant Kirby Wilson will also be head coaches in this eight-team league. This USFL will play all its games at multiple sites in Birmingham, Ala.
lol
Well they’re only playing 10 games, so is 4-6 the equivalent of 7-9?
I thought 8/8 was Jeff Fisher day. We need consensus, is it 7/9 or 8/8?
7/9
That’s some 7-9 bullish!t
The football equivalent of 90s pop artist playing in Atlantic City.
Between Carolina, Florida, the University of Pittsburgh…no one trademarked Panthers?
It’s the open source sports team name?
Also, the Michigan Panthers play in Birmingham AL?
This is a garage league.
Maybe they can’t trademark or just don’t care too. It not the first name to have different teams called the same
Most examples of that (Cardinals, Giants, etc.) are so old it was before people understood how to make money in sports.
The owner of the Vegas Golden Knights wanted them to be the Black Knights but the Army had a trademark and blocked them. The Army has trademarks but NFL and NHL teams don’t? Just seems weird.
i mean prolly cant just copyright simple words like animals and adjectives.
I don’t think you can trademark something like that. They can trademark ‘Carolina Panthers’ but not simply ‘Panthers’.
Garage league? No. A cheap time filler for FS1 and 2 that might draw comparable national ratings to MLB — if the MLB season starts on time (iffy).
I’m looking forward to the USFL, as I do all the Spring Up-Start Leagues. But this thing where all the games are played in AL, even teams that aren’t in AL is weird.
I guess we know who will end up with the most losses in league history now.
Interesting that there aren’t any former USFL/XFL head coaches returning.
The league would have a better following in Birmingham UK.
So, all teams will be in Birmingham, AL, but represent other locations? Ridiculous. Even Ice Cube’s Big 3 doesn’t do that.