It was a tough first season for Jeff Fisher and the Michigan Panthers. Despite having the first pick in the 2022 USFL Draft, which they used on quarterback Shea Patterson, the team finished 2-8 on the year.
Thanks to a late rule change, they will actually get the first pick in the 2023 USFL Draft after defeating the 1-9 Pittsburgh Maulers in the final game of the regular season. Still, that’s small comfort given how poorly things went on the year.
Fisher was often mocked for finishing 7-9 or 8-8 in the NFL, something he did seven times with the Tennessee Titans and three times with the St. Louis Rams during his 22 seasons as a head coach there. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to do that in the USFL with a 1o-game schedule, but he ended up finishing far worse instead.
Fisher ended up making more headlines for his headwear and tone-deaf comments about Ron Rivera than anything that happened on the field.
Naturally, NFL and football fans are having some fun with Fisher’s finish. It’s hard to tell if the USFL will actually have a second season given the way it disappeared off the public radar after the first few weeks. But there’s just something about Fisher that makes people want to break out their best 7-9 jokes in situations like these.
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) June 20, 2022
At least it wasn’t 7-9. https://t.co/QsXxSO5sWy
— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) June 20, 2022
well it wasn't 7-9, I guess https://t.co/v01Oy7VyJF
— Josh Rowntree (@JRown32) June 20, 2022
Remember if you're ever feeling unqualified in the job you have, that Jeff Fisher still gets paid to coach pro football https://t.co/QC3rl02B5a
— PodKATT (@valleyshook) June 20, 2022
Disappointing, Coach Fisher had the talent to go 4-5-1 or whatever is the closest to being 7-9. https://t.co/cRfSL76dCn
— Jim Szoke (@jimszoke) June 20, 2022
The USFL should get credit for finishing their first season, something the Alliance and XFL reboot failed to do.
That said, the football was pretty meh. Teams averaged under 21 points per game. In a 10 game season, only 4 QBs had 10 passing TDs on the year with nobody over 14. https://t.co/RJwlHkGQPG
— Ben Koo (@bkoo) June 20, 2022
[PFT]
