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AFM Magazine

AFM Magazine


NFL Coach of the Year Runners-up

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Jeff Fisher
Tennessee Titans
13-3 regular season record
AFM Champions

When the boxes were finally unpacked, and Jeff Fisher had settled into his new office at the Titans' new Adelphia Coliseum complex, he knew he and his team were finally home.

No longer were the Titans the vagabonds of the NFL, moving from Houston to Memphis to the campus of Vanderbilt University during the course of three consecutive 8-8 seasons. Rid of the distractions of sharing gameday lockers and facilities, the team could now devote its full attention to the task of winning football games.

And win football games they did, finishing 1999 with twice as many total victories (16) than in each of the past three seasons and an unexpected trip to the franchise's first Super Bowl.

Fisher, 42, who was mentored by Buddy Ryan, first as a player with the Bears in the mid '80s and then as Ryan's defensive coordinator in Philadelphia at the tender age of 30, brought toughness to the Titans while maintaining his reputation as a coach to which players could relate.

With Fisher at the helm and a bevy of young stars returning, the AFM's road to the Super Bowl may be routed through the city of Nashville for the next few years.


George Seifert
Carolina Panthers
8-8 Regular Season Record

What was George Seifert thinking? Seifert, the man who entered the 1999 season with the highest career-winning percentage among NFL head coaches (.765) in history. Seifert, the man who left the coaching world while still on top of the heap for a more leisurely life of sailing, fishing and relaxation.

"I had two great years off," Seifert said in the November '99 issue of AFM. "I just felt like I had a little more life in me."

Seifert's decision seemed less and less puzzling as last season wore on. The Panthers recovered from a slow start and won three of their last four games to finish 8-8 and miss out on a playoff berth by just a few tiebreaker points. What's more, Seifert helped oversee one of best stories in the NFL last year as 13-year veteran Steve Beuerlein turned in a surprising Pro Bowl performance.

When it was all said and done, Seifert's return to the sidelines proved to be wildly successful. No, Carolina did not provide the coach with his third Super Bowl ring, but its four-game turnaround, with virtually the same cast of players, brought a satisfaction all of its own for Seifert.


Bill Parcells
New York Jets
8-8 Regular Season Record

Way back in August, the 1999 season was being billed as a return to Super Bowl glory for the Jets, who were 30 years removed from their historic SB III win over the Colts. It seemed that, just three seasons after Bill Parcells inherited a 1-15 team, the Jets' transformation from chumps to champs was almost complete. They were 12-4 the year before - and one win away from the Super Bowl - and figured to only be better in 1999.

What wasn't expected was QB Vinny Testaverde's season-ending Achilles injury in game one. Nor were the rash of injuries that followed and the bitterly disappointing 1-6 start.

But when the season seemed lost, and hopes for the postseason were gone, Parcells demonstrated one last bit of coaching magic before his career ended. He rallied the troops, and the once nightmarish season ended on a bright note, with the team winning six of their last eight to finish a respectable 8-8.

When all was said and done, the biggest disappointment for Jets fans last season might have been Parcells' retirement and his decision to not return for just one more year and a final run at a fourth Super Bowl coaching appearance.

Jim Mora
Indianapolis Colts
13-3 regular season record
AFM East Champions

There were many who howled their disapproval when the Colts hired Jim Mora to be their new head coach following the 1997 season. Mora was fresh off a meltdown in New Orleans that saw him leave the Saints midway through the '96 season with a 2-6 record. Many thought the young, upstart Colts should instead be complemented by a young, upstart head coach, not the 63-year-old, sometimes grumpy, Mora.

Year one in Indy had the critics feeling vindicated as the Colts struggled to a 3-13 record. Young stars Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison sparked great optimism for the Colts' future, but no one predicted a 13-3 season in '99. And who could have imagined that Edgerrin James would so quickly develop into one of the league's premier running backs.

What Mora was able to do was manage and groom the considerable young talent that he had, continue to squeeze life out of veterans like Cornelius Bennett and Jay Leeuwenburg, and meld it all together into one cohesive, winning package.

As it turns out, Mora was just what the doctor ordered.






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