Jeff Fisher’s Perspective on the Annual NFL Head Coaches Picture That Always Goes Viral

Recurring guest and former NFL head coach Jeff Fisher stopped by the Pardon My Take studio earlier this week and appeared on today’s episode. Fisher, a good friend of Mr. Cat and Mr. Commenter, discussed Hank’s odds of catching a fish with his bare hands, the NFL coaching carousel (which Fisher could be involved in this offseason), and a handful of other topics.

However, one of Mr. Cat’s questions really stuck out. Every spring a picture of all 32 NFL head coaches seems to pop up on our social media feeds. What’s the story behind this annual photograph? Mr. Cat, Mr. Commenter, and Fisher give it a closer look:

Mr. Cat: I’ve always wondered this. The time when all the coaches get together in the league meetings, it’s like sometime in April or March, you’re out in Florida or Arizona, you guys all get a picture together. What is that picture like?

Jeff Fisher: Well, it’s ever-changing, as you would imagine. I took it for 20 years and I have every single one of them.

Mr. Commenter: Are they on your wall?

Jeff Fisher: They are not on my wall, no. I don’t really have anything on my walls.

Mr. Commenter: That’s a perfect coach thing right there. You just have them like on the ground, leaning there.

Jeff Fisher: I’ve got some cool Masters flags signed by Masters winners on the ground right now ready to go up, if there’s anything I collect, it’s that. But it was really cool. I mean, you know, way back when the head coaches in this league were Marty Schottenheimer and Dan Reeves, and then when I left, there were just a few left. 

Mr. Cat: Right. But when you have that conversation, was there ever like, who gets to sit where Alpha? Like, oh, I get this seat, or I get to stand here.

Jeff Fisher: No, it’s usually hey guys, who are we missing, who’s not here? Well, he’s not at the meetings, so we only have 31. OK, we’ve got 30. And then for years it was, does anybody know where Gruden is? 

Mr. Commenter: Go check the closest Hooters.

Jeff Fisher: Where’s the mirror? He’s always in front of a mirror.

Mr. Cat: And they put you in front of the sun every time, so you guys look terrible.

Jeff Fisher: You can’t wear glasses, we’re supposed to tee off in 20 minutes, let’s go!

Mr. Commenter: Was there a gentlemen’s agreement that only Andy Reid would get to wear a Hawaiian shirt?

Jeff Fisher: Hawaiian shirt and shorts.

This setting just seems like such an interesting psychological experiment. All season long, these 32 guys are basically plotting against each other to give their respective team the best chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy on Super Bowl Sunday. But it’s kind of hard to have animosity in a setting like this. The offseason is typically fresh, you’re in a warm climate, and it’s probably cool to just kick back and shoot the shit with these coaches while helping each other read a birdie putt or two. It’s just an interesting still picture to look at. Pretty much every time we’ve seen these guys on our screens it’s of them pacing the sidelines, wearing a headset, and team gear. Seeing each of them in Hawaiian shirts shoulder to shoulder will always be an interesting scene.