Jeff Fisher had no head-coaching experience when he took over the Oilers late in the 1994 season.

This is what it's like to be in a Super Bowl.

Turn back the clock to the start of training camp when Titans owner Bud Adams publicly hinted that some jobs -- notably those of Fisher and general manager Floyd Reese -- would be in jeopardy if the Titans didn't improve on three consecutive 8-8 seasons and make the playoffs.

"He (Adams) never said anything to me, but we expected to do better than last year," said the 41-year-old Fisher, who leads his Titans (16-3) into Super Bowl XXXIV against St. Louis (15-3). "I didn't feel anything more than normal from a pressure standpoint. There was a high level of expectation from our coaches and players this year that we not only expected to get to the playoffs, that we expected to do something in the playoffs."

Fisher, who had not been a head coach on any level when he took over as the then-Houston Oilers' interim coach for the last six games of 1994, seems to be a good fit for the blue-collar Titans. A former defensive back and punt returner from 1981-85 for the Mike Ditka-coached Chicago Bears, he stepped straight out of his shoulder pads and hung a coaching whistle around his neck when he became Buddy Ryan's defensive backs coach at Philadelphia in '86.

Yet he certainly doesn't have Ryan's sharp tongue, and he's not about verbally destroying his players as a motivation process. Fisher also played for John Robinson at Southern Cal and coached one year for him for the then-Los Angeles Rams in '91. He coached for the 49ers for two seasons before becoming the Oilers defensive coordinator in '94.

"The experience I've had with different organizations has contributed to my approach," said Fisher, who's 48-41 with the Titans. "My approach is typically not to be a screamer or a yeller, though I can be. But if I had yelled all the time, even at my own children, they'd never listen to me. When I do get upset, there's a message there.

"I don't believe players make mistakes on purpose. It's our job as coaches to teach players and help them not make mistakes. Coaches have to develop trust in players. Players need to know that we (the coaches) aren't going to ask them something they can't do. If a cornerback who runs a 4.8 in the 40 can't cover a 4.4 receiver, it makes common sense not to ask him to do it."

Fisher's approach has worked. Because of his relatively young age, he has been able to establish a connection with his players who pay him the ultimate compliment by calling him a "player's coach."

"His personality allows you to breathe," offensive tackle Brad Hopkins said of Fisher. "He's not an ogre on the field. He allows you to work. He's adaptable, and he does a really good job of having a pulse from the team. Because he's been in our shoes, because he's suited up before, he can identify physically and mentally with what we do. That's why we give him extra respect."

Fisher was raised in Woodland Hills, Calif., where he starred as a high school All-America receiver. He went to Southern Cal, where he was part of a defensive backfield that included future NFL stars Ronnie Lott, Dennis Smith and Joey Browner, then landed with the Bears as a seventh-round draft pick in 1981.

With Chicago, he played in 49 games and was primarily known for his punt returns. In his last season when the Bears won the Super Bowl, he injured an ankle and began unofficially helping then-Chicago defensive coordinator Ryan coach the defense.

Thus, a career was born.

"I wasn't certain at that point that I was finished playing, and I said that to Buddy when he offered me a job contingent on him becoming head coach in Philadelphia," Fisher said. "Buddy asked me, 'Are you getting married?' I said, 'Yeah, this spring.' He said, 'Why don't you tell your fiancee to throw you a retirement party? You're done. You can't play anymore.' I turned him down at first for the job, then took it after I thought about it."

After going 1-5 as Houston's interim coach in replacing the fired Jack Pardee, Fisher was given the job full-time in January 1995. Late in Fisher's full season as head coach, Adams announced he was moving the franchise to Nashville starting in the 1997 season.

It began a trying odyssey for Fisher, who had to keep his team focused and motivated while they were being uprooted. While the players felt like they were in exile since their home games were sparsely attended their last season in Houston and their first in Tennessee when they played in Memphis in '97, Fisher was running in circles.

But he ran fast enough to coach his players while having input in designing the new $19 million practice complex that opened early this season. All the while, he convinced his players to believe in his plan.

"We could have sat around and moped about the obstacles, and maybe gotten fired," Reese said. "But we did a good job, especially Jeff, of worrying only about the things we could have control over. We had a daily crusade. The mindset was to get through this day and then face the next day when it came."

Fisher kept telling his team to believe in his system -- a ball-control offense and an aggressive "46" alignment on defense that's predicated on speed. All the while, he kept adding talent both sides of the ball with the crowning piece coming this year when rookie sack artist Jevon Kearse turned the league upside down.

"Those 8-8 years had us doubting ourselves at times," wide receiver Isaac Byrd said. "But we saw them add players who could help, we saw the improvement. We believed in coach Fisher, and we believed in his system. Now, it's finally paid off."