On the final day of training camp, the Scene caught up with Jeff Fisher in his MetroCenter office. Over the course of the interview, the Titans’ coach talked about everything from his outlook for the upcoming season to his philosophy of coaching.

SCENE: Coach, how would you assess your team’s overall progress in training camp so far?

FISHER: We believe we have a better team at this point in camp than we did last year. We’re healthy, which is always an important factor at this point. We have played some preseason games and played very hard. We’re not executing like we would be ordinarily during the regular season, but there’s still time to do that.

SCENE: What players or areas would you say have been the biggest pleasant surprises?

FISHER: Every year, there’s change. You go through personnel changes because of free agency and drafts and so forth. So the change itself becomes a surprise. Sometimes it’s pleasant, and sometimes it’s unpleasant.

We’ve been impressed, by and large, by the group of young players we have who are draft choices—which, fortunately, has been the case every year—and also the undrafted free agents who have come in and shown they have the potential to play at this level. Our defense is returning and improving, and should be better than last year. The receiver position is much improved, just probably because we’re healthy. We feel our kicking game has improved as well.

SCENE: Is the secondary a concern at all because you’re replacing two starters?

FISHER: No, it’s not a concern. We anticipated it. We’re always planning ahead. We would very much like to have been able to keep Denard Walker, but because of salary cap considerations we were unable to do that. But we have a very competitive situation going on as we speak for that spot. DeRon Jenkins, Michael Booker, Dainon Sidney, Donald Mitchell—and, at some point in the future, an injured Andre Dyson—we’ll be able to draw from that group and put a starter in there. So we’re not so concerned about that. As a whole, we’ve got a good mixture of experience and youth in the secondary. Anytime you have a competitive situation you can improve, and that’s what we’ve got.

SCENE: Now that you’ve established the Titans as one of the premier teams in football, do you look upon any season that you don’t reach the Super Bowl as a disappointment?

FISHER: Obviously, that is the ultimate goal. The goal in all sports is to be the best and win the championship, whether it’s an individual sport or a team sport. We feel like we have assembled a very competitive team, a team that has potential to do just that—although we don’t talk about those kinds of things at this time of year. It’s not something I think the players can comprehend. I can’t think about next January and the Super Bowl. When you do that, you dream. And it’s OK to dream, but when you set goals you have to separate the dream from the goals, and our goal is to get ready for the opener and win games and play hard. But we do feel that we have as good a chance as anybody.

SCENE: How much harder was it to go 13-3 last year as a team that everybody suddenly looked on as a standard-setter in the league than it was the year before, when you were the team that didn’t get a lot of respect until the end?

FISHER: You know, first off, we understand this when we talk about the past: You can’t change the past. What we always try to do is look ahead to the future. But after the Super Bowl year, everybody’s out to get you, and I think one of the impressive things we did last year was have the best record in the NFL in light of that. That just implies that you line up and play hard every week, and you don’t worry about who you’re playing or where you’re playing; you just play, go out and win. So I thought that was an impressive feat for this club last year. But, again, everybody’s undefeated right now. We have a long, hard road ahead of us, and this year we do have a first-place schedule—probably a more challenging schedule than we ended up having last year.

SCENE: You coached an 8-8 team that, with a few more points in a few more games here and there, could have been a 12-win team and in the playoffs; and you’ve coached two 13-win teams that, take away a few points here and there, could have been 8-8. What’s the difference in this league, mentally and physically, between the playoffs and mediocrity?

FISHER: There’s a fine line between winning and losing now. Most games are going to come down to the difference in preparation, the difference in staying healthy, and the difference in having depth at positions and having people ready to play in case there are injuries. I think our team knows how to win now, and they expect to win, and no one panics. We try to go out and play and not look at the scoreboard; just play hard and let things take care of themselves. If there’s 10 seconds left in the game and we have the ball, we feel like we still have a chance to win. That’s the difference in making those plays at the end and not making those plays.

You also have to teach your team how to win in those situations, and we’ve done that. To give you an example, last year in the first four games, our team—our offense and our defense combined—was involved in 14 two-minute drives. We were 3-1 at the end of those four games, and they all came down to the last play.

SCENE: You could easily have been 1-3.

FISHER: And that’s the importance of understanding how to win at the end. That’s what we’ve been able to do. You don’t see a sense of panic. I believe there are teams that will panic. Back in ‘95 and ‘96, this team used to expect something bad to happen, and it took a period of time where we got rid of that mind-set. It was kind of like, “Oh, here we go again.” But now the expectation is that this game may come down to the end, and if it does, we have to know how to use our timeouts, what to expect from our opponent, and how to make the plays to give ourselves a chance to win.

SCENE: You play so many close games, do you prefer to play a game, just as you described, that prepares your team to win in the end, or a game where you might have a blowout and get to rest your starters a little bit?

FISHER: No, you would prefer to win with comfort. You prefer to win convincingly. But it doesn’t happen anymore in this league. It rarely happens anymore.

SCENE: On or off the field, what are you proudest of accomplishing since you took over this team?

FISHER: I’d say I’m probably most proud of the chemistry we have here, and of the new reputation of this club. Three or four years ago we were floundering around and didn’t have a home or an identity. We do now have an identity—or at least a reputation—that no one’s going to play harder than us. Every team that lines up against us knows they’re going to be in for a 60-minute fight. There’s a lot to be said for that.

You start off with expectations, and when they come true, it quickly becomes a tradition. We’ve almost established a tradition here. We can now challenge our younger players. For example, I can challenge this year’s rookie class that they have to outdo last year’s rookie class, or the last three rookie classes, because we have three consecutive rookie classes that have never lost to Pittsburgh or have never lost to Cincinnati, and so on. We can now say, “We’ve had the best record in the division, we’ve had the best record in football. This is what it takes to maintain that. Now let’s go out and do it.” So we’ve established a standard. Probably that’s the most impressive thing.

SCENE: How do you coach a team to play hard every game?

FISHER: First off, your veteran players have to buy into it—and they have—and they have to expect that everyone around them is going to do the same thing. I think probably most important is there has to be a sense of trust on the team. I have to be able to trust the players that they’re going to play hard. They have to be able to trust us that we’re going to put them in the right positions. And we have to trust one another. I have to believe that the guy next to me is going to play hard every down. There’s a commitment that’s made every time you leave the locker room that you’re going to play as hard as you possibly can.

SCENE: You set a record for most consecutive wins to open a new stadium. How much did that give your guys a feeling of invincibility before the Baltimore game—and does losing that game and then the playoff game mean you have just a little bit less of a psychological edge than you had before?

FISHER: No, because I think both games were very close and could have turned out differently for us. There’s a feeling in our locker room that Adelphia is a very tough place to play—number one, because of our fans, and secondly, because of the way we play. The confidence of this football team is not lessened whatsoever because of the loss. Those streaks only last so long. Playing at home doesn’t guarantee you a win. It gives you the chance to win. The difference is you have to go out and execute and find a way to win the ball game.

SCENE: Will there be any different style or approach on defense this year with Jim Schwartz as the new coordinator?

FISHER: This is the Titan defense. It changes subtly every year, but there’ll be nothing dramatic. As the game changes, there are trends you have to try to stay up with and you have to adjust, but we’re fortunate that we’re one of the few clubs in the league that has been working from the same defensive system for this many years. Pittsburgh is really one of the only other ones. We have veterans who have been playing this defense for a number of years. Blaine Bishop, for example, has been playing this same system ever since he came to us as a rookie. That says a lot for him. He doesn’t have to learn a new system.

SCENE: Will fans be able to notice anything particular that’s different on the field this year?

FISHER: I’d like for them to notice that we play harder this year than we did last year. As far as changes, we’d all like to score more touchdowns than field goals. But sometimes you play a tough defensive team, and that’s not possible. But I think you can improve your effort level. You can improve your discipline, and you can improve the number of big plays you make on offense, and minimize big plays defensively.

SCENE: The one area where we sometimes hear fans say they’d like the team to improve is the downfield passing game. Is that an inaccurate perception, given how much you like to wear down defenses with Eddie George? Or will the medium and longer passing game be more of a priority?

FISHER: Well, everybody likes to make bigger plays down the field, and to make bigger chunks of yards more often. Sometimes that’s not possible. You have to do whatever it takes to win. You have to take advantage of what is afforded by opposing defenses. Last year we made more plays down the field than we did in the Super Bowl year.

There’s a misconception about plays down the field. People like to see you throw the ball deep. You don’t necessarily have to throw the ball deep to make big plays. You can run after the catch. You can make somebody miss and go 40 or 50 yards for a touchdown. Those are big plays as well. In the Super Bowl several years ago, Denver’s longest or biggest play was 38 yards on a pass. So they weren’t necessarily throwing deep balls, but they were making people miss. We need to make big plays—not deep plays, but big plays. We need to make people miss more, strike from outside the 20-yard line, because the closer you get to the goal line, the harder it is to score.

SCENE: You’re the fourth-youngest coach since 1960 to win 50 regular-season games. You’re often described as one of the brightest young coaches in the league. How does that make you feel when you hear that? Does all the praise ever become a hindrance or distraction?

FISHER: I don’t pay much attention to it. As long as I’ve been the coach here, I’ve not thrown a ball or caught a ball or kicked one or made a tackle. The players do all those things. The credit goes to the players. They’re the ones who put the time in on the practice field. They’re the ones who are making the plays or not making the plays. So they ultimately deserve the credit. It’s our job as a coaching staff to put them in a position to do that. To me, everything else that’s discussed is insignificant.

My personal goals as the head coach come way below the team goals. I would like nothing more than to go to the Super Bowl and win the championship, for two reasons. Number one: The owner deserves it. And secondly, players like Bruce Matthews, Eddie George, and Steve McNair deserve an opportunity to win a championship. As long as you keep those priorities in order, you have a chance to do it. I’m not doing it for my own self-interest. My job is to create a situation where our players can be successful.

SCENE: What would you say is the most important thing you’ve learned along the way that helped you be a successful head coach?

FISHER: There’s no question nowadays it’s your ability to communicate with your players. And oftentimes you don’t have to say anything. I think communication at this level is widely misunderstood. Your players need to know what you’re thinking and what your expectations are—on the practice field, on Sunday, during the off-season. Athletes are different now. They’ve changed. Communication is the only thing that enables you not only to win games but to overcome tough losses. To work your way out of difficult situations during the season. To avoid distractions.

SCENE: The other day on the HBO series Hard Knocks, one of the Ravens was contemplating whether to quit, and he was going to pray about it overnight, and he came back the next day and decided he wasn’t going to stay with the team. Brian Billick said, “I guess God must be a Titans fan too.” Sometimes it sounds like he’s a little bit preoccupied with your team.

FISHER: Well, I can’t speak for Coach Billick or how he handles his club. I’m really not interested in what his philosophy is. Obviously, his philosophy was very sound last year—they won the world championship. I would doubt that he’s preoccupied with us. He’s playing 14 other teams and us twice.

I have not watched Hard Knocks and have no interest in watching. I’m not interested in what goes on in his organization because I’m more interested in what goes on here. Nor would I have any interest in allowing my doors to be open to a production like that. I personally feel that is an invasion of privacy. What we do here is our own business. I personally feel that the decision by a young player as to whether he quits or not is his decision, and those kinds of things should be kept in-house.

SCENE: With the intensity of the rivalry that is developing, are you ever concerned that your team may become too preoccupied with Baltimore?

FISHER: No. The year before we went to the Super Bowl, we weren’t really preoccupied with anybody but ourselves. The challenge was Jacksonville because they had the best record in the division. But I think you risk losing focus if you become too preoccupied with someone. We don’t play Baltimore till October, so why be concerned with what Baltimore is doing right now? I’m more concerned about playing the Dolphins, because that’s who we open with.