Jeff Fisher no longer with the Tennessee Titans
The NFL is constantly changing. There are very few things that stay constant. Peyton Manning is always going to be a Colt, d**k LeBeau is always going to be with the Steelers and Jeff Fisher is always going to be with the Tennessee
Titans. Or so we thought.
Fisher has been the Coach for the Tennessee Titans for as long as the franchise has existed by that name. He completed 16 full seasons with the Tennessee Titans and was on contract for one more year. There was nothing to suggest
that the Titans were considering letting Fisher go. In fact, Tennessee had shown its unwavering support for Fisher while the Vince Young drama unfolded.
“We will be forever appreciative of Jeff Fisher’s leadership and accomplishments through his time with our franchise,” a statement released by the Titans read. “After the season was complete, we had numerous discussions on the
direction of the team and were pleased that we were moving forward with Jeff at the helm. Since that time, it became evident that consensus was increasingly hard to find and reality wasn’t matching the vision we discussed.”
The statement read that it was unfortunate that the decision to part ways with Fisher had been reached, “but we believe that we have reached the point where change is in the best interest of both parties.”
The Titans will begin their coach hunt tomorrow. They are expected to interview a broad array of candidates for the position. “We are confident the coaching pool still has a number of quality candidates that can lead our football
team,” the statement concluded.
The timing couldn’t have been worse to Fisher. At the peak of the Vince Young saga, when the Titans released Young and decided to keep Fisher, there were at least 3 head coach positions available and Fisher could have been the
ideal candidate. Now when Fisher is leaving Tennessee, none of those positions are open. There are no head coach positions in the NFL at the moment so either Fisher takes a coordinator’s position or look for a college coaching job.
He has been the head coach of an NFL team for 16 seasons and at 52 years of age has many years of coaching left in him. Fisher will continue to be on Tennessee’s payroll since he has a year left on his contract. The contract will
pay Fisher $6.5 million for the 2011 season. Next year, he is likely to be the frontrunner for any coaching position that opens up. Until then, expect to see Fisher as an analyst.
The Titans started the season with 5-3 winning record before their bye week. After the bye, the Titans collapsed to 1-7. Kerry Collins started 7 games for the Titans and lost all but one of them. Rusty Smith started one game and
the Titans were crushed by the Houston Texans 0-20.
In a statement, Fisher thanked owner Bud Adams and the Titans for ’17 special years.’ He also thanked the fans for their support and said that it had been a tremendous experience. “We all did our very best and I think I can look
back with fond memories and be very proud of what we accomplished. I want to wish the organization, the current players and the fans nothing but the best in the future.”
The players themselves were caught off-guard by the decision. “It was definitely unexpected,” linebacker Will Witherspoon said. “I had no thought of it, especially after the events of the past few weeks.” Witherspoon wasn’t the
only one. Rennie Curran said that it was tough as a player to know that the coaches you trust and the system you have been trying to learn is going to change.
A change in head coach could also bring a few changes in the lower coaching staff. The Titans might be a very different team next year. “It's fair to say there's a little disarray and you wonder how it will all come together,”
Witherspoon said. “Now you have to get a head coach and start filling out the other spots from there.”
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