Jeff Fisher OUT as Titans HC
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, Jeff Fisher parting ways
By Don Banks, SI.com
In an unexpected development in what already has been a turbulent offseason in Tennessee, the Titans and Jeff Fisher, the NFL's longest-tenured head coach, are preparing to part ways, SI.com learned Thursday afternoon.
According to an NFL source close to the situation in Tennessee, the move could be announced as early as Friday, although it's uncertain if Fisher's departure will be termed a firing, a resignation or a mutual parting of ways.
Though information about Fisher's situation was scarce Thursday, it was confirmed by a league source that he will not return to coach the team in 2011, contrary to what was previously expected. Fisher was said to be in the process of negotiating the terms of his departure with Titans owner Bud Adams.
According to a league source, only Adams, Fisher, Titans general manager Mike Reinfeldt and team general counsel Steve Underwood were aware of the finer details of Fisher's imminent departure early Thursday evening. Members of the Titans front office could not be reached for comment Thursday, but SI.com was in contact with a member of the Titans public relations staff, who could not confirm the news.
Fisher has been on the job with the Houston/Tennessee organization since being named interim head coach late in the 1994 season, and he was expected to return for a 17th season full season this year. But Fisher's future with the team was considered somewhat tenuous given that he was entering the final year of his contract, and Adams did not decide to retain him until Jan. 7, five days after Tennessee closed out a disappointing 6-10 season -- the Titans' worst since 2005.
In choosing to keep Fisher and release fifth-year starting quarterback Vince Young, Adams had seemingly settled the protracted stand-off that had existed between Fisher and Young since late November, when the two had a very heated argument in the Titans' post-game locker room following a home loss to Washington.
While it's not known what prompted the change regarding Fisher's status in Tennessee, league sources say Fisher was not happy to lose a pair of his longtime defensive coaches last week. Fisher fired defensive coordinator Chuck Cecil, one of his closest friends, and saw well-respected Titans defensive line coach Jim Washburn accept a similar position on Andy Reid's staff in Philadelphia. Given that he just one year of security to offer any potential coaching replacements, it was thought that Fisher's task of filling those roles would be difficult.
The Titans started promisingly in 2010, going 5-2 and fielding the league's second-highest scoring offense behind the Patriots through seven weeks of the regular season. But Tennessee lost eight of its final nine games, suffered through the Young-Fisher controversy, and endured the news that offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger was diagnosed with cancer.
The Titans missed the playoffs in each of Fisher's last two seasons, going 8-8 in 2009 after an 0-6 start. Tennessee's last playoff trip came in 2008, but the No. 1 seeded Titans wasted their 13-3 regular season when they lost at home to No. 6-seeded Baltimore in the AFC divisional round. Tennessee is the only team in the NFL to have a losing streak of at least six games in both of the past two seasons.
Fisher was the NFL's youngest head coach at 36 when he was promoted from Oilers defensive coordinator to interim head coach in mid-November 1994, replacing the fired Jack Pardee. He was named the franchise's full time head coach in early January 1995, and went 142-120 (.542) in his 16-plus regular seasons with the Oilers/Titans. But Fisher was just 5-6 in the playoffs, with one Super Bowl trip (1999), four division titles and six postseason berths over that span. Three of Fisher's five postseason wins came during Tennessee's 1999 Super Bowl run -- they lost that game to St. Louis, 23-16 -- and the Titans have not won a playoff game since winning at Baltimore in the first round of the 2003 postseason.
While speculation swirled around the Fisher and Young drama earlier this offseason, Fisher repeatedly said he hoped to finish his coaching career in Tennessee. Fisher, who will be 53 late next month, was under contract for $6.5 million in 2011, and had been in his job more than four full seasons longer than the NFL's next most-tenured head coach, Philadelphia's Andy Reid.
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By Don Banks, SI.com
In an unexpected development in what already has been a turbulent offseason in Tennessee, the Titans and Jeff Fisher, the NFL's longest-tenured head coach, are preparing to part ways, SI.com learned Thursday afternoon.
According to an NFL source close to the situation in Tennessee, the move could be announced as early as Friday, although it's uncertain if Fisher's departure will be termed a firing, a resignation or a mutual parting of ways.
Though information about Fisher's situation was scarce Thursday, it was confirmed by a league source that he will not return to coach the team in 2011, contrary to what was previously expected. Fisher was said to be in the process of negotiating the terms of his departure with Titans owner Bud Adams.
According to a league source, only Adams, Fisher, Titans general manager Mike Reinfeldt and team general counsel Steve Underwood were aware of the finer details of Fisher's imminent departure early Thursday evening. Members of the Titans front office could not be reached for comment Thursday, but SI.com was in contact with a member of the Titans public relations staff, who could not confirm the news.
Fisher has been on the job with the Houston/Tennessee organization since being named interim head coach late in the 1994 season, and he was expected to return for a 17th season full season this year. But Fisher's future with the team was considered somewhat tenuous given that he was entering the final year of his contract, and Adams did not decide to retain him until Jan. 7, five days after Tennessee closed out a disappointing 6-10 season -- the Titans' worst since 2005.
In choosing to keep Fisher and release fifth-year starting quarterback Vince Young, Adams had seemingly settled the protracted stand-off that had existed between Fisher and Young since late November, when the two had a very heated argument in the Titans' post-game locker room following a home loss to Washington.
While it's not known what prompted the change regarding Fisher's status in Tennessee, league sources say Fisher was not happy to lose a pair of his longtime defensive coaches last week. Fisher fired defensive coordinator Chuck Cecil, one of his closest friends, and saw well-respected Titans defensive line coach Jim Washburn accept a similar position on Andy Reid's staff in Philadelphia. Given that he just one year of security to offer any potential coaching replacements, it was thought that Fisher's task of filling those roles would be difficult.
The Titans started promisingly in 2010, going 5-2 and fielding the league's second-highest scoring offense behind the Patriots through seven weeks of the regular season. But Tennessee lost eight of its final nine games, suffered through the Young-Fisher controversy, and endured the news that offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger was diagnosed with cancer.
The Titans missed the playoffs in each of Fisher's last two seasons, going 8-8 in 2009 after an 0-6 start. Tennessee's last playoff trip came in 2008, but the No. 1 seeded Titans wasted their 13-3 regular season when they lost at home to No. 6-seeded Baltimore in the AFC divisional round. Tennessee is the only team in the NFL to have a losing streak of at least six games in both of the past two seasons.
Fisher was the NFL's youngest head coach at 36 when he was promoted from Oilers defensive coordinator to interim head coach in mid-November 1994, replacing the fired Jack Pardee. He was named the franchise's full time head coach in early January 1995, and went 142-120 (.542) in his 16-plus regular seasons with the Oilers/Titans. But Fisher was just 5-6 in the playoffs, with one Super Bowl trip (1999), four division titles and six postseason berths over that span. Three of Fisher's five postseason wins came during Tennessee's 1999 Super Bowl run -- they lost that game to St. Louis, 23-16 -- and the Titans have not won a playoff game since winning at Baltimore in the first round of the 2003 postseason.
While speculation swirled around the Fisher and Young drama earlier this offseason, Fisher repeatedly said he hoped to finish his coaching career in Tennessee. Fisher, who will be 53 late next month, was under contract for $6.5 million in 2011, and had been in his job more than four full seasons longer than the NFL's next most-tenured head coach, Philadelphia's Andy Reid.
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Bud Adams did not deserve Fisher anyway. Fisher will move on and the Titains will continue to fail due to a micro managing owner.
Good Luck Coach Fisher.
:sadwave: Titains
Good Luck Coach Fisher.
:sadwave: Titains
- Mar 19, 2006
- 38,148
- 340
- 83
- 73
and unfortunately we now have no Head Coach, Def Coor, QB and our Off Coor is having chemo for cancer...can you say DISARRAY:shrug:
will miss Jeff, you question and pull your hair out during games but will not find a better players coach, better with the media, influential in the NFL, and is the ONLY Coach the Titans have ever had!
will miss Jeff, you question and pull your hair out during games but will not find a better players coach, better with the media, influential in the NFL, and is the ONLY Coach the Titans have ever had!
- Mar 19, 2006
- 38,148
- 340
- 83
- 73
Surprised? Don?t be over Fisher?s departure
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ms-fishertitansbreakup012711&print=1
Surprised? Don?t be over Fisher?s departure
By Michael Silver, Yahoo! Sports 9 hours, 35 minutes ago
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Though Thursday?s divorce between the Tennessee Titans and Jeff Fisher caught most of the NFL world by surprise, people close to the man who just surrendered his title as the NFL?s longest-tenured head coach had been noticing the warning signs of a potential breakup for the past two months.
Even after Titans owner Bud Adams announced nearly three weeks ago that Fisher would return to coach the Titans in 2011 ? two days after the franchise issued a statement saying that quarterback Vince Young(notes), with whom Fisher had feuded, would not return to the team ? an unsettling amount of organizational tension remained.
?After all the dust settled,? a source close to Fisher said Thursday night, ?it was clear that it wasn?t going to work the way anyone thought it would.?
Specifically, Fisher?s contract situation set him up for a potentially nightmarish lame-duck season akin to the 2-14 campaign experienced by John Fox in Carolina in 2010 and Mike Holmgren?s 4-12 swan song with the Seattle Seahawks two years earlier. With just a year remaining on his deal, Fisher was faced with the unwelcome prospect of possibly having to fill three coaching vacancies while offering candidates little in the way of security.
Defensive coordinator Chuck Cecil was fired last week, a day after longtime defensive line coach Jim Washburn left to accept a similar position with the Philadelphia Eagles. Offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger is battling cancer, and it?s uncertain whether he?ll be able to continue in that capacity.
Though Adams said he was keeping Fisher, the franchise?s head coach since he replaced then-Houston Oilers coach Jack Pardee on an interim basis in 1994, the owner didn?t offer a raise or a contract extension ? and the support he offered publicly was far from resounding.
?With what I am paying him,? Adams told the Tennessean, ?I am not going to let him go and pay him a lot of money. I was thinking we could get him and Vince together, but it wasn?t going to work, so I had to stick with Jeff and let Vince go.?
If Adams, 88, was trying to make his coach feel supported, he failed miserably. Then again, given the way the owner reacted after Young disrespected his coach while storming out of the locker room after a November defeat to the Washington Redskins, this was consistent with Adams? recent behavior.
Numerous witnesses were stunned by Young?s outburst, which included his yelling at Fisher: ?I?m not walking out on my teammates. I?m walking out on your [expletive] ass.? Yet Adams, who demanded the Titans draft Young with the third overall pick in 2006 and twice in three seasons forced Fisher to play him ahead of veteran Kerry Collins(notes), all but sided with the quarterback, telling the Tennesseean that he hadn?t given up on Young and that he and Fisher ?are going to have to work together.?
Owner Bud Adams (left) and Jeff Fisher rarely saw eye to eye on the subject of disgruntled quarterback Vince Young.
(Dave Martin/AP Photo)
In the wake of Thursday?s announcement by the team that Fisher is out as coach, shortly after a report by si.com?s Don Banks, it?s unclear whether the franchise might reverse course on Young. It?s believed general manager Mike Reinfeldt would prefer to move on without the fifth-year quarterback, who is due a $4.25 million roster bonus on the 10th day of the 2011 league year. Though that date will likely be delayed because of an expected lockout in early March, Reinfeldt and Fisher?s successor undoubtedly hope to resolve the quarterback situation as quickly as possible. Then again, with Fisher out of the picture, Adams could insist that Young remain with the team and resume his role as the starter.
As of Thursday night the Titans and Fisher had yet to finalize a contract settlement that, according to a foxsports.com report, will likely pay Fisher $8 million. He was due $5.6 million in base salary for 2011, along with a $4 million bonus.
Fisher, who is immensely respected in NFL circles and regarded as one of the league?s top coaches by many prominent front-office executives and owners, will undoubtedly be a hot commodity for the 2012 season. In the meantime, the personable 52-year-old is likely to be sought after by multiple television networks.
On Thursday night Fisher and several family members went to dinner to celebrate the birthday of his daughter Tara, an Auburn University student. A press conference is scheduled at the Titans? facility for noon ET Friday, at which point he, Reinfeldt and Adams are expected to shed further light on Fisher?s departure.
Realistically, however, Adams? earlier statements told Fisher all he needed to know.
Michael Silver covers the NFL for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Mogotxt, Twitter and Facebook. Send Michael a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
Updated 9 hours, 35 minutes ago
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Surprised? Don?t be over Fisher?s departure
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Though Thursday?s divorce between the Tennessee Titans and Jeff Fisher caught most of the NFL world by surprise, people close to the man who just surrendered his title as the NFL?s longest-tenured head coach had been noticing the warning signs of a potential breakup for the past two months.
Even after Titans owner Bud Adams announced nearly three weeks ago that Fisher would return to coach the Titans in 2011 ? two days after the franchise issued a statement saying that quarterback Vince Young(notes), with whom Fisher had feuded, would not return to the team ? an unsettling amount of organizational tension remained.
?After all the dust settled,? a source close to Fisher said Thursday night, ?it was clear that it wasn?t going to work the way anyone thought it would.?
Specifically, Fisher?s contract situation set him up for a potentially nightmarish lame-duck season akin to the 2-14 campaign experienced by John Fox in Carolina in 2010 and Mike Holmgren?s 4-12 swan song with the Seattle Seahawks two years earlier. With just a year remaining on his deal, Fisher was faced with the unwelcome prospect of possibly having to fill three coaching vacancies while offering candidates little in the way of security.
Defensive coordinator Chuck Cecil was fired last week, a day after longtime defensive line coach Jim Washburn left to accept a similar position with the Philadelphia Eagles. Offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger is battling cancer, and it?s uncertain whether he?ll be able to continue in that capacity.
Though Adams said he was keeping Fisher, the franchise?s head coach since he replaced then-Houston Oilers coach Jack Pardee on an interim basis in 1994, the owner didn?t offer a raise or a contract extension ? and the support he offered publicly was far from resounding.
?With what I am paying him,? Adams told the Tennessean, ?I am not going to let him go and pay him a lot of money. I was thinking we could get him and Vince together, but it wasn?t going to work, so I had to stick with Jeff and let Vince go.?
If Adams, 88, was trying to make his coach feel supported, he failed miserably. Then again, given the way the owner reacted after Young disrespected his coach while storming out of the locker room after a November defeat to the Washington Redskins, this was consistent with Adams? recent behavior.
Numerous witnesses were stunned by Young?s outburst, which included his yelling at Fisher: ?I?m not walking out on my teammates. I?m walking out on your [expletive] ass.? Yet Adams, who demanded the Titans draft Young with the third overall pick in 2006 and twice in three seasons forced Fisher to play him ahead of veteran Kerry Collins(notes), all but sided with the quarterback, telling the Tennesseean that he hadn?t given up on Young and that he and Fisher ?are going to have to work together.?
(Dave Martin/AP Photo)
In the wake of Thursday?s announcement by the team that Fisher is out as coach, shortly after a report by si.com?s Don Banks, it?s unclear whether the franchise might reverse course on Young. It?s believed general manager Mike Reinfeldt would prefer to move on without the fifth-year quarterback, who is due a $4.25 million roster bonus on the 10th day of the 2011 league year. Though that date will likely be delayed because of an expected lockout in early March, Reinfeldt and Fisher?s successor undoubtedly hope to resolve the quarterback situation as quickly as possible. Then again, with Fisher out of the picture, Adams could insist that Young remain with the team and resume his role as the starter.
As of Thursday night the Titans and Fisher had yet to finalize a contract settlement that, according to a foxsports.com report, will likely pay Fisher $8 million. He was due $5.6 million in base salary for 2011, along with a $4 million bonus.
Fisher, who is immensely respected in NFL circles and regarded as one of the league?s top coaches by many prominent front-office executives and owners, will undoubtedly be a hot commodity for the 2012 season. In the meantime, the personable 52-year-old is likely to be sought after by multiple television networks.
On Thursday night Fisher and several family members went to dinner to celebrate the birthday of his daughter Tara, an Auburn University student. A press conference is scheduled at the Titans? facility for noon ET Friday, at which point he, Reinfeldt and Adams are expected to shed further light on Fisher?s departure.
Realistically, however, Adams? earlier statements told Fisher all he needed to know.
Michael Silver covers the NFL for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Mogotxt, Twitter and Facebook. Send Michael a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
Updated 9 hours, 35 minutes ago
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- Mar 19, 2006
- 38,148
- 340
- 83
- 73
8 million to play golf over the course of the upcoming lockout..
not chump change..he can pay for a few cold ones at the turn..
imagine he will take a talking head job til the dust settles following the lockout and hammering out of what will be a long drawn out new CBA.
silver cloud for him..or is that...
:0071 :0071 :0071
not chump change..he can pay for a few cold ones at the turn..
imagine he will take a talking head job til the dust settles following the lockout and hammering out of what will be a long drawn out new CBA.
silver cloud for him..or is that...
:0071 :0071 :0071
love him.....it`s actually good for him,imo...he must have numerous options.....
have fun,coach...
have fun,coach...