jeff fisher to be ousted?

[crispirons]

i read this at a newsblogger and was actually quite stunned. you would think bud would know he has a winner with him and letting him go would be a hugh mistake. great track record, but i guess i've always been partial to ex bear players. heres the article. sort of a long read.

 

This may sound preposterous to anyone who knows anything about the NFL, but this may be Jeff Fisher's last season as the Tennessee Titans' coach.

 

 

 

Sources inside the Titans' organization say there are forces conspiring to get rid of Fisher, the most successful coach in franchise history.

 

Like Nero, owner Bud Adams is fiddling with business in Houston while Rome burns.

 

The last time Adams allowed something like this to happen was Dec. 31, 1980 ó the day Bum Phillips was fired, a day of Houston sports infamy known as the New Year's Eve Massacre.

 

Fisher, who is almost as popular in Nashville as Phillips was in Houston, has two years left on a contract that pays him almost $5 million a year.

 

If Adams fires Fisher or puts him in a position in which he's forced to resign, it'll be a catastrophic mistake.

 

In case Adams hasn't spent enough time in Nashville to understand exactly what losing Fisher would mean to the masses, think pandemonium. If Fisher were available, he'd catapult to the top of the wish list of almost every owner with a head-coaching vacancy.

 

Think Cleveland and Miami, among others, wouldn't open the vault to get a coach with Fisher's résumé, not to mention his popularity with ticket-holders, sponsors and media?

 

Because the Titans will have the league's worst salary-cap predicament for the third consecutive offseason, Adams better make sure he still has Fisher to guide them through the morass that's around the corner. Remember, no coach knows better than Fisher what it takes to coach a team through chaos and confusion.

 

In 1994, his first year with the Oilers, Fisher was elevated from defensive coordinator to head coach when Jack Pardee was fired after a 1-9 start.

 

 

Used to adversity

As soon as Fisher was hired on a full-time basis after that interim season, the Oilers became a lame-duck team that played before home crowds of 15,000 because Adams was negotiating to move the franchise to Nashville.

 

 

 

Despite the turbulence surrounding the Oilers in their last two years in Houston, and despite their nomadic existence in their first two seasons in Tennessee in which they played at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis and at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, they never finished worse than 7-9.

 

That kind of perseverance under extra extraordinary circumstances was a credit to Fisher and his coaches and general manager Floyd Reese and his personnel department.

 

In times of turmoil, they circled the wagons and showed the kind of character and chemistry that, beginning in 1999 when they were renamed the Titans and moved into their new stadium, actually made them one of the NFL's most successful organizations.

 

Since the start of that 1999 season, Fisher has won 60 games, tying him with Tony Dungy for the most in the league. The Titans' 60-32 (.652) record over that period ranks behind the Rams and Eagles, who are an NFL-best 62-30 (.674).

 

Going back to 1997, their first season in Tennessee, the Titans are 76-48 (.613). Only Green Bay at 82-42 (.650) and New England at 77-47 (.621) have a better record.

 

Dating all the way back to Fisher's first full season in 1995, the Titans are one of only five teams with a .500 or better record (45-35) on the road.

 

We could go on about Fisher's record, being second to the Packers in December winning percentage since 1998 or being fifth at home since 1999, but you get the picture. But the question is does Adams get it?

 

Fisher has been at the same job longer than any coach in the league other than Pittsburgh's Bill Cowher. Those who want to get rid of Fisher should look at what's happened to Cowher, who was hired in 1992.

 

At different times during his 13-year career with the Steelers, the wolves have howled at Cowher's door.

 

But owner Dan Rooney resisted change each time, and Cowher has rewarded him this season with an 11-1 record and the inside track to home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs.

 

Whatever the shenanigans playing out behind the scenes in Nashville, Adams better get it worked out before it's too late. Assuming he wants to get it worked out. Perhaps Adams believes Fisher has been around long enough. Maybe it's Fisher who believes it's time to hit the road.

 

When Jim Mora blew a gasket in his 11th year in New Orleans, he said he had stayed one season too long, that 10 is enough for any coach in the same job. After San Diego defeated Denver on Sunday, Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer said experience had taught him that 10 years was the shelf life for an NFL coach.

 

 

Injuries take toll

Injuries have decimated the Titans more than any team other than Carolina. Entering Monday night's home game against Kansas City, the Titans are 4-8 and mired in last place in the AFC South.

 

 

 

The Titans are 1-4 at the Coliseum, where they used to be almost invincible.

 

They were swept by the Texans, who play in Adams' hometown. Unless they rebound to win three of their last four, the Titans will finish with their worst record since 1994 when the Oilers plummeted from 12-4 to 2-14.

 

That one-season plunge still ranks as the worst in NFL history, but from the ashes of a burnt-out organization stumbling on its last legs in Houston rose a coach who did something no other had done: He helped Adams reach the only Super Bowl in franchise history.

[Randall]

That would be a boon for another team imo.

[skylive5]

Let's see.... Fisher gets the axe for no good reason, Homegrins has tried Allen's patience just a little too much and is told to hit the bricks, Allen sells the farm and hires Fisher, Seattle finally gets to the SB in two years.

 

Seattle homers (of which I am not one) have to be changing their Christmas wish list right about now.

[Bill Swerski]

you would think bud would know he has a winner

 

606264[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

So, what exactly has Fisher "won?" Winning an AFC Championship is impressive, but his team has bitten it in the playoffs ever since. Fisher's a very good coach, but I wouldn't put him in the same category as Belichick and Shanahan... or even Holmgren, for that matter.

 

I see no reason for cutting Fisher loose, other than the fact that Fisher would probably be better off somewhere else, as the Titans are clearly in rebuilding mode right now.

Edited December 12, 2004 by Bill Swerski

[Rovers]

This is ridiculous! The infamous "sources" story.... it has to be hogwash.

[Primetime9287]

Fisher isnt going anywhere.

[loaf]

Let's see.... Fisher gets the axe for no good reason, Homegrins has tried Allen's patience just a little too much and is told to hit the bricks, Allen sells the farm and hires Fisher, Seattle finally gets to the SB in two years.

 

Seattle homers (of which I am not one) have to be changing their Christmas wish list right about now.

 

606293[/snapback]

 

 

 

Seattle'd definitely have to outbid Cleveland...

[skylive5]

Seattle'd definitely have to outbid Cleveland...

 

606338[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

I figure the 5th or 6th richest man in the world (or somewhere around there) shouldn't have a problem outbidding anyone.

[Randall]

I figure the 5th or 6th richest man in the world (or somewhere around there) shouldn't have a problem outbidding anyone.

 

606362[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

 

Isn't Holmgren getting 5M a year? I think that would do it.

[spain]

Fisher negoiated a 2 year contract for all of his assisants yesterday including OC Mike Heimerdinger and DC Jim Swartz. Fisher isnt going anywhere anytime soon. The Titans have been the winningest team in football since 1999. These rumors are ridiculous..

[CaptainHook]

I heard the "rumor" on ESPN last night.