NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather & SportsTitans, Fisher Parting Ways After 16 Seasons
Member Center:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Titans have parted ways with Jeff Fisher, who just completed his 16th full season as the NFL's longest-tenured coach.
In a press release on Thursday afternoon, the team said Jeff Fisher will no longer be head coach. A press conference will be held on Friday at 11 a.m. to discuss the news. You can watch it live on NewsChannel 5 and NewsChannel 5+, and NewsChannel5.com will provide a link to the livestream.
According to Titans Online, all of the parties involved in the head coaching change will be available.
On Thursday night, the Titans and Fisher also issued a statement. The team said they will be "forever appreciative of Fisher's leadership and accomplishments," but have decided that "change is in the interest of both parties."
They said they will begin the search for a head coach on Friday. They said they expect to interview a "broad and diverse group of candidates", and that there are still a number of candidates that can lead the team.
Fisher said he wanted to "thank Mr. Adams and the organization for a special 17 years." He also wished "the organization, the current players, and fans nothing but the best in the future."
PHOTOS: Former Titans Coach Jeff Fisher
The Titans had previously taken to their Twitter page to confirm the news.
There are indications offensive line coach Mike Munchak, who has been with the Titans for the past 14 seasons, could be the replacement on an interim or full-time basis.
SI.com was the first to report the news, citing an NFL source close to the situation. They stated the move could be announced as early as Friday, though it was unclear whether it would be termed a firing, a resignation, or a mutual parting of ways.
Thousands of people have watched Jeff Fisher on the monitors inside Sam's Sports Bar in Hillsboro Village for years. On Thursday night, fans had mixed emotions about the only pro-football coach this town has even known.
It's hard to find anyone there who had anything bad to say about Fisher. They said they appreciate all he's done, but many folks think maybe change will be good for the Titans.
"I'm surprised. I love Jeff Fisher but I think its time for a change," said one fan.
"Given his whole history and career, I think he's done really good for Nashville and for the Titans," added another.
"I only have respect for what he's done, he's always put a good team on the field. But I don't think it would be bad to change at this point either, but I love you Jeff Fisher," said one other fan.
The bottom line was shock because everyone thought Jeff Fisher was here for at least another season.
Fisher, who had one year left on his contract, had previously expressed interest in staying with the Titans for the rest of his career. At the end of this season, Fisher met with owner Bud Adams, and at that time it appeared that Fisher would return for the 2011 season.
Adams had announced days earlier that quarterback Vince Young would not be back with the Titans next season.
Jeff Fisher's time with the Titans began in November of 1994, when the Oilers fired head coach Jack Pardee and Jeff Fisher was elevated from Defensive Coordinator to Head Coach for the final six games of the season.
The next year, the Oilers retained Fisher as head coach and he would have mild success over the next two years. His leadership would provide stability to a franchise that was moving from Houston to Tennessee.
For the next two seasons, the Tennessee Oilers would call the Liberty Bowl and Vanderbilt Stadium home. The Oilers would finish with back to back 8-8 seasons. In 1999, the franchise made the switch from the Oilers to the Titans and opened the season in a new stadium in Nashville.
Fisher would lead the team to a 13-3 season and Music City would host their first playoff game, that included the memorable Music City Miracle.
The Titans would go on to win playoff games at Indianapolis and Jacksonville.
For the first time in franchise history, a Bud Adams owned team found themselves in the Super Bowl. It was the final play of the game that defined Super Bowl XXXIV, when Titans wide receiver Kevin Dyson being tackled by Rams linebacker Mike Jones at the one-yard line, preserving a 23–16 Rams victory.
The next season, the Titans proved to be equally as formidable by finishing with another 13-3 record. After receiving a first round bye in the playoffs, Fisher's squad would host the ravens. The Titans defense would hold Baltimore to just 134 yards and six first downs but turnovers doomed the Titans.
After a 7-9 season in 2001, Fisher and his team would make back to back playoff appearances.
In 2002, the men in blue finished with an 11-5 record, and an overtime win over the Steelers put the Titans into the AFC championship game at Oakland. Against the Raiders, turnovers again cost the Titans a victory and a trip to the Super Bowl.
Fisher led the team to a 12-4 record in 2003. After winning the first round playoff game in Baltimore over the Ravens, the Titans lost to the eventual super bowl champions, the New England Patriots in Foxboro.
Over the next three seasons, the team saw the departure of key veterans like Eddie George, Derrick Mason and Samari Rolle and struggled with just 17 wins in three years.
In 2006, the franchise drafted Vince Young number one out of Texas- a quarterback that head coach Jeff Fisher did not want.
In 2007 and 2008, Fisher again took the Titans to the playoffs. In '07, the Titans lost to the chargers in the AFC wild card game.
And in 2008, despite tying the franchise record with 13 wins and earning a first round bye in the playoffs, Fisher and his squad fumbled away their chances at advancing to the AFC championship game, losing to the Ravens 13-10.
With high hopes coming off the 13 win season, the start to the 2009 campaign was a disaster. Fisher's team couldn't buy a victory and start 0-6. Titans owner Bud Adams tells fisher to give backup quarterback Vince Young more playing time. The coach obliges and V.Y. helps the team win 8 of the last 10 but fails to make the playoffs.
The 2010 season provided yet more team chaos: an injury to Vince Young in the Redskins game, followed by a verbal tirade from the fifth year quarterback in the locker room after the game.
Fisher and the team place Young on injured reserve for the rest of the season. The two parties never speak again, leaving the owner to make a decision: find a new head coach or a new quarterback.
Fisher is the NFL's longest-tenured coach with his current team, having just finished his 16th full season and coached his 273rd game with the Titans.
Tennessee started last season with high expectations and was atop the AFC South at 5-2 before losing eight of the final nine games to finish 6-10.
Fisher was under contract for 2011 at a tab of $6.5 million and the Titans will pick eighth overall in the draft.
Related Stories:
(The Associated Press Contributed To This Story)
 | Contact Us | Advertise | Mobile | RSS Feeds | Facebook | Twitter | Email Alerts | Jobs | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use © 2012 NewsChannel5.com | NewsChannel 5 WTVF-TV Nashville TN | Site hosted by WorldNow. All Rights Reserved. |
