SPORTS
Recorder, January 29, 2011 — 33
Fisher confident he
made the right choice
to leave the Titans
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The atmosphere was so cordial at the
Titans’ headquarters Friday it was hard to tell Jeff Fisher that was
leaving the team.
He stood behind the podium thanking everyone in the building
before leaving with a wave. Tennessee’s top executives expressed
their gratitude for his work over the
years, then discussed how they will
replace Fisher after mutually agreeing they had reached a point where
“it was time to move on” after 16
full seasons.
“It is just time for a change,”
owner Bud Adams said Friday by
telephone from his Houston office.
Fisher declined to address details
about the decision, but acknowledged some differences with the
team. He also looked much more
relaxed Friday morning than in
weeks, calling it the best decision
after two difficult seasons.
The Titans rebounded from an 06 start to finish 8-8 in 2009, then
The Associated Press wasted a 5-2 start in 2010 by losing
Former Tennessee Titans head eight of the final 10 games for a 6coach Jeff Fisher answers 10 record.
questions from the media dur- “I’ve been coaching for 24 years,
ing a news conference at the and it’s time. I need a break,”
team’s headquarters on Friday. Fisher said. “And I think timingwise this is a perfect opportunity to do this so the organization can
move forward with their plan, and I’ll move forward with whatever
happens in the future.”
The team announced the split Thursday night, shocking players,
assistant coaches and the rest of the NFL because Adams announced
three weeks ago he’d decided to keep Fisher for the final year of his
contract. Adams said teams and coaches unfortunately almost always
reach a point where change is the best option.
“I believe both the team and Jeff will benefit in the long run from
this move. Now I’m still confident about our future. I think we have
good players. I believe in Steve Underwood and (general manager)
Mike Reinfeldt to find our next head coach.”
The search to replace Fisher is already under way, and the Titans’
general manager Mike Reinfeldt and Underwood, the senior executive
vice president, will handle the process whose only timetable is “as
long as it takes.” Underwood said reports of the coach’s settlement at
$8 million were “erroneous” while declining to answer questions
about the package.
Among the four major U.S. sports, only Jerry Sloan with the NBA’s
Utah Jazz has been with the same team longer than Fisher had been
with the Titans. Andy Reid of Philadelphia now takes over as the
NFL’s longest-tenured coach having finished up his 12th season with
the Eagles.
Fisher, promoted from defensive coordinator to interim coach in
1994, guided the team’s relocation from Houston to Tennessee and
took the Titans to their lone Super Bowl appearance. He also had losing skids of at least five games in five of the last seven seasons.
He has coached more NFL games for one franchise than all but six
Hall of Famers: George Halas, Tom Landry, Don Shula, Chuck Noll,
Curly Lambeau and Bud Grant. He ranks third among active coaches
in career wins with a record of 147-126, behind only Bill Belichick
(176) and Mike Shanahan (160), and he is 20th in career coaching victories.
He could coach again this season. A team executive noted that’s up
to Fisher, but the coach wouldn’t speculate when asked if he might
work on television for a season.
“I think I need the rest. Those that coach 10 years that take a year off
are three times better coaches ... in year 11. I’m going to take time,”
Fisher said.
Reinfeldt noted Fisher’s departure didn’t change the Titans’ decision
to either trade quarterback Vince Young or release him later this offseason. The general manager also noted Fisher just finished his 17th
season with this organization and called that unbelievable in a hard
job that takes a toll.
“He was the face of the franchise for such a long time,” Reinfeldt
said. “At the same time, I think change is part of the NFL. You look
other places where change has happened, change can be a wonderful
thing, and we can use that change to get us to where we want to be.”
Fisher eluded to the possibility of a contract extension the day after
the season ended, but Adams decided to let his coach work through
the final year of his contract. Fisher’s last winning record was 13-3 in
2008 when the Titans wasted the No. 1 seed in the AFC by losing in
the divisional round, and his last playoff victory came in January
2004.
Underwood said Fisher had coached a season in the final year of a
contract at least a couple times before.
Neither Fisher nor the Titans would discuss specifics of why the
coach had to leave now despite repeated questions.
Fisher did admit they discussed adding his son, Brandon, to the staff.
But Adams doesn’t allow nepotism involving employees who are
supervisors, which kept Fisher from luring away Gregg Williams from
New Orleans to be his defensive coordinator two years ago when
Williams wanted to bring his son along.
The coach also had other staff issues. Fisher couldn’t keep defensive
line assistant Jim Washburn from leaving for the same job with
Philadelphia, then lost running backs coach Craig Johnson a day later
to Minnesota as the Vikings’ new quarterbacks coach. Fisher also fired
defensive coordinator Chuck Cecil.
Associated Press
New York Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards (17) celebrates his touchdown with tight end
Dustin Keller (81) during the first half of an AFC divisional playoff game against the New
England Patriots earlier this month in Foxborough, Mass.
Jets GM hopes to keep
Holmes, Edwards, LT, too
NEW YORK (AP) — Mike
Tannenbaum is prepared for
another busy offseason for the
Jets.
That is, when — or, if — the
NFL’s uncertain labor situation
is cleared up.
“As soon as we know what
the rules of engagement are,”
Tannenbaum said Friday,
“we’ll be ready.”
New York will have nearly 20
potential free agents to
address, and among them,
Tannenbaum hopes to keep
wide receivers Santonio
Holmes, Braylon Edwards and
Brad Smith — all of whom
played major roles in leading
the Jets to the AFC championship game for the second
straight season.
“I thought this past season was
a good one,” Tannenbaum said
during a season-ending conference call. “It solidifies our program and I think we have a great
foundation of sustainable success for the future.”
One reason for the positive
outlook is the maturation of
quarterback Mark Sanchez, who
was terrific in the postseason for
the second straight year. He
played the last month of the season with a sore right shoulder
that could need surgery, but
Tannenbaum said no decision
has been made on that yet.
“He’s going to get a couple of
opinions,” Tannenbaum said.
“And then, we’re going to
make the best decision once
we get all the information.”
He added that if Sanchez
needs a procedure, he’d prefer
it be “sooner rather than later,”
but the team doesn’t have a
final plan yet.
Tannenbaum praised both
Holmes and Edwards for help-
ing Sanchez through the regular season and in the playoffs,
and would like to maintain the
chemistry the trio developed.
“We’ll see what the system
looks like moving forward,” he
said. “We hope to keep them
all.”
Tannenbaum said he and his
staff have begun putting
together several plans, but “in
pencil” because of the labor
situation and doubts the team
will sign any players before the
end of the league year.
He also declined comment on
any possible interest in former
Giants wide receiver Plaxico
Burress, who will be released
from prison in June.
“If and when a player is reinstated, we could look at that,”
he said. “I just don’t like to
deal in hypotheticals now. We
have plenty of other players to
look at and decisions to make.”
The Jets could potentially
take a similar approach to the
one they took last season when
they made headlines constantly. They cut or traded popular
players — Thomas Jones, Alan
Faneca, Leon Washington, Jay
Feely and Kerry Rhodes —
and traded for or signed other
proven veterans — Tomlinson,
Holmes, Antonio Cromartie
and Jason Taylor — in a significant renovation of the roster.
Tannenbaum expects both
Tomlinson and Taylor to be back
next season since they’re both
under contract, although he left
the door open for both to be one
and done in New York.
Tomlinson, 31, led the Jets with
914 yards rushing, but slowed as
the season went on. That was “a
little bit of a concern,” according
to the general manager.
“These things could change,
but we do expect him back,”
Tannenbaum said, raving about
Tomlinson’s leadership qualities. “He did good things for us.”
Tannenbaum had similar
praise for the 36-year-old
Taylor, who had five sacks but
was emotional after the Jets’
24-19 loss at Pittsburgh last
Sunday because he wasn’t sure
if it was his last NFL game.
“He’s
a
pro’s
pro,”
Tannenbaum said.
He was also noncommittal on
other older players such as
Damien
Woody,
Tony
Richardson and Kris Jenkins.
Linebacker David Harris will
be a top priority, and
Tannenbaum wouldn’t rule out
a long-term contract or applying the franchise tag on him.
Harris, the team’s top tackler,
is considered one of the Jets’
“Core Four” young players,
along with Darrelle Revis,
Nick
Mangold
and
D’Brickashaw Ferguson —
who all received new contracts
before this past season.
“We expect him to be here for
years to come,” Tannenbaum
said.
Tannenbaum said Cromartie
was solid playing opposite
Revis and is a player the team
would like to keep despite some
recent controversy in which he
called Tom Brady an expletive,
as well as the leaders of the NFL
and its players union. Cromartie
also took offense to a comment
directed at him by Matt
Hasselbeck on Thursday, telling
the Seattle quarterback he will
“smash ur face in.”
“I’m not in a position to comment on what he’s said,”
Tannenbaum said, “especially
what he’s said to other players
on other teams.”