In a late, surprising move, the Tennessee Titans have released coach Jeff Fisher from his contract, ending the run of the longest tenured coach in the NFL.Fisher spent 17 years in Tennessee, starting out as a interim head coach in 1994 when the team still played in Houston, Texas and was known as the Oilers.
Fisher has seen some incredible highs and lows as coach of the Oilers/Titans. He oversaw the team's move to Tennessee, led the Titans to their only Super Bowl appearance in 1999, and moved the team to the postseason six times.
He compiled a 142-120 record in Tennessee; however, the end of Fisher's career leaves a bitter taste.
It all began with the benching of quarterback Vince Young, who suffered a season-ending hand injury in November. The quarterback had a fit on the field, reportedly tossing his shoulder pads into the stands. Young and Fisher got into an argument, and the former Texas star was pronounced done for the year by Fisher.
From that time forward, Fisher declared to owner Bud Adams that it was either him or Vince Young. If the Titans decided to stick with Young, Fisher wanted out. The Titans released Young at the end of the year, and it appeared that Fisher's job was safe.
All of the NFL coaching vacancies have been filed, and the Titans timing, if Fisher wanted to get another job, couldn't be worse. It is highly unlikely that teams like the Browns and Raiders, who have hired uknown assistants to be their head coaches for next year, will turn around and hire Fisher instead.
Fisher did have one year left on his contract, and he will be paid $4 million to sit out 2011.
Expect Fisher to take the money and run with it. He will join Bill Cowher, Jon Gruden, Brian Billick and Tony Dungy among top coaches with playoff and Super Bowl experience to be away from coaching in the league as of today. Fisher will join that group as a hot candidate come 2012, and unless he's like Cowher and Gruden who have been fairly comfortable kicking back with TV gigs, Fisher may want to get back in right away.
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