Jeff Fisher, Longest Tenured Coach No Longer

The Tennessee Titans announced that Jeff Fisher would no longer be coaching the team. This comes as a bit of a shock. Just last month, in a battle of wills, it seemed that Fisher had won out to remain in Tennessee instead of embattled former number three pick Vince Young. Owner Bud Adams decided differently on Thursday night. There have been reports that the possible final straw was the push that Fisher made for his son to be given a position with the Titans, though Adams had made it a policy to not hire family members within the organization.

Fisher was the longest tenured coach in the NFL, but he longevity with Tennessee did not get him a pass in Adams' mind. Having had disagreements in the past, and with the team finishing below .500, Adams decided a new direction is necessary.

Having been the head coach since 1994, Fisher had been coaching the team since before they came to Tennessee, back when they were the Houston Oilers. His career record as the Titans head man was 147-126, though in his 17 seasons the team was over .500 only six times. Fisher did lead them to Super Bowl XXXIV, in a narrow defeat at the hands of Kurt Warner and the St. Louis Rams, in one of the better and closer Super Bowls. Unfortunately, Fisher had recorded 11 losing seasons, and losing streaks of five games in a season at some point in five of the last seven seasons.

The question is where to next? Could it be a hire within with someone like Mike Munchak. Or will they go outside the organization and bring in someone like a Perry Fewell or Russ Grimm. The other questions hanging out there, does this change the future of Vince Young? Many had thought that it was either Fisher or Young, now with Fisher gone do the Titans backpedal and hold onto Young? That should be an interesting debate inside Titans camp, especially with Adams' public approval of Young.