How does Jeff Fisher deal with the apparent reality that he should have benched Kerry Collins for Vince Young weeks ago?
By acting as if the guy who has led the team to three straight wins isn’t the guy who had been lurking on the bench since September 2008.
“There’s a different person wearing number 10,” Fisher told Steve Mariucci of NFL Network’s The Coaches Show.
So who was the other guy? Bitch Stewie?
Look, Young is the same guy. Whatever he’s doing now he could have done earlier. And it was the job of the coaching staff to bring it out of him.
The fact that they’re bringing it out of him now doesn’t mean that he previously wasn’t able to do it. It means that Fisher and company didn’t properly push Young’s buttons and/or kick Young butt in order to get him to play like the third overall pick in the draft.
In hindsight, maybe Bud Adams’ middle fingers weren’t meant for anyone on the Bills. Maybe Adams was letting Fisher know that the owner had been right all along about Young, and that Fisher had been wrong.
Oh my god, Fisher makes me sick. He was there the whole time Jeff. Vince Young is 21-11 as a starter and gets benched for some 40 year old white guy. 2 weeks ago you were still bitching that your hands were tied and there was nothign you could do. Jeff Fisher please go run in traffic, you have no spine Jeff Fisher. No spine. “Ill wear a Peyton Manning jersey cuz I wanna know what it feels like to be a winner”. Thats right Jeff because your a loser, maybe the biggest one.
Wrong.
Clearly Vince had personal issues he was dealing with. A coach can only do so much.
Dude, ever since Vince has started playing well you’ve been hating on the Titans coaching staff. Jeff Fisher is a great coach. You can’t tell me that Young didn’t CLEARLY have some issues throughout the last couple years. Get a grip.
Did you just steal my comment from the last Bud Adams post? Wow you guys even plagerize your own readers. Nice touch.
Hey Fisher, thank Kerry Collins for doing a better coaching job than you and Bud Adams for sticking his fingers up your ass and making you play VY! In a little more than a year Collins tutored/ mentored this young man and has brought out more than you were able too.
I dont care if the Titans won 3 strait with him at QB, hes still not a very good QB.
Thier RB is the reason they won, inspite of V. Young, not because of V. Young.
Or, maybe by benching him for the first six weeks of the season, Fisher was “properly pushing his buttons…”
And maybe Young finally grew up. How about a little personal responsibility on the players part. The coaching staff would never have held Young back if they thought he was their best option.
Thank you for calling Fisher out on this. I always felt like he had something against Young. Was it really necessary last year to let everyone know he had called the cops and that he feared Young was going to harm himself? He seems like a petty man and I don’t think he deserves all the accolades that get thrown his way.
Bitch Stewie!..haha, great reference. Vince Young is obviously a great athlete, if you surround him with talent, ie, Chris Johnson, he can be a very productive player. Not necessarily a game manager, but more play calling that emphasizes his talents.
Mike – I usually have your back, but come on.
Who was he? He was a kid fresh out of college who mistakenly thought that he could make it on talent alone in the NFL, like he did in college. He also didn’t act like a leader, which is what the team needs in a QB.
You can argue that it was the coaches job to teach him that, but at some point the player needs to take some accountability.
I think you’re reading a bit to much into a pretty innocuous statement. I don’t think anybody is saying it’s literally a different person and the real Vince Young was recently recovered from a hole in the space-time continuum and rejoined the team 3 weeks ago.
“Look, Young is the same guy. Whatever he’s doing now he could have done earlier. And it was the job of the coaching staff to bring it out of him.
The fact that they’re bringing it out of him now doesn’t mean that he previously wasn’t able to do it. It means that Fisher and company didn’t properly push Young’s buttons and/or kick Young butt in order to get him to play like the third overall pick in the draft.”
F You mike. You are a f’n idiot. Vince started out great and couldn’t handle the pressure of the big leagues. So what you are saying is JF is to blame for the suicide scare by Vince because JF didn’t make him more of a man. F’U’. Using your logic… Ryan Leaf should return to the NFL and with the right coach he’d be a winner. Vince is incredibly talented but 3 good games don’t make him a long term HoFer. Got to hell mike you dick.
I think that middle finger was for you Florio
In that case it was the best 250 large Bud ever spent…
He’s the same guy? You know this for a fact? He sounded like he was a complete mess when they benched him. We have the same issue in Chicago with people complaining about letting Cedric Benson go… Sometimes the light just goes on for people for reasons no one can explain.
Florio, you’re reading WAY too much into Fischer’s statement. Vince Young was a whack job and might still be.
[i]It means that Fisher and company didn’t properly push Young’s buttons and/or kick Young butt in order to get him to play like the third overall pick in the draft.[/i]
Ahhhh, but they did. By calling him a suicidal distraction and sitting his ass on the bench for a year and half. I wouldnt blame the coaching staff for Young realizing his career was in a tailspin before deciding to play like a high draft pick. And its not like he beat the Colts, Pats and Pitt. It was the Jags, 49ers and Bills. Lets not make him out to be Montana just yet.
I dont think Fisher could coach him out of his funk anyway. He’s run his course there IMO. Long time with nothing to show for it. He’s kinda like Cowher, but without LeBeau to carry him every year ’till he finally cleared the last hurdle.
If he were coaching for in Washington, Snyder would have canned him 10 years ago cuz thats what he does.
Florio, you are not correct on this one. But I don’t have the energy to explain why.
What, no shirtless tequila joke?
The death of father figure Steve McNair flipped the switch on VY. He’s making better decisions and is hungrier to win. The Titans paid Collins a ton of money to be an old, awful quarterback. I’ve always had VY’s back and supported him throughout the rough patches, so it’s nice to see him finally succeed. I know it’s only been 3 games, but that’s 3 better games than Collins has had all year
Great analysis, Florio. The fact that Vince Young went from a quarterback who couldn’t decide if he wanted to play football to winning games must mean Jeff Fisher is a bad coach, right? And the fact that you have a blog must mean you’re not an idiot.
Think you botched this one Florio (love the site and usually you are right on). To you and all the others crucifying Fisher:
1) Young didn’t beat those teams, the titans running game did
2) the teams they beat all suck. OK, Jags are avg.
3) Old man collins lead this team to the best record in the NFL last year
4) VY was on suicide watch last year
5) Fisher has been a top coach for years, he’s FAR better to evaluate the talent than anyone posting on here.
Its not Fishers fault. Some guys need time to figure it all out. Vince Young deserved to be benched for this long. He was a nutcase not too long ago. Whatever he has done to figure things out and realize that its time to get it together im happy for the guy. But only VY can get through to VY. He is an adult.
I dont think Fisher is a great coach but hes not terrible either. This Titans team has been an enigma. Collins up until this year gave the Titans the best chance to win. This is a new VY, a guy whos more calm and who seems to want it. Whether that translates into long term success is too early to predict. But dont put this all on Fisher, and also keep in mind that Young has a big option at the end of the year and thats a huge motivating factor as well
Florio :
you are amazing…walking through the raindrops today ?
ever since the season opener last year ( & I’m sure before ) you have taken pleasure in burying Young & dancing on his grave…most of your posts about VY have gone way past analysis & seved only to humiliate him in a very mean spirited way
if i recall this preason you once again wrote him off because he threw a pick in the HOF game…of course you let us all know Favre was done after 4 pre-season passes
so it was all the coaching staff’s fault all along ?…
how would you have handeled it ?
lets see how quickly you jump off the 3-0 bandwagon after he throws a few INT’s 0r goes 12 for 27
maybe he actually worked & applied himself & improved…it does happen
but this is a pretty disingenuous post on your part….wonder what you might say if by some miracle J Russell turns it around
The bitch Stewie comment was all time classic….
“He was there the whole time Jeff. Vince Young is 21-11 as a starter and gets benched for some 40 year old white guy.”
Racist.
B-b-b-b-b-but……but wait a second, coach. Didn’t you say Kerry Collins gave the team the best opportunity to win?
Time to fess up, coach. Who was it that made the preseason call to utterly abandon the team’s power-running identity and start throwing on every down? Who decided the smart play was to have Kerry F’ing Collins throwing the ball 35-40 times per game, while giving Chris Johnson and Lendale White a combined 24 carries per game, week after week. Brilliant coaching, there.
And don’t give me any crap about playing from behind. In each of their first four losses, the Titans held a lead in the second half, and were very much in the game until the closing moments….but week after week, the coaches chose to rely on an inconsistent passing game. And week after week, that passing game kept finding new and different ways to lose. Unforced fumbles….dropped passes….missing open receivers….you name it.
And yet even when it was clear that the passing game was utterly and completely dysfunctional, and Collins was among the league leaders in interceptions, Fisher continued to proclaim that quarterback play was not the problem….not because Kerry was playing so well, but because Fisher had absolutely no interest in putting Vince Young on the field.
Tell ya what, coach….I know it’s only been three games, and it’s not like he’s lighting teams up, but at least Vince is doing his job, and making a positive contribution. In just three weeks, he’s brought the team more success than you did with an entire offseason of preparation.
Don’t act like you had a damn thing to do with the team’s current success. You did absolutely everything in your power to keep Kerry out there as long as possible….and if you’d had your way, he’d still be out there today, Vince would still be on ice, and CJ would still be getting 16 carries per game.
I’m sure you’re expecting the media to sing your praises after three straight wins…..good luck with that. People are already figuring out that you’re the one who shit the bed in the first place; you should just be thankful that Vince was willing to help you clean it up.
Fisher is right… Vince’s head was not in the right place… The guy broke down after getting boo’d… What NFL QB does that? …one that’s not ready to be there, that’s who!
Now he’s had over a year to grow as a player and MUCH more importantly as a man. Now a more mature guy is doing a good job making safe plays and handing the ball to CJ. He doesn’t have to be the star and that’s why he can relax a bit and work on his game.
HOF material? I doubt it. A steady “don’t lose the game” QB? I think he has a chance…
FLORIO, you are the biggest HYPOCRITE ever!!!! you have been ripping on VY since he had his issues last year. How the hell can this be on Jeff Fisher? I cant stand the guy, but it isnt his fault that VY was a mess. He isnt his shrink, he is his FOOTBALL COACH. Seriously, Florio, your articles are getting terrible and you just keep contradicting yourself. I cant believe you. By the way, for all you VY fans- Kerry Collins is still the better QB, i dont care what anyone says…. ohh, cmoney, who cares if collins is a white guy? would it make a difference if he was a 40 year old black guy? your a racist jackass.
Hey VY the Texans have a welcome home party waiting on you! Here’s a hint what to watch out for(90 & 56) oh and the rest of the 50 boys!
Does everyone forget this guy was suicidal a couple years ago, Fisher was there that night… he’s knows this guy, maybe the meds and therapy are working… but lets not forget the Titans were hurt, and Young’s return coincided with the team getting healthy and not foreseeing the playoffs with a need to evaluate this high draft pick. They should keep raising his stock and trade him, he’s not going to ever be the Hall of Famer he was bragging he would be..
Fisher is one of the best coaches in the league, and Collins wasn’t the one giving it up on D, and dropping passes. A broader sample will have you Vince Young fans understanding what a rock bottom Wonderlick score means in the NFL.. Manning, Brady, and Brees are the best right now for a reason… Like Vick, his legs will go and he’ll be a shell of himself and a footnote in U of Texas history, and a never was trivia question in NFL circles…
And to the guy who called Fisher a racist, you are an utter moron… yeeesh… anyone ever thought he was too immature to handle the spotlight and didn’t know how to handle adversity. Amazing what some anti-depressants, a life coach/ shrink, and a couple years to self-actualize can do… good luck to him, but he’s just another guy, superb athlete like Vick, but also like Vick, just another guy when it comes to playing QB in the NFL… Fisher is not the longest tenured coach in the league for nothing. You people “in the know” truly have no idea and should be thankful nobody knows who you are in real life to make fun of you for some of the statements you make on this board.
The amount of preperation and studying Vince is doing now makes him a totally different person from who he was before. He’s pulled a 180. This isn’t about the coaches or anything else. Vince has grown up a lot. Maybe it was McNair’s death, maybe it was the prospect of getting cut or whatever but he’s starting to turn it around and its good to see.
LOL. Kerry Collins wasn’t the problem with the Titans. He was the scapegoat. My local High School could’ve put up 50 points on the Titans the way that defense was playing. And Vince Young isn’t the reason they’ve won a few games. Just like when Young was the starter and did halfway decent…..he’s running the Titans Offense for Dummies. Make no mistake…..Vince Young is about as smart as a thumbtack.
And what difference does it make that Kerry Collins is white? At least Collins has gotten a team to the Super Bowl. Young loses a few games, reads some things written about him by the big meanies in the media, and the dude goes AWOL and wants to end it all.
Seriously, how could you even suggest that Vince Young deserved anything but to be benched? He wasn’t reading defenses and couldn’t handle when fans boo’ed. I guess he had his mind on another shirtless sausage party he might be throwing somewhere. He hasn’t shown much lately. The team as a whole has been playing better. And come on, cmoney20 would you have felt better if he benched him for a 40 year old black guy? Let’s keep the racial stuff out of the discussion. White, black or purple….Vince Young is yet another prima dona athlete that can’t handle not being adored by anyone and everyone.
Vince Young was and is a great player who wins football games. Never was anything else but. End of story. Keep it up Vince, not all of us out here are racist assholes.
I KNEW EVERYONE WAS GOING TO JUMP OFF THE KERRY COLLINS AND TITANS BANDWAGON. i dont understand why everyone was on vince young in the first place. he might not be the ideal QB or have great measureable stats but he’s had a respectable win loss record since he started as a rookie and thats all that should matter.
No. VoxV hit nail-on-head earlier, mentioning the Greatest Shock VY Has Ever Had: the bloody murder of Steve McNair on July 4. Since then, he’s been a different person; even picking up Steve’s young’uns and taking them to breakfast at their school’s Father’s Day Out in Nashville. There’s no coach who could bring out the effects Steve’s death had on VY, or on any man in a similar position.
VY has to take baby steps. Sorry, he doesn’t have Peyton Manning’s game IQ to work with. Given time, he will work hard to become an exceptional QB.
Jeff Fisher is already an exceptional Coach. Oh. And Mike, Jeff says ‘don’t hate, you’ll alienate!’.
Mike,
Your article is interesting. I’m amazed that people keep talking about VY and how he hasn’t had success in the NFL. Every time I here those claims, I must challenge them. Let me help some of you all out:
2006: VY came in and resurrected a team that was surely on the road to failure. They were one win away from the playoffs. The defense that year was 31st in the league. Rookie of the Year and “Probowler” as a rookie. SUCCESS
2007: Although his stats were sub par (9 TD and 17 INT) he was still able to help his team make the playoffs. Tennessee’s defense was ranked fifth but last I checked the defense never snapped a ball or threw a pass. They actually had a chance in the playoffs but both running backs fumbled near the goal line (lead most of the way). I don’t think the Texans has gone to the playoffs yet, but this may be the best chance they’ve had of late. VY in 2007. SUCCESS
2008: Was leading the game before he was inured. He was not benched; he just wasn’t reinstated after the team was winning. “Benched” and “Not being reinstated” are totally two different things. Nevertheless, they were winning the game at the time of his injury. VY was “thin skinned” but the guy didn’t quit. If he would have quit he wouldn’t have been on the team.
2009: VY is resurrecting this team again. CJ has been running like this all season and VY has a lot to do with the results. The Texans even won that game when CJ went for over 200 yards, and that should be an indicator of VY’s presence on the field.
I’m no “fan boy” but I like to challenge baseless claims that are media driven. VY is 21-11 when he is at the helm. Please provide me the records of the other top quarterbacks that came out when VY did. Jay cutler is 17-20 and he has had much more talent surrounding him. Matt Leinart, well, let’s not mention him yet (though he still may have a bright future).
People are so hung up on arm strength and IQ, which tells me most people forget about the bottom line: WINS! Vince has won 21 of 32 games and every 4th year quarterback would take that. Never mind he didn’t play in 2008 to pad those stats. So when people question VY I just laugh. Most people criticize him because the “Traditional” quarterback is still ingrained in their mind. VY is still changing the game and I have a feeling that his success will continue. I say all that to say this. Continue to bash VY because that what the oppositions usually does. We’ll see who wins in the end. Right now, VY is winning.
VY has adamantly denied that he tried to commit suicide. I wonder how you all would feel if there was untrue rumor going on about you. Remember, VY grew up poor and his mother was addicted to drugs and alcohol. I don’t think a game can influence him to be suicidal. VY is a survivor.
Jeff Fisher actions are extremely questionable. People always say he is a great coach. Well, don’t confuse a long tenure for being a great coach. He has had 6 winning seasons out of 15 years and that doesn’t indicate greatness to me. Check out the Titans record before Vince came, it was dismal. Jeff Fisher isn’t beyond reproach and he knows that he made a mistake. He couldn’t possible take Kerry out because he would be viewed as incompetent for giving him 15 million to sit on the bench. VY will be fine. Some will like him and some will not. That’s life!
VY was 18-11 as a starter out of the gates as a rookie. He took his team to the playoffs in his second year. There is no mistaking that he has done this before, but gets no credit from the media universe.
Yes, he
- throws sidearm
- runs alot
- is not a polished QB yet
He also
- runs like a huge deer
- passes with accuracy
- has “It”
- manages to win at every level
More weeks than not with Vince, he leads game winning/challenging drives, is cool under pressure, and no one can catch him when he has the angle on the goal line or first down. He is uncanny. All he needs is more time. There is no surprise that he is doing well, or some reason for it, because it has been happening all along.
Zoils: “You did absolutely everything in your power to keep Kerry out there as long as possible”
Do you blame him? Vince Young played bad and was a head case who was suicidal! Any coach with half a brain would have benched him. It was the best thing that ever happened to Young. He was immature and needed to sit back and watch Collins to help him grow up.