With Titans owner Bud Adams recently confirming that he instructed coach Jeff Fisher to bench quarterback Kerry Collins and to use quarterback Vince Young instead after the 59-0 loss to the Patriots, ESPN's Chris Mortensen recently made an interesting point regarding the question of whether Adams had the right to do so.
Actually, we pointed out when Fisher was supposedly mulling over his decision that owners typically do not have the power to force lineup decisions onto the coaches. But at the time we didn't have knowledge of the contents of Fisher's contract. Mort, or his source, apparently does.
Mort takes the issue an intriguing step further, aided by an ominous Monday Night Countdown graphic: "Did Bud Adams open loophole for Jeff Fisher's exit?"
The theory/hypothesis is that Adams breached Fisher's contract by forcing him to use Young, and that Fisher might be able to use the move as a vehicle for getting out of his contract after the season -- or at a minimum for leveraging a better deal to stay put.
Though Mort couched the whole thing in whimsy, the notion that Fisher could remain silent in the face of an apparent breach of his contract and then claim weeks after the fact that Adams violated the agreement and that the remedy is a free ticket out of town is even more of a stretch than the suggestion that the Steelers might eventually dump Ben Roethlisberger for Dennis Dixon. (Um, maybe I should have come up with a better example.)
If after the 0-6 start Adams told Fisher to do something he didn't want to do, Fisher should have taken action then, by drawing a proverbial line in the sand, preferably with both middle fingers. Specifically, Fisher should have said, "I'm not playing Vince Young, and my contract gives me the power to make that decision." Then, Adams would have had an even bigger decision to make: honor the contract and proceed, fire Fisher without cause, or fire him with cause.
If Adams had fired Fisher for cause, Fisher would have had grounds for a slam-dunk legal claim, even before a hand-picked forum that inherently favors the various NFL teams -- the league office.
So the notion that Fisher could agree to go with Young and then use the situation as a chip to be played later is flat out disingenuous, and it makes us wonder whether Fisher is quietly looking for a way out of Nashville after the season.
If, after all, Fisher truly doesn't believe that Young will be a high-end contributor over the long haul, possibly due to fears that he'll crumble (again) when he encounters adversity, Fisher might be thinking that his stock will never get much higher in Tennessee that it will be on the heels of a dramatic turnaround to a lost season.
So stay tuned on this on. Not because we think that the notion of declaring a contractual breach three months after the fact will have any legs, but because we think that Fisher might be trying to line up an escape route to another team.
As Mort said last night, "The Cowboys, the Bears. You never know."
Fisher could have refused switch from Collins to Young
Posted by Mike Florio on December 1, 2009 11:50 AM ET
You're a jackass, Florio... only you would dig where there isn't any dirt. You come up with the stupidest conspiracy theories sometimes and when 1 out of 1000 come to fruition you do the whole "see I told you so" and come up with even more ludicrous theories. Ever think maybe Fisher is just thinking to himself "yeah I messed up"? It happens... some things can be that simple.
Florio, you're an idiot....your "notion" holds no water....why would Fisher go to the Cowboys when their owner meddles in football operations more than Bud Adams? Wether or not Fisher wanted to start VY, he realizes it was the right move based on the winning streak alone.
I can't see Jeff Fisher being the kind of guy to weasel out of a contract. Besides, why wouldn't Fisher want to take some credit for this move also? It has turned out well - that time on the bench to watch and learn, and grow up a bit, has benefited Young.
Fisher has a good situation in Tennessee - he is established there, and he has some young building blocks to keep his team competitive for some time. When you have one of the 32 most sought after jobs in the coaching profession, I think you would be a fool to voluntarily mess with it. I look at Jon Gruden and Oakland, and just shake my head - think of how much better off that franchise would have been if Davis had just kept Gruden in place and happy for the last seven years. It's the Steeler model - find your guy, and stick with him. Continuity is so important to any organization.
Bud Adams still makes Fisher pee sitting down though .... just to show him who's who and what's what.
Honestly, Florio... put yourself in Fisher's shoes for a second. He's already got a pretty sweet deal with terms of control... he won't get that in Dallas. By now the entire Titans organization is stocked with people he can work with. He's got an owner who has made him the dean of NFL coaches, despite some rough times. And Fisher's got a friendly local media under his thumb.
Then look at the roster... nothing but young talent. His oldest skill player is Justin Gage at 28 (not counting the tackle/tight end combo that is Alge Crumpler). Bookend tackles locked up. The best running back in the NFL in his second year, doing stuff that's NEVER been done. A legit rookie WR in Britt (hasn't had that since Mason) and a roster stocked with "his guys". And he's got an athletic freak at QB winning games playing his conservative style and enabling Johnson to do even more.
So what you're essentially saying is that despite so many clear advantages to staying put, Fisher is so skeptical of a young QB that has done nearly everything to silence any big questions and is playing at a Pro-Bowl level (check the passer rating as a starter, 97), that he is willing to leave.
This is absurd. Fisher had his opinions and there were lots of people who shared them. As it turns out these opinions were wrong. I think he's happy for this serendipitous turn of events and he's going with the flow. Your article intimates that Fisher would rather be upset over having an owner assert himself than be happy with having success. Do you think he's that much of a child? I don't.
Jerry Jones will hire Fisher in a second if he is available. And Dallas needs a coach like Fisher.
...rrriiight, hey jeff - um, i'm gonna need you to put in my boy now - so...if you could just go ahead and do that now - that'd be grreeaat...
all will be forgotten once the Titans end the Colts' unbeaten run on Sunday
All I want for Christmas is Jeff Fisher to be HC of the Bears.
Lulz at all the idiots railing Mike for quoting Mort about Fisher and the 'Boys.
Lulz(?) at BlackberryBartakamos for thinking that whole story was just one long quote from Mort and contained none of Florio's opinion and/or conspiracies
Fisher would never go to the Cowboys since Massa Jerry likes a coach he can controll.
i dont see fisher leaving BUT if he does i will give my kindney if he comes to cleveland.
I don't understand the fascination with Field Goal Fisher. He's a .500 coach, with 6 winning seasons in 16, and he hasn't won a playoff game since 2003. He has a losing playoff record despite the Super Bowl run in 1999. Since then he's 2-5 in the playoffs going 0-1 his last 2 trips.
I don't understand the fascination with Field Goal Fisher. He's a .500 coach, with 6 winning seasons in 16, and he hasn't won a playoff game since 2003. He has a losing playoff record despite the Super Bowl run in 1999. Since then he's 2-5 in the playoffs going 0-1 his last 2 trips.
Its because he's done a lot with the little or no talent he's had (they've been perpetually rebuilding thanks to the Floyd Reese era). If he were coaching a team like the Chargers they would have their rings by now.
Jeff Fisher has nothing on the team who lands the new trifecta (Bill Parcells, Charlie Weis and Al Groh) this offseason.
There is no way he has any pull with this assumption legally even if he wanted it considering he has made a public statement at least twice saying that it was a decision made together with him, the owner, and others involved.
Florio, you're an asshole.
Sorry, Mike. Everybody else said it. I sort of felt obligated.
Bud Adams for Coach Of The Year!
If Fisher really does have a problem with Bud Adams there would be no better way to stick it to him than to take over the Texans after Kubs finishes .500 again. He would coach them over the hump next season. Or Bill Cowher. That's the dream list.