While the NFL world was getting over the shock of Jeff Fisher’s firing Thursday evening, Fisher was out celebrating his daughter’s birthday in Nashville.
Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports spoke to a source close to Fisher that sounded more relieved than disappointed about how things ended.
“After all the dust settled,” the source told Silver, “it was clear that it wasn’t going to work the way anyone thought it would.”
The timing of this move came as a surprise, but there were growing signs that Fisher and Titans owner Bud Adams could no longer co-exist. Friction seemed to grow regarding the vacancies on Fisher’s coaching staff.
The divorce could be a smart move for both sides. There are many recent examples of coaches in lame duck seasons (Mike Holmgren in ’08, John Fox in ’10) that didn’t work out.
If Fisher and Adams were going to part ways in 2012, perhaps its best they just got it out of the way now.