The Tennessee Titans franchise first started as the Houston Oilers in 1960 and won the first two AFL Championships along with four division titles. The organization joined the NFL in 1970 but failed to see the same success they garnered in their previous league.
After a string of losing seasons, the Tennessee Titans franchise was finally resurrected from the bottom of the cellar during Mike Mularkey's first full season as head coach back in 2016. After an eight-year playoff drought, the Titans went on to barge into the postseason picture in 2017.
Current head coach Mike Vrabel then assumed the post in 2018 and continued to lead the team to consecutive winning seasons. The Titans had a breakout campaign in the 2019 NFL Playoffs and saw their deepest playoff run in recent years. Their Cinderella story last season only ended in the AFC Championship game against eventual Super Bowl LIV champion Kansas City Chiefs.
The team's impressive performance in 2019 made them an exciting team to watch out for in the coming years. On that note, we look back on some of the greatest coaches in Titans history who made a mark with the franchise and led them to relevant success in previous seasons.
Let's dive into the top 3 best Tennessee Titans coaches of all time:
3. Jerry Glanville
Jerry Glanville started out his stint with the franchise as the Houston Oilers' defensive coordinator during the 1984 season (his link to the Titans). He spent a season at the post before assuming the head coaching position in 1985.
Glanville inherited a team that had struggled through most of the 1980s. With him at the helm, the team was able to turn into an aggressive and hard-hitting group. He also molded players including future Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon to become household names in the league.
He eventually guided the Oilers to three playoff appearances during his final seasons, having played twice in the AFC divisional round. He was then replaced by former Washington Redskins head coach Jack Pardee at the end of the 1989 season.
After his tenure with the franchise, he went on to have stints with the Atlanta Falcons, University of Hawaii, Portland State University, and also took his talents to the Canadian Football League where he coached the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2018. At 78 years old, he currently serves as the defensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Vipers in the XFL.
2. Bum Philips
Similar to Granville, the late Bum Philips also started out as a defensive coordinator back in the 1974 season. He was then given a bigger role and was named both head coach and general manager of the Houston Oilers in 1975.
As head tactician of the team, he became the winningest coach in Oilers history with a 59-38 overall record. The Pittsburgh Steelers went on to become the biggest hurdle to the success of the team during the Bum Philips era.
With him at the helm, the Houston-based franchise was able to reach the AFC Championship Game in two-straight seasons. However, they succumbed to the repeating Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers 34-5 in 1978 and 27-13 in 1979.
Both teams were members of the competitive AFC Central Division to which they fueled an intense rivalry between one another. During this period of league-wide AFC dominance, the Oilers and Steelers were considered to be the two best teams in the NFL.
Philips served in the capacity through the 1980 season and went to the New Orleans Saints franchise in the following season until he concluded his coaching career in 1985. He's easily one of the most important figures Oilers/Titans lore.
1. Jeff Fisher
Super Bowl XX champion Jeff Fisher bested both Philips and Granville for the top honor in this list. The California native was the most experienced coach that the franchise has ever had in its 60-year long history. He amassed a 178-171-1 overall record for his coaching career that spanned over three decades.
After Jeff Pardee was ousted, Fisher became the coach of the Oilers towards the end of the 1994 season. He was the team's coach at the time when they first relocated to Tennessee in 1997. The team was first named the Tennessee Oilers but was eventually known as the Tennessee Titans two years later.
Fisher's most successful season was in 1999, when he led the Titans to the franchise's first and only Super Bowl appearance in XXXIV. The championship game was eventually won by the St. Louis Rams, 23-16, en route to grabbing their first Super Bowl title.
He continued to coach the Titans until after the end of the 2010 season. A buyout on the remaining season of Fisher's contract eventually led to both sides mutually agreeing to part ways. Ironically enough, he subsequently landed in the Rams organization in 2012 where he stayed for five seasons before retiring from coaching.
Having stayed for more than 16 full seasons with the Titans franchise, Fisher had been the longest-tenured NFL head coach with one team among active head coaches.
Follow Us
Subscribe