History of the Tennessee Titans
In 1999, the Tennessee Titans played their most memorable season since joining the NFL, when they made it all the way to Super Bowl XXXIV, but they fell, at the 1 yard line, to the Kurt Warner-led St. Louis Rams.
As a result, Adams announced that the renamed Tennessee Oilers would play the next two seasons at the 62,000 seat Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis.
It appeared that only large contingents of fans supporting the Oilers' opponents kept average attendance from dropping below what it had been for the CFL's Memphis Mad Dogs.
Despite drawing crowds averaging barely half of Vanderbilt's capacity, Adams had every intention of playing in Memphis the next season.
On July 29, 1998, Adams announced that in response to fan requests, he was changing the Oilers' name to coincide with the opening of their new stadium and to better connect with Nashville.
The new name met all of Adams' requirements, and also served as a nod to Nashville's nickname of "The Athens of the South" (for its large number of higher-learning institutions, Classical architecture, and its full-scale replica of the Parthenon).
The Titans went on to lose their home Divisional playoff game to the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens.
Numerous key players were cut or traded by the Titans front office during the off season, including Derrick Mason, Samari Rolle, Kevin Carter and others.
The Titans defeated the luckless Texans 13–10 at home, but that was their last win of the year, as they lost their remaining three games to the Seattle Seahawks (28–24), the Miami Dolphins (24–10) and the Jacksonville Jaguars (40–13).
After a Week 1 injury to Vince Young, Kerry Collins took over the starting quarterback position and led the Titans to a 10–0 record before their first defeat at the hands of the New York Jets on November 23.
The team began recovering and won five in a row including a game against the defending NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals, on a 99-yard game-winning drive by Vince Young, culminating in a touchdown pass on fourth down with 6 seconds left from the 10-yard line to Kenny Britt.
Afterwards, the Titans sustained a defeat against Indianapolis, wins over St. Louis and Miami, a loss to San Diego, and finally a victory in Seattle to end the season at 8–8.
After the game, Young had a highly publicized meltdown in the locker room because he believed he could play through the injury and walked out on Fisher, causing him to not only be promptly put on injured reserve, but also essentially guaranteeing his release from the team in the offseason.
In the week following the Titans' final loss to the Colts, the generally pro-Young Bud Adams agreed that it would be best for the team to release or trade Young.
Adams also stated that he hoped to extend Fisher's contract following the 2011 season, but that an extension would be contingent upon the team's performance.
Meanwhile, 15-year veteran Kerry Collins retired from the NFL in July (unretiring a month later to join the Indianapolis Colts).
On July 29, 2011, veteran Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck signed a 3-year, $21 million deal to play for the Tennessee Titans.
Controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk announced that the Titans had hired former Buccaneers Director of Player Personnel Jon Robinson for the open general manager job, and were going to take the interim tag off of Mularkey, making him the head coach.
The Texans thus clinched the AFC South title (the Colts had also lost earlier that day to the Raiders), rendering the Titans' week 17 game (which they nonetheless won) meaningless for their playoff hopes.
The playoff run ended in the divisional round, with a 35–14 loss to the AFC #1 seed and eventual super bowl participant Patriots.
[7] They played the Indianapolis Colts in Week 17, needing a win to clinch the final Wild Card spot in the playoffs, but lost 33–17.
Starting quarterback Marcus Mariota had been injured with a 'stinger' the week before vs the Washington Redskins, sitting out the last game of the season due to a 'risk of permanent damage', as backup Blaine Gabbert played in his place.
The Titans opened up the season with a 43-13 blowout against the Cleveland Browns, with Mariota passing for three touchdowns and the defense logging three interceptions.
[8] During halftime of the 19-17 Week 2 loss against the Indianapolis Colts, the Titans retired the jersey numbers of running back Eddie George and quarterback Steve McNair.
[9] After starting the year 2–4, Mariota was benched during Week 6 in favor of backup Ryan Tannehill, who they traded for in the offseason.
[12] In the playoffs, the Titans upset the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium winning 20–13 in the Wildcard Round, with Henry rushing for 182 yards and a touchdown on 34 carries.
[13] The Titans then beat the heavily favored top-seeded Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium 28–12 in the divisional round, with Henry running for 195 yards on 30 carries and throwing a touchdown.
[19] Henry became one of only eight players to do so, joining Chris Johnson, and made the Titans the only franchise in NFL history with two 2,000 yard rushers.
The Titans lost in a low-scoring 20-13 Wildcard Round to the Ravens with Derrick Henry rushing 18 times for only 40 yards and Ryan Tannehill throwing a crucial late-game interception.
On January 24, 2024, the Titans hired Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan as the teams next head coach.
