Man this thing is crazy. Joe Dubin, Jim Wyatt and numerous others are tweeting that Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams paid Jeff Fisher $8 million as part of an agreement for him to not be the coach of the team in 2011. From Wyatt:
"So the two sides decided it would be best to part ways. Fisher took a buyout of roughly $8 million, which included a bonus."
So apparently Fisher's contract was set to pay him more than the $6.5 million that had been reported earlier. It is really strange to me that Bud said earlier he never even considered firing Fisher and paying him not to coach in 2011, but now he gives him $8 million to walk away.
Wyatt also tweeted that the front office was frustrated with Fisher's slow pace to hire new coaches.
So maybe Bud met with Fisher earlier this offseason and said he wasn't going to pay him not to coach, and he wasn't going to give him an extension. Fisher was hoping to get fired so he could get paid, but didn't want to walk away and not get his money. So he decided to drag his feet once his coaches started leaving to force Bud's hands.
It is a shame Fisher isn't as good at winning football games as he is at winning power struggles.
Statements from Titans and Fisher after the jump.
Titans:
“We will be forever appreciative of Jeff Fisher’s leadership and accomplishments through his time with our franchise. We reached some of our greatest heights and experienced some unforgettable moments during his tenure.
“After the season was complete, we had numerous discussions on the direction of the team and were pleased that we were moving forward with Jeff at the helm. Since that time, it became evident that consensus was increasingly hard to find and reality wasn’t matching the vision we discussed. It is unfortunate that this decision is coming at this juncture, but we believe that we have reached the point where change is in the best interest of both parties.
“We will start the head coaching search tomorrow. We expect to talk to a broad and diverse group of candidates. We are confident the coaching pool still has a number of quality candidates that can lead our football team.”
Fisher:
“I want to thank Mr. Adams and the organization for a special 17 years. I can’t thank the fans enough for the support they showed us through the years; it has been a tremendous experience. We all did our very best and I think I can look back with fond memories and be very proud of what we accomplished. I want to wish the organization, the current players and the fans nothing but the best in the future.”