So now that Bud Adams has made it official that Vince Young will not be a member of the Tennessee Titans next season, the focus turns to Jeff Fisher. Bud said at the end of his statement he released tonight that he informed Fisher he is continuing his evaluation of the staff and will have a decision soon.
My guess is that Fisher gets his contract year to turn it around. VY will be gone so Fisher will be out of people to blame the failures of the team on. He has made this bed, and odds are he isn't going to like it when he looks at the 2011 roster and realizes that he currently has no options at QB. He can hitch his wagon to Kerry Collins if he really wants too, but that wouldn't seem like a smart move considering Collins isn't good anymore. He can draft someone with the 8th pick of the draft, but how often do rookie QBs come in and make a team a playoff contender? He can look on the open market and try to get a guy like Donovan McNabb, but how sure are we that he is any better than Collins at this point? He can try and talk Mike Reinfeldt into making a trade for Kevin Kolb, but odds are the asking price is going to be higher than what Kolb has proven to be worth. It won't matter to Fisher because he has to be all in next season, but hopefully Reinfeldt is looking further down the road than 2011 and won't give up a king's ransom to acquire him. None of those options look all that appealing.
There is also the problem that the Titans defense didn't stop anyone after the bye. They are probably only 2-3 players away from being pretty good, but I think a change at coordinator is a must at this point. How quickly can a new guy come in and make his scheme work? Don't be surprised to see the Titans bring Albert Haynesworth back next year because that is the type of move you make when you are coaching for your job in one season. Even if Haynesworth comes in and is good, they still don't have a linebacker that can cover anyone. Can they find that in the draft? Maybe, but if they have to take a QB at #8 they won't be able to get him until the second round. Can they find an impact guy there? They also need a safety to replace the aging Chris Hope.
That is a lot of questions to answer for Fisher with one year to prove to Bud that he deserves to be the head coach of his football game. Jeff Fisher got his wish today by getting rid of VY, but he also got rid of his last excuse for things not going right. It is now on him to prove that he is anything more than the .500 coach he has been since he took over as coach of the Oilers. I hope for our sake he does, but I will believe it when I see it.