NASHVILLE — The question to Tennessee Titans executive vice president Steve Underwood was both direct and pointed Friday morning.
“You’ve got an 88-year-old owner. You say you’re going to retire at the end of the summer. You’ve just fired your head coach and defensive coordinator and you have no quarterback. Given all that, can you tell your fan base why they shouldn’t think this franchise is in disarray?”
Said Underwood without hesitation: “I look at this as an opportunity. We will emerge from this as strong or stronger than ever.”
This is how the 16-year Jeff Fisher era officially came to a close. It ended with nary a bang nor a whimper. All this amazingly amicable divorce of the Titans and Fisher lacked was a joint statement through their publicists that both parties hoped to remain good friends.
They should, of course, because each entity did much to help the other over the years. Titans owner Bud Adams made Fisher a very wealthy man. Fisher gave the organization a measure of respect and success it had never previously enjoyed.