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Tennessee Titans NFL Franchise History

The Tennessee Titans NFL football franchise was originally established as the Houston Oilers in 1960 by oil man Bud Adams. Bud Adams established the Oilers as the first team in his AFL league he co-founded after being denied entry into the NFL as a Houston expansion franchise. Adam’s Houston Oilers were the winners of the first two championships in the AFL; since the merger of the AFL and NFL in 1970, Bud Adams has not been able to win a Superbowl Championship as an Oiler or a Titan.

The Houston Oilers went from being one of the stronger teams in the AFL, to struggling with competition in the NFL to the mid to late 1970s. Bum Phillips and Billy “White Shoes” Johnson helped achieve the first winning season in the NFL for the Oilers in 1975; drafting Earl Campbell in 1978, lead to the teams first playoff appearance and victory. The team made it as far as the AFC championship in 1979, losing to the Steelers in the end .

After that high point competition was again unfavorable for the Oilers, Bum Phillips was fired that next year after an embarrassing playoff loss to Oakland. The future brightened in 1985, when the Oilers were able to acquire future Hall of Fame inductee Warren Moon. This was not enough to keep the Oilers in Houston however, eventually one day Bud Adams would take his team to Tennessee. As Warren Moon was orchestrating some of the best games in Oiler NFL history, Adams was in heated negotiations with the city of Houston over building a new stadium and additional revenue streams.

Adams threatened to take the team to Jacksonville, so the city of Houston upgraded the Astrodome. The Houston Oilers proved to be a strong team in contention throughout the 1990 season, this eventually lead to the first Oiler NFL divisional championship in 1991. Unfortunately once again, after this high point the Oilers fell victim to two infamously embarrassing playoff losses for the next two seasons. This lead to more scrutiny from Bud Adams versus the media and fans; this eventually ended in a fire sale moving Warren Moon to Minnesota and the team to Tennessee after his requests for a second stadium in 10 years was rejected.

The Oilers acquired quarterback Steve McNair in 1995 and announced their departure in 1996 for the 1999 season; poor attendance thereafter pushed the move up even sooner. The 1999 season brought a new team to Tennessee with a new name, the Titans and new stars, McNair and Eddie George. The 1999 season was the Oilers’ best season as they made the one and only franchise Super Bowl appearance, losing by merely one yard.

Jeff Fisher was the coach for the Titans’ entire time in Tennessee for both McNair and new quarterback Vince Young up until the 2011 season. After drafting Vince Young, the Titans acquired Chris Johnson at running back from East Carolina. He has proven to be a vital asset to the team as one of the fastest and most dynamic players in the NFL; Tennessee made him the highest paid of all time this past summer. With a new veteran quarterback, Matt Hassleback and a new coach in former Oiler Mike Munchak, the Titans are ready to bring in a new era contending to be NFL Superbowl Champions.