Inside the Vince Young and Jeff Fisher feud that derailed the Titans

Tennessee Titans fans will remember November 21, 2010.

It was a beautiful day for football in Nashville, and the perfect time to snap a two-game skid. The lowly Washington Redskins were in town on a short week, as Donovan McNabb was just throttled by his former team in the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football, 59-28. This day also marked the first home game for new Titans wideout Randy Moss, who was claimed off of waivers less than three weeks prior. However, fans had no idea they were about to witness the death of an era.

Not only did the Titans fall to Washington in an ugly affair, 19-16, but the day ended with quarterback Vince Young throwing his jersey and shoulder pads into the stands, and storming out of the stadium in what would be his final appearance as a Titan. 

It was the crescendo of a long and tiresome feud that was recently covered in Netflix’s “Untold: The Testimony of Vince Young.” The documentary gave us a behind-the-curtain look at the infamous internal conflict between a young star quarterback with maturity issues and a grizzled veteran coach that was seemingly never in his corner. 

Vince Young’s complicated career as a Titan

“Bud Adams was obsessed and consumed with drafting Vince.” – Jeff Fisher (Netflix)

Young was — and is — one of the best players in college football history. The Texas legend famously led the Longhorns to a national title in the 2006 Rose Bowl, rushing in the game-winning touchdown against the USC Trojans on a fourth-and-5 with 19 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. It’s considered the greatest college football game ever played, and Young was the star of the show. He completed 30 of 40 passes for 267 yards, and rushed 10 times for a whopping 200 yards and three touchdowns to out-score a legendary Trojan offense that featured Heisman Trophy winners Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, plus LenDale White and Dwayne Jarrett. Young then declared for the 2006 NFL Draft.

As the Titans evaluated prospects that year, the franchise was divided between three quarterbacks. Norm Chow, Tennessee’s offensive coordinator who came over from USC, liked Leinart, while Fisher was interested in Vanderbilt’s Jay Cutler. For Titans owner Bud Adams, however, the decision on who to select at No. 3 overall was simple. 

Adams had moved his NFL franchise from Houston to Nashville in 1997 following a highly-publicized stadium dispute. He wasn’t going to pass up on the electrifying playmaker born in Houston that just lit the sports world on fire from a national stage. It was actually more than just Young being a Texas star. As Fisher explains it in the Netflix doc, the bad blood with Houston Mayor Bob Lanier took it to another level. 

Apparently, the ex-wife of Lanier appeared on a radio station in Houston and was asked about who she wanted the Houston Texans to draft with the No. 1 overall pick that year. She was a massive fan of Young, and even joked that if the team didn’t draft him, she would jump off the 16th Street Bridge.

“We’re drafting Vince because I want to see the bitch jump,” Adams allegedly mentioned. 

Offensive Rookie of the Year 

Even if the franchise was divided on who to draft at No. 3, Young did feel like a nice fit in Nashville. 

As a Houston native, he grew up watching the Oilers. In fact, Young’s mentor and father figure was Oilers/Titans legend Steve McNair, who was also a dual-threat quarterback selected by the franchise at No. 3 overall. In the Titans’ first season as a new team in 1999, McNair made it to Super Bowl XXXIV. Young noticed how Fisher got the most out of a unique playmaker like McNair, so he came in confident believing Fisher could do something similar with him.

Veteran quarterback Kerry Collins started the 2006 season for the Titans, but after an 0-3 start, Young was thrust into the starting lineup. The rookie started 2-4, but found his footing and helped the Titans win six straight games. That includes a Week 14 victory over his hometown Texans in Houston, where Young ran in a 39-yard touchdown in overtime to defeat the franchise he once hoped would draft him No. 1 overall. 

The Titans became the first team in NFL history to finish 8-8 after starting the year 0-5. Young threw for 2,199 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions, to go along with 552 rushing yards and seven more scores, which earned him the Madden ’08 cover, Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, and his first Pro Bowl.

The missed flight, and a preseason benching

“I had just a few rules. The rules are pretty simple. So if you had a problem with that, then you had a problem with me.” — Jeff Fisher (Netflix)

There were some early issues with Young and Fisher. Prior to a Week 11 matchup against the Eagles in Philadelphia when Young was a rookie, he was late for the team flight after having to run home to grab his ID. Young told SI.com in a 2017 interview he was held up by a funeral procession, and called Fisher to inform him he would be a few minutes late. While the coach had allegedly held planes for other players, he did not offer Young that courtesy. 

“I feel like Fisher did that shit on purpose,” Young told SI.com. “I’m pulling in, seeing them pull the door down. I can hear the team yelling.”

From Fisher’s perspective, rules were rules.

“I told him, ‘There was no f—–g Longhorn painted on our team plane. This is the NFL, and you’ll get here on time, and we leave on time and don’t take it personal.'” Fisher told Netflix. 

Young made it to Philadelphia on a private jet, and the Titans defeated the Eagles, 31-12. This was actually the victory that sparked the six-game win streak. 

There was also drama between Fisher and Young before his second season even started, as the quarterback was benched for Tennessee’s preseason game against Washington after he broke team rules by not staying at the team hotel overnight. Young went 9-6 as the starter in his second year and got the Titans back to the playoffs for the first time since the 2003 season. However, his stats were unimpressive, as Young threw for 2,546 yards, nine touchdowns and 17 interceptions while fighting through a quad injury.

The day they could not find VY

“After what he endured the day before, he had every reason to be dangerous to himself or to somebody else.” – Jeff Fisher (Netflix)

The Titans defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2008 season opener, 17-10, but Young performed poorly. He threw for 110 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, which drew boos from the home fans, and suffered a knee injury. Then, Young went through the strangest day of his entire career. 

That following Monday, Young left his home without his cellphone, but with his gun. With him unreachable for hours, those around Young were worried enough to contact the Titans, as Young’s therapist reportedly told coach Fisher that the quarterback had mentioned suicide several times before leaving home with his weapon, per ESPN. The Titans then called Nashville police to help locate Young. 

Eventually, the Titans got in touch with their quarterback — who apparently was just out eating chicken wings with teammate Bo Scaife. The team asked him to come to the facility, and when he did, Young was met with a crisis negotiator and SWAT officers. 

As Young told the story to SI.com, he was upset with Fisher for not shutting down the circus immediately. 

“They asked for his wallet and keys. Young sat down with the negotiator. “He’s talking all slowly,” the QB recalls, “like: ‘Mr. Young . . . are you . . . O.K.? Do you . . . feel like . . . hurting yourself?’ ”

“I’m like, Dude, quit talking to me! And I’m looking at Fisher like, You can stop all this, all the suicidal talk. He’s sitting there, saying nothing. I feel like he was just laughing at that shit. The [TV] cameraman hiding in the woods—it all felt like a big setup. And now I gotta walk through the airport as the Suicidal Guy for the rest of my life.”

Young has always taken issue with this story, from the details about what actually happened to how the media covered it at large. But what really rubbed Young the wrong way was how his coach acted in the moment.

“If you ain’t got my back at that heat of the moment, that you could have squashed that shit, I couldn’t trust him no more,” Young told Netflix. 

Fisher on the other hand mentioned that if he had to do it all over again today, he would do the same thing he did back in 2008. 

The benching, then resurgence

The Titans turned to Collins with Young nursing his knee injury. He was initially expected to miss just a few weeks, but after Tennessee started racking up double-digit victories, Fisher kept him on the bench. 

The Titans started 10-0 that season, and finished with a 13-3 record — good enough for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. However, Tennessee was quickly dispatched from the postseason by the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round.

Given Tennessee’s success in 2008, Collins was given the nod to start the 2009 season with Young as his backup.

“Vince is in a situation now where he will have to do everything he possibly can to earn his job back,” Fisher mentioned at the NFL owners’ meetings in March 2009. “That starts with the offseason commitment.”

The magic was gone, however, as the Titans started off 0-6 — which included a 59-0 beatdown issued by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots that is infamous to Titans fans to this day. That’s when the team owner, Adams, stepped in again, urging Fisher to play the former Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Young was indeed reinserted into the starting lineup, and helped the Titans reel off five straight wins. One of those victories went down in franchise lore, as Young led an 18-play, 99-yard game-winning drive against his old USC rival Leinart and the Arizona Cardinals that included three fourth-down conversions and a touchdown pass on the final play of the game.

This made the Titans the first team to ever win five straight after an 0-6 start, and it was one of the most electric finishes to a game you could ask for. 

Young also had the benefit of a young star running back that year in Chris Johnson, who became just the sixth player to cross 2,000 yards rushing in a season. Young went 8-2 as the starter in 2009, and earned his second Pro Bowl bid. 

End of the line

The 2010 season started underwhelming and ended disastrously. Young was benched in the Week 2 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and did not cross 200 yards passing until Week 8.  Still, the Titans were very much in the race for the AFC South at 5-4 as they entered the infamous Week 11 matchup vs. Washington. 

Late in the third quarter, Young injured the thumb on his throwing hand and was replaced under center by rookie Rusty Smith. Young got his thumb taped and wanted to reenter the game, but Fisher elected against it.

“During the timeout, the first ball he threw kind of hit at (the receiver’s) feet, and then the second ball he threw went over the wide receiver, so he can’t control the ball,” Fisher recounted to Netflix. “I mentioned, ‘Man, you can’t throw you can’t play.’ We’re better off with somebody else.”

Smith completed 3 of 9 passes for 62 yards and one interception in the overtime loss.

“I get pissed and I’m in the back like ‘Man, to hell with coach, man.’ I just don’t feel like he believes in me,” Young mentioned. 

That’s when Young threw his uniform and shoulder pads into the stands. As SI.com tells it, when Young prepared to leave the stadium before anyone else, Fisher tried to stop him. 

“You’re walking out on your team,” he mentioned.

“I’m walking out on your motherf—— ass,” Young yelled back.

That was the last time the NFL world saw Young as a Titan.

“He threw half his uniform in the stands. I think clearly that is no way to respond, and so we have some things that we have to sort out with him,” Fisher told reporters after the game. “He may need surgery. And if that’s the case, he’s done for the year.”

Tennessee finished 6-10 that year, its worst campaign since 2005. In early January, the Titans owner issued a statement announcing that Young would not be on roster in 2011.

“As you are aware, we have been engaged in a series of internal discussions over the last month about the future of our football team. We have two critical decisions to make – the direction of the coaching staff and the future at the quarterback position. They are separate issues to me and will be dealt with separately.

“Today, I informed our general manager Mike Reinfeldt to move forward with plans to begin the process of identifying the next quarterback for our franchise. He will inform Vince Young’s agent that Vince will not be on our roster next season. I want to offer my personal thanks to Vince for all of his positive contributions to the club. These kinds of decisions are never easy and this is especially true for this particular player. I certainly wish that things would have worked out better, but I think it is best for the franchise that we move on at this point.

“I also informed Jeff (Fisher) today that I was continuing the evaluation of the coaching staff and I am hoping to make a decision soon.”

The headlines read, “Bud Adams chooses Jeff Fisher over Vince Young.” It definitely appeared that was the case, but later that month, the two sides parted ways after 17 years.

Young then signed with the Eagles to back up Michael Vick in 2011. He dubbed Philly’s new-look roster a “dream team,” but the Eagles finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs. Young made three starts, winning one, and never played in an NFL game again despite trying to catch on with the Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers and Cleveland Browns. 

Who is to blame?

So, are you on Young’s side or Fisher’s side? There’s clearly fault in both men. Young was an immature, if not spoiled, player who struggled with any kind of authority. He wasn’t ready to be a leader of a franchise. 

“Vince was a fun-loving, happy, life-of-the-party kind of quarterback, but from a leadership standpoint, he was too consumed with Vince rather than the rest of the players,” Fisher told Netflix. 

At the same time, did Fisher ever try to meet Young halfway where he was at? 

Bo Scaife, who played with Young during his time at Texas and in Tennessee, touched on this subject during an episode of “Bullseye View” — a podcast hosted by former Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck. Young and Scaife played under coach Mack Brown at Texas, and Scaife mentioned that their college leader was “great” at communicating a vision to kids from all different walks of life and crucial to the development and maturation of his guys. 

“For Mack Brown to humble himself, to take a step back and try to understand all his players, try to understand his new quarterback and figure out what he can do to get the best out of him. That’s what you gotta do,” Scaife mentioned. “In a way, coaches are phycologists. You gotta learn how to get the best out of people, you gotta learn what drives their behavior …”  

It didn’t sound like Fisher went out of his way for his supremely talented quarterback. 

“I don’t know if Jeff ever did that,” Scaife mentioned. “I don’t know if the time was spent to do that because it is a commitment, it is a time commitment, you have to spend time with this individual.”

Bulluck agreed, as he saw Fisher put more effort into other players that didn’t play the most important position in football. 

“Outside looking in, obviously I was on defense, I honestly feel Jeff could have done more to help Vince, Vince could have done more to help himself,” Bulluck mentioned. “But I say Jeff could have done more because actually he’s the leader of our team, and I’ve seen him do more for players in other positions that weren’t Vince Young as far as supporting and giving help that he didn’t provide for V.” 

Young mentioned it himself in his documentary. He felt like his coach, his leader, was his enemy.

“I’m dealing with some shit with a guy that just don’t want me here. It was kind of like he was my enemy on the same team in the same facility,” Young mentioned. “I feel like that childhood love that I had for him was out the door.” 

At the end of his Netflix special, Young was asked what he wished Fisher and the Titans did differently:

“I think they did what was best for the organization, for their team, and it was my fault in a way and I feel like me and Fisher could have handled that situation a little bit better and stopped bickering and shit like that and do what was best for the team,” Young mentioned. “We had a really good football team and we could have won some Super Bowls. And at the end of the day, we both got fired.” 

The two men just seemingly never saw eye-to-eye — even when it came to reconciliation. Three days after Young stormed out of the locker room following the loss to Washington, Fisher mentioned his quarterback apologized via text message.

“I’m not a real big text guy,” Fisher mentioned. “I’m not really into this new age stuff. I don’t twit or tweet. But I think face-to-face is a man thing, OK?”

Fisher even mentioned, “Someone could’ve grabbed his phone and texted” him. 

Years later, Young penned an apology letter and sent it to Fisher. The coach mentioned he never responded to the letter because his name was misspelled, and he had no idea if the letter actually came from his former quarterback. Whether on or off the field, they were never on the same page.