Titans Hire USC's Norm Chow as New Offensive Coordinator

[Walter Cronkite]

Norm Chow has spent the last four year coaching at USC.

Norm Chow finally found an opportunity that enticed him to leave the college ranks after 32 years and accepted his first NFL job Wednesday, becoming offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans.

Chow, who helped Southern California win two consecutive national championships, said the timing and opportunity were right. His hiring comes a week after the Trojans signed a recruiting class ranked among the best in the nation.

"Everybody understands it's an opportunity for me and my family to get to the highest level of football, and they understand the excitement that we have," Chow said during a conference call.

Chow replaces Mike Heimerdinger, who was hired as the New York Jets' offensive coordinator last month.

This is Chow's first job in pro football after 27 seasons at BYU, a season at North Carolina State and the last four at USC. Chow had some NFL opportunities in the past, but never pursued them.

Titans coach Jeff Fisher said he was impressed with Chow's ability to teach young players and pointed out that Chow has coached three Heisman Trophy winners, including the most recent in Matt Leinart. He also noted that Chow's offense has ranked in the top 10 nationally in 15 of the last 21 years.

"We know which direction our offense wants to go, and I felt without any question in my mind that he's the right guy to get us there," Fisher said.

Fisher, a USC alumnus, initially met with Chow for four hours a few days before national signing day Feb. 2. He had a lengthy final interview in Nashville last Friday.

Fisher also interviewed assistant head coach George Henshaw and quarterbacks coach Craig Johnson from his own staff.

The 58-year-old Chow tutored quarterback Philip Rivers at North Carolina State in 2000 and then groomed Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks Carson Palmer and Leinart at USC.

At BYU, Chow worked with Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer, soon-to-be Hall of Famer Steve Young and Chicago Bears QB Jim McMahon - a former teammate of Fisher's.

"Coach Chow and I feel... the potential to win here is still there and in a short period of time will be greater than it ever has been," Fisher said.

The salary-cap strapped Titans are facing a tough offseason and are at least $21 million over the cap. Much of what they do before free agency starts March 2 depends on Steve McNair, who has yet to decide whether he will return for the 2005 season.

Fisher said he believes McNair will return. The quarterback met with Chow on Friday, and his recovery from surgery to graft bone onto his sternum is nearly complete.

"I believe that this decision put a little more bounce in his step than he's had," Fisher said of McNair. "He's doing very well right now, and I know he's excited about this."

Source: AP

[AndySMC]

Bringing in Chow pretty much guarantees that Steve McNair will be back next season.

[Modern Arts]

Chow is 58 years old, entering the pro ranks for the first time in his career and he just doubled his salary with his new job. Fisher has stated he's not gonna let Chow rewrite the playbook, just tweak it AND we all know the Titans salary cap is a mess.

I'm happy for the guy and happy for the Titans too but, it sounds like a retirement package to me. With all the possible salary cap casualties the Titans are facing how's it gonna help any time soon? Bud ain't gonna sit around through another 1 or 2 losing seasons without firing somebody. If that happens it'll pretty much be starting from scratch.

The Titans need to recover quickly from losing half the O-line, most the D secondary and their most consistent receiver.

[Flying High]

I caught some of Jeff Fisher's comments on the radio. The guy sounded like the kid who just got a brand new bike from Santa! He was absolutely stoked! You could tell it went beyond the usual hype.

He was talking about how Chow would fit in and how there may need to be some personnel changes to get a few guys in certain positions. Fisher's main point was that this guy has developed QBs for a living for about 30 years, not the least of which are two out of the last three Heisman Trophy winners. With added practice time beyond the 20 hour per week maximum he worked under NCAA rules, he can do great work with technique and seeing capabilities.

He mentioned that Chow and he talked about simplifying the offense and executing precise plays, etc. That could help guys like Calico and Troupe who have the tendency to get lost.

He mentioned that McNair was not given any say in the decision, but was kept in the loop. Fisher said when he mentioned to McNair that Chow was going to be interviewed, McNair's eyes got big and a big smile went across his face. Looks like Steve's coming back!

This by no means solves the devastating cap problems the Titans have to deal with this year, but it bodes well for the future. Now that Schwartz signed his extension, things are fine from a coaching standpoint.


I just wonder how much him having no experience at all in the pros will be a factor.