Titans owners should do us a favor and sell the team
They’ve renamed it, brought in new items at the concession stands, upgraded the video boards and plan to install new seats.
But you know what the Titans could do to really improve things at Nissan Stadium?
Put a banner out front that says: Under New Management.
It’s time. I know it. You know it. And if those who comprise the ownership group have taken a hard look at it, they know it.
With the two-year anniversary of franchise founder Bud Adams’ death last week, we have had plenty of time to see how his heirs would perform as an ownership group. The conclusion: horribly.
It’s gone from bad to worse. There’s no question things began to slip badly during Bud’s later years, both on the field and off. Now? The Titans are a rudderless ship, captained by three separate-but-equal ownership entities that either don’t care about what’s going on or are incapable of fixing it.
Like Coach Einstein told us, insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Would Whisenhunt relinquish Titans' play-calling duties?
Say what you will about Bud, but the Titans were his pride and joy. The current ownership group treats the franchise like an investment – nothing more, nothing less. As long as the revenue-sharing checks from the league office don’t bounce, everything’s fine.
But that shouldn’t be good enough. The only solution: Sell the team.
Even with an asking price that could approach $2 billion, there would be takers. For those who have accumulated a certain level of wealth, an NFL franchise would be a prized possession.
One possible hang-up: Given the level of dysfunction within the extended Adams family, the owners probably would argue over who gets the extra penny when $2 billion is divided by three.
It’s a shame it has come to this. The arrival of the NFL in 1997 played such a significant role in Nashville’s growth spurt and emergence as the “it” city. Not quite two decades later, it is ironic that Nashville has become such a boom town while the Titans have gone bust.
With a 3-19 record over the past two seasons, some have called for the ouster of Ken Whisenhunt or Ruston Webster or both. I’ll cut the coach and general manager some slack. The root of the problem goes higher up the organizational chart – to the very top. Everything trickles down from there.
As much as I like Steve Underwood, his return from retirement last March to run the day-to-day operation as president/CEO hasn’t really changed anything. Why should it? Underwood works at the direction of the ownership group. He’s following orders from deep in the heart of Texas.
On top of that, Underwood’s biggest job is identifying and hiring his successor, a process that will not be complete until next spring at the earliest. With no one in place to manage things between the football and business sides of the organization while also connecting to the community, the operation is doomed to fail.
It wasn’t always like this. When the franchise landed on Tennessee turf in 1997, executives, coaches and players went out of their way to nurture goodwill in the community. Somewhere along the way, though, things changed. It was as if those in the organization believed just being part of the NFL was good enough.
And that was fine as long as the Titans were winning. Now? Not so much.
At some point, you’d think one of the owners would step outside the luxury suite and notice all the empty seats and the embarrassing infiltration of fans for the visiting team at Nissan Stadium. Maybe that would get someone’s attention.
Instead, the owners seem just fine with muddling along as one of the very worst organizations in the NFL, if not in all of professional sports.
For the Titans, it’s business as usual – bad business.
Do us all a favor and sell the team.
Reach David Climer at 615-259-8020 and on Twitter @DavidClimer.
