Titans fire Palmer, promote Loggains
The other shoe dropped for the Tennessee Titans just one day after their 24-19 loss to the woeful Jacksonville Jaguars dropped them to 4-7 and out of playoff contention Sunday.
On Monday, the Titans fired veteran offensive coordinator Chris Palmer and replaced him with quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains.
Palmer had promised that the Titans' offense would have an explosive look this season with Chris Johnson, Kenny Britt, Nate Washington, Jared Cook and first-round draft choice Kendall Wright all on board.
However, the Titans ranked just 24th in total offense and there had been considerable whispers and even grumbles about the play-calling at times as well.
The Titans will turn the play-calling duties and the coordinator responsibilities over to Loggains, who is in his first go-around in such a role. Part of the reason for that move is to keep continuity with young quarterback Jake Locker, who is still in the developmental stages with just six starts to his credit.
In announcing the move, the Titans sent out the following statement from head coach Mike Munchak.
"I have a great deal of respect for Chris Palmer as a coach and that was the reason we brought him here," Munchak said. "I appreciate the time and effort he put in here and I want to wish him and his family the best moving forward.
"As an offense, I didn't feel like we were progressing the way that I had hoped. I believe we needed a change in direction, and I hope to see that progress in our remaining games. Dowell has worked here for a number of years under some very successful coordinators and he is ready for this challenge."
Loggains has been with the Titans organization since 2008, spending two years in quality control and the past three seasons as quarterbacks coach, working closely with Locker and Matt Hasselbeck the past couple of seasons.
Part of Loggains' new responsibilities will not only be the continued development of Locker, whom the Titans hope can be a franchise quarterback, but also figuring out how to finish off drives better. On Sunday, in the 24-19 loss at Jacksonville, Tennessee settled for five field goal attempts, making four of them in the loss.
