Wednesday, 02/09/05
Titans land prize recruit Chow
By JIM WYATT
Staff Writer
Norm Chow, a renowned offensive assistant who helped guide Southern Cal to back-to-back national championships but has no NFL coaching experience, will become Titans offensive coordinator today.
Titans Coach Jeff Fisher offered Chow a multiyear contract yesterday believed to be worth between $800,000 and $900,000 annually. Chow discussed details of the move with his family last night.
''We have gone back and forth, and I feel good about where everything is,'' Fisher said. ''Things definitely look good.''
Chow, 58, will replace offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger, who left the Titans on Jan. 19 for a similar job with the New York Jets.
''I have been in contact with Coach Fisher over the last couple of weeks and really enjoyed my visit to Nashville,'' Chow said. ''I can see why it is such an attractive job and I am honored that he has made me an offer. It looks like a very good situation there.''
Chow interviewed with Fisher on Friday at Baptist Sports Park, where he also met with the coaching staff and quarterback Steve McNair.
But Fisher said he didn't make an offer to Chow until yesterday, when he received the blessing of Titans owner Bud Adams. Fisher said reports out of Los Angeles that Chow received an offer from the Titans on Monday were ''not accurate.''
Chow has been USC's offensive coordinator since 2001 and made $500,000 per season. The Titans paid Heimerdinger $400,000 last season and offered him $800,000 before he took a $1 million offer from the Jets.
The hiring ends a three-week courtship by Fisher, who met with Chow for nearly four hours at Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 21, two days after Heimerdinger left for the Jets.
USC Coach Pete Carroll granted Fisher, a former USC player, permission to speak with Chow, but the parties agreed to wait until after National Signing Day (Feb. 2) before Chow visited Nashville.
Fisher and Chow have remained in contact since then, even talking during halftime of the Super Bowl.
''He was looking at both the offenses and defenses,'' Fisher said. ''He's a ball coach.''
Chow coached Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks Matt Leinart and Carson Palmer at USC. He also spent a year at N.C. State coaching QB Philip Rivers, a first-round draft pick last year.
Chow spent the first 27 seasons of his college career at Brigham Young, where he coached quarterbacks Steve Young, Ty Detmer and Jim McMahon.
Fisher also interviewed Titans assistant head coach/offense George Henshaw and quarterbacks coach Craig Johnson. He requested permission to speak to New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy, but he was hired by the San Francisco 49ers a day before he was scheduled to visit Nashville.
''There were a number of candidates on my list that were never contacted just because I felt like this had the potential to be the right fit,'' Fisher said. ''In addition, I was very, very satisfied with both of the interviews that took place with Coach Henshaw and Coach Johnson. I felt like from that standpoint I couldn't go wrong, I had a replacement in place.''
The Titans are expected to hold a press conference today at Baptist Sports Park, although Chow will not be able to attend due to a family commitment.
Jim Wyatt covers the Titans for The Tennessean. He can be reached at
[email protected] or 259-8015.
