Tennessee Football Inc., the company that owns the Titans, filed the lawsuit Monday in Davidson County Chancery Court. The suit accuses Kiffin and USC of violating Pola’s contract, which required him to have written permission to discuss a job with anyone other than the Titans.

The Titans hired Pola away from the Jacksonville Jaguars in January, only to lose him Saturday to USC, where he will be the Trojans’ offensive coordinator and running backs coach.

“USC and Kiffin maliciously intended to — and did — induce Pola to breach the Pola contract,” the lawsuit charges. “USC and Kiffin engaged in improper means in their procurement of the breach and were not legally justified in their actions. Kiffin and USC’s actions, through him, were part of a course and pattern of conduct fostered by Kiffin and USC to use improper methods and means to the direct harm and damage of parties to contracts …”

The Titans declined to comment beyond the lawsuit Monday when contacted by The Associated Press.

Original Article Courtesy of NFL.com

Running backs coach Kennedy Pola is leaving the Tennessee Titans to become the offensive coordinator at USC — a move that surprised and dismayed Jeff Fisher.

Fisher, the Titans’ coach and a former Trojans player, told The Tennessean on Saturday that USC coach Lane Kiffin didn’t contact him during the hiring process. Fisher also said he learned of the move from Pola, who had only been with the Titans since January.

“I am very disappointed in Lane Kiffin’s approach to this,” Fisher said. “Typically speaking when coaches are interested in hiring or discussing potential employment from coaches on respective staffs there is a courtesy call made from the head coach or athletic director indicating there is an interest in talking to the assistant.

“So I am very disappointed in the lack of professionalism on behalf of Lane, to call me and leave me a voice mail after Kennedy had informed me he had taken the job. It is just a lack of professionalism.”

Kiffin attempted to rectify the damage Saturday, finally reaching Fisher and discussing the abrupt move. Kiffin then issued a statement that didn’t exactly deny that he had breached protocol, saying he first spoke to Pola on Friday, then called Fisher on Saturday after Pola called him back, apparently to accept the job.

“I have spoken with Coach Fisher and he now has an accurate understanding of the timeline of events,” Kiffin said. “We realize the timing of this isn’t perfect for all parties, but this is a great opportunity and promotion for Kennedy.”

Later Saturday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Kiffin originally offered the job to Vikings running back coach Eric Bieniemy, who turned him down and notified Vikings coach Brad Childress on Thursday that we would stay with the team. One of the reasons that Bienemy chose to stay was because the team is scheduled to open training camp Friday.

“First off I felt I would have let my players down,” Bienemy said. “On top of that, I would have let my fellow coaches down and I would have let the organization down. There was a lot pulling at me. After having conversations with our head coach, with people in management and ownership this is the right place for me and the right decision.”

Bieniemy, who will continue to oversee Minnesota’s running backs, also has been given the title of assistant head coach/offense. Bieniemy is entering the first year of a two-year contract.

Pola’s departure leaves the Titans without a running backs coach one week before training camp opens. Fisher told The Tennessean he’ll promote a coach from within the Titans to replace Pola.

Original Article Courtesy of NFL.com

Any chance that Chris Johnson will hold out of Tennessee Titans training camp ended Monday, when the sides struck a deal that will pay the All-Pro running back $2 million this coming season, a league source told NFL Network insider Michael Lombardi.

Johnson’s agent, Joel Segal, didn’t reveal figures of the deal, although he confirmed its completion in a text message to The Associated Press. However, Johnson didn’t sound so certain in a text message to the NFL Network news desk Monday afternoon.

“I haven’t agreed to ne thing yet,” he said.

The Titans declined to confirm the deal.

According to The AP, the Titans turned incentives that were scheduled to be paid in 2012 into part of Johnson’s 2010 compensation. Johnson was scheduled to receive a $550,000 base salary, making him the lowest-paid running back on Tennessee’s roster.

Johnson remains set to receive base salaries of $800,000 in 2011 and $960,000 in 2012.

Johnson classified contract talks as being “at a standstill” Wednesday night. He also said a short-term pay hike would be OK, despite previously demanding a long-term deal with at least $30 million guaranteed.

Johnson, a two-year pro, expressed displeasure with his five-year, $12 million contract after he led the league with 2,006 rushing yards last season. He also was the NFL Offensive Player of the Year, and as such, he said he wanted to be the league’s highest-paid offensive player.

However, team officials insisted Johnson was under contract for three more years and that rules limiting pay hikes to 30 percent in the NFL’s labor agreement made it impossible to give him a huge raise. Almost all of the money for a new long-term deal would have been paid up front, which the Titans weren’t willing to do.

Johnson skipped all of the Titans’ organized team activities and minicamp this offseason to show his unhappiness. However, he should be at training camp when it opens July 31.

Johnson now can focus on reaching his next goal — Eric Dickerson’s NFL rushing record of 2,105, set in 1984. Johnson already ranks behind just Dickerson (3,318) and Edgerrin James (3,262) for the most yards in the first two years of a career with 3,234.

Johnson also will try to match Barry Sanders’ record of 14 consecutive 100-yard rushing games after finishing the 2009 season with 11 in a row.

Kent’s Take On What to look for now

Many of you may be wondering what to look for now that the fire has been contained so to speak.  First, I would expect for the Titans to concentrate on shoring up players that they want to bring in as a depth or possible starter capacity such as Kevin Mawae (still unsigned) and Keith Bulluck (has yet to work out for a team and thus still unsigned).  Bulluck could possibly sign during training camp now that second year Linebacker Gerald McRath will be facing a 4 game suspension for violation of the leagues Performance Enhancing Substance Abuse Policy.  Will Witherspoon is a viable candidate to take over Bulluck’s starting role but with an ailing David Thornton and not much promising depth, aside from rookie Rennie Curran, I would look for the Titans to work out Keith and sign him to a 2 year contract with a majority of the money being front loaded for this year, to face paying cap penalties for next season.

Main Article Courtesy of NFL.com

Only 4 Tennessee Titan players have overall ratings in the 90s in this year’s Madden NFL 11, and 3 of them are on the offensive side of the ball (Chris Johnson, Michael Roos, and Rob Bironas).  In real life, the Titans did little to inspire confidence with the EA games analysts, finishing with the 28th ranked defense. So how accurate are their preseason ratings this year?

In the last post, I walked through the Madden player ratings for the Titans offense and all the individual player ratings for the Titans are here.  Like before, I won’t discuss each individual player in detail, but here are some thoughts about the defensive player ratings.

Linebackers:

Will Witherspoon (82 overall rating) (-4 pts from 2010): A slight drop off could be explained by Witherspoon’s increasing age, he turns 30 in August, however he is hardly a replacement for Keith Bulluck’s perennial status amongst the top outside linebackers.  If this is any indication of how things will go in real life, expect a void in our defense the size of Albert Haynesworth’s pants size.

David Thornton (79) (-2): Watching Thornton deteriorate each year in Madden has almost been as painful to watch as his falloff in play on the real LP Field.  Unfortunately, I expect more than just overall rating points to evaporate before our eyes this year.

Stephen Tulloch (77) (+4): Honestly, I was a little disappointed with his rating.  Only 12 players in the NFL had more tackles than him last season.  I’m not asking for him to be in the 90s, but an 80-85 overall rating seems more appropriate given his consistent play over the last 2 seasons.

Gerald McRath (73) (+9): Every Titan fan should be encouraged with this rating.  Coupled with his fill-in work for Thornton, I expect him to bounce back from this sketchy suspension and assume an outside linebacker role that will be his for the keeping.

Defensive Line:

Derrick Morgan (79) (Rookie): Only 8 rookies were listed with higher overall ratings than Morgan and his low awareness rating seems to be the only thing standing between him and an overall rating in the mid-80s.  I think this is a promising endorsement from the people at EA about our first round pick.

Jason Jones (77) (+2): Another encouragement for all Titan fans.  He missed most of the season and still received a modest boost in overall rating.  J.J. is poised for a breakout season.

William Hayes (71) (N/A): This low rating is confusing given his 4 sacks last year (more than Richard Seymour, Kyle Vanden Bosch, and Marcus Spears).  Again, I’m not asking for a rating in the 90s, but somewhere in the high 70s would have been more appropriate.

Jason Babin (69) (N/A): Unfortunately, Babin is a victim of the Madden system of self-regulating depth charts.  His ceiling is the low rating that was handed to Hayes, thus 2 Titan players are punished for the price of one.  With that being said, I still have no idea what to expect from this former first rounder.

Defensive Backs:

Michael Griffin (86) (-9) and Chris Hope (84) (-8): Hate to say it, but these two had this coming.  Hopefully, Chuck Cecil will get back to the basics with these two talented safeties. “Keep everything in front of you.”

Jason McCourty (68) (N/A): He made the roster this year and instantly jumped everyone but his immediate competition.  Tye Hill (70) and Alterraun Verner (66).  Honestly, it’s nice to have some young talented options in this area of the depth chart after last year’s tribute to Thriller.

Vincent Fuller (72) (+3): Dear EA, Vincent accepts your apology.

Punters:

Brett Kern (68) (+4): That’s right Titan fans, the post-Hentrich era has begun.

It is pretty obvious, EA expects this unit to be middle of the pack, at best.  Let’s hope for our sake, this unit simply underachieved last season because of a new defensive coordinator or injuries and not because of a complete lack of playmaking ability.  Shutting out Oakland to start the season would go a long way.

So do the video game wizards at EA Sports know something about this year’s Tennessee Titans or are they simply reacting to the pedestrian season the Titans turned in last year?

As shared in the first post, here are the player ratings for the Tennessee Titans on Madden NFL 11.  I won’t discuss every player in detail, but here are some thoughts about the some of the ratings for Titans offensive players.

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends:

Kenny Britt (82 overall rating) (+6 pts from 2010) – Not a bad boost after a sometimes inconsistent rookie year, but I do like the high “catch in traffic” rating (94).  I hope he truly becomes a real life reception machine, a la Derrick Mason.

Bo Scaife (81) (-3 pts) – Ho hum. Another year, another average rating.  Feel free to continue to trade him in Franchise mode.

Justin Gage (77) (0 pts) - Really?!  This guy is still rated ahead of Nate Washington (76)?

Jared Cook (68) (-7 pts) – Ouch.  This is mostly because of a low “awareness” rating, but I sure hope we’re talking about how wrong EA was about this next year.

Running Backs:

Chris Johnson (99) (+12 pts) – This is the first time in my life the Titans have both the best running back and best player in the NFL.  Good job, anything less than this honor of top rating would have been a disgrace and a complete lack of respect for what CJ2K accomplished last season.  P.S. – Thanks for fixing his carry rating from last year.

LeGarrette Blount (65) (Rookie) – Got it EA.  He punched a guy, therefore cannot have an “awareness” rating above the minimum (30).  That seems a little harsh.  Also, why not Stafon Johnson over Alvin Pearman?

Quarterbacks:

Vince Young (79) (+11 pts) – This is actually a fair rating and a considerable increase from last year’s embarrassing overall rating.  I still don’t understand how EA justifies punishing VY’s throwing power for his off the field and accuracy troubles.  Overall, this is what he has earned after only one year of solid work.  If he wants to see the 80s or 90s again, he will need a follow-up season of equal quality.

Chris Simms (68) (+2 pts) – Why not Rusty Smith?

Offensive Line:

Michael Roos (95) (-2 pts) – Is he behind Ryan Clady (98), Jake Long (96), and Joe Thomas (95) because they are first round picks and he wasn’t? Because I don’t see a 2000 yard rusher behind any of them.

David Stewart (89) (-3 pts) AND Jake Scott (85) (-3 pts) – CJ2K rushes for 2000 yards and they fall 3 points each in overall rating?  Hmm…

Eugene Amano (80) (+6 pts) – Did he steal those 6 points from Stewart and Scott?  If so, change it back.  You had it right the first time.

Leroy Harris (78) (+7 pts) – Another bewildering boost from last year.  The overall rating shifts in this year’s offensive line are simply baffling.

Kicker:

Rob Bironas (93) (-3 pts) – Not sure why they dropped his overall rating 3 points.  This seems a misfire only Nate Kaeding (listed ahead of Bironas) could appreciate.

Overall, it seems EA believes that VY and CJ2K are solely responsible for the turnaround that happened in the second half of the season.  This doesn’t bode well for how they will rate our defensive players.  Check out those ratings and more, next week!

Drew Brees season is doomed. Gaming stores are besieged with back orders. Your copy of Madden ‘10 just dropped 92% in value.  It must be that time of year,  EA Sports must be set to release Madden NFL 11.  As a 27 year old married man, I STILL circle the date each and every year because it is the ONLY video game I still purchase and regularly play.

Quickly, 3 reasons this game is a perennial must for every gamer / sports fan:

1. The NFL and EA Sports are as intricately woven together as each Reebok jersey worn every Sunday.  This means the most intimate of details about players, coaches, franchises, contracts, and stadiums are at the gamer’s disposal each time they pick up the controller to play. Franchise mode ensures that this game can be played year round and still create unique plays and results.

2. Madden is adaptable and easily updated with developments in the NFL.  This includes their on-line playground, their strict adherence to injuries, ratings, depth charts, and other intricate details that can completely alter game play from week-to-week.

3. As much as I hate to admit it, Madden’s overall accurateness and game play design is as good as any game I have ever played.  Did you know that EA Sports Madden NFL series has predicted 6 of the last 7 Super Bowl winners? Although I will challenge this in isolated cases, even I have to admit that year-in and year-out these game analysts are great at measuring and quantifying players abilities.

With that being said, I will release posts over the next week talking about the Tennessee Titan player ratings on this year’s Madden ‘11.  Given their general low ratings, maybe EA knows something we don’t… then again, maybe not.

Check out the rest of the NFL player ratings here!

OTA’s are over and the Titans are excited about the upcoming season.  That’s nice and all, but how can the fans possibly be as optimistic?

Try to find something positive about the Titans’ offseason. You won’t find one here, here, or here.  Things are so dire, this near-propagandist piece, penned by Titans executives The Tennessean, dares fans to get excited just because the team has worked hard and how well perpetual hope-crusher Lavelle Hawkins has played.  Depending how the empty the glass looks on your end, you’re either as down as I am on the Titans’ playoff chances or “this is ridiculous, it’s only June.”  But what could two more months of open competitions between mediocre talent possibly tell you about this team that you didn’t already know?

Titans fans should get used to seeing this expression a lot this season.

Long after the scattered clouds clear over Nashville this week, the Chris Johnson cloud will still hover over the Titans.  Just take a look at the list of last year’s holdouts that included Roddy White, Brandon Marshall, and Leon Washington.  The Falcons and Broncos both missed the playoffs and the Jets made the conference finals thanks to the unexpected emergence of Washington’s eventual replacement, Shonn Greene.  Chris Johnson’s reasons for his contract situation seem as unprecedented as his sudden rise to elite status, but the impact of his holdout will weigh the team down like all the holdouts before him.  I’m pretty sure a top-3 reason players are happy about the end of OTA’s is they can now go a day without a reporter asking them when Johnson will show up to camp.

Oh, but if only a silly holdout was all we had to be concerned.  On a team already lacking talent at key places like the secondary and at linebacker, the Titans can’t afford to have the 3 key-holders of the offense (the best thing the team has going for it) carrying on with the kind of drama Vince Young, Johnson, and Kenny Britt are staging.  In fact, there isn’t a single starter on the Titans roster, on EITHER side of the ball, who doesn’t worry me except for Derrick Morgan (battling injuries already) and the two tackles (who gets excited about tackles?).

When I look at the roster on paper, this team is playoff-caliber.  There’s enough explosiveness in the backfield, enough depth at receiver, and the defensive line should be rejuvenated with the return of Jason Jones and the arrival of Morgan.  But in the grand scheme of things, there’s so many off-the-field problems it might be too much even for master motivator Jeff Fisher to keep the team’s eyes on the prize. Except the prize these days is to go a week without an embarrassing headline.

The expectations are being lowered every week with this team, but what say you? How do you think the 2011 Titans season plays out?

Every year the Titan fan base is subjected to limitless articles depicting the Titans as a fantasy wasteland.  Devoid of options other than the obvious oasis, Chris Johnson, and stalwart Rob Bironas, the Titans only appear to be without dynamic fantasy potential. These articles rarely take into account two relevant factors in building a fantasy team:

First, experienced fantasy owners rarely play in default setting leagues, which vary from website to website anyway.

Second, some fantasy owners want players they can root for in the both the real world as well as
the fantasy world.

With that being said, here are 3 options (other than CJ2K and Ma-ma-my-Bironas) worth considering…

1. Vince Young – It’s now or never. After Bud and Fisher REannointed him, riding high after a triumphant return to his starting role, and with a new young gunslinger in the fold, it is time to step out of the shadows and become the dynamic prototypical passer we all hoped he would become. Forget Tim Tebow, this is the year of VY.

Projected Season (15 games):
Passing: 2975 yards / 21 TDs / 13 INTs
Rushing: 375 yards / 4 TDs / 10 fumbles (4 lost)
Draft in the Flacco, Ryan, Cutler, McNabb group

2. Jared Cook – Everybody loves a steal. Especially a super, secret pick in the middle-late rounds of draft day with your buddies watching. Cook is poised to explode like Vernon Davis did last year. With Britt struggling to get going in the offseason, Cook’s athleticism, size, and work ethic early in training camp will land him a role pivotal to the red zone passing attack of the Titans.

Projected Season (14 games):
Receiving: 625 yards / 8 TDs / 0 fumbles
Fantasy playoff week opponents: Jax, Hou, Ind, KC (4 of those 8 TDs will be here)
TE / Flex and a great stopgap if Gates, Gonzo, or Daniels come up lame

3. TEN Defense – Okay, this could definitely backfire! I am still not sold on Chuck Cecil myself, but with Nick Harper out of the picture and Albert Haynesworth’s absence properly addressed (healthy Jason Jones and Derrick Morgan). This unit is poised to once again strike fear in opposing offenses. Expect lower point totals, more sacks, and more turnovers. Opening day at home versus Oakland followed by a Leftwich-led Steelers squad certainly doesn’t hurt.

Projected Season (16 games):
18.5 points per game / 22 INTs / 18 FF / 4 TDs / 38 sacks
Finish top 10 in Fantasy Defenses
Fantasy Championship game opponents KC or Ind (a perennial gimme game)

With the Titans’ offseason going so poorly, I guess I’m already planning an escape to the world of fantasy football. What do you think?