Former Tennessee Titans executive Floyd Reese passes away

The Tennessee Titans enter their second preseason game of the NFL slate with heavy hearts as they announced the passing of former executive Floyd Reese on the morning preceding their Saturday night showdown with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.

He was 73 years young. His tenure with the team exceeded two decades and included leadership roles in both the Tennessee Titans and Houston Oilers organizations.

Tennessee Titans old and young have their mind on Floyd Reese today.

Floyd Reese’s NFL career, in total, spans three and a half decades. After beginning his football journey as an assistant coach at the collegiate level (UCLA from 1971-1973 and Georgia Tech in 1974), he made the leap to the NFL.

A stint as the Detroit Lions strength and conditioning coach (1975-1977) led him to San Francisco to perform the same job with the 49ers in 1978 before he landed in Minnesota as the Vikings linebackers coach and special teams coach (1979-1983) before he took over as the Vikings’ defensive coordinator in 1984 and as their linebackers coach in 1985.

Once he arrived in Houston to join the Oilers, he began as the linebackers coach (1986–1989) before taking an executive role. From 1990 to 1993, he served as an assistant general manager to the Oilers before becoming the executive vice president and general manager. He stayed in that role as the Oilers moved and became the Tennessee Oilers and, eventually, the Tennessee Titans.

From 2001 to 2006, he added the title of director of football operations to his resume. He’d finish his career as a senior football advisor to the New England Patriots (2009-2012). Make no mistake about it though. His blood is tinged with two shades of blue.

The Titans family is obviously saddened by his passing, but make no mistake about it. Every time Jeffery Simmons or Bud Dupree bring down the opposing quarterback or Derrick Henry delivers that wicked stiff-arm you can best believe that Floyd is somewhere smiling.