1996 Houston Oilers

1996 Houston Oilers season
Owner	Bud Adams
Head Coach	Jeff Fisher
General Manager	Floyd Reese
Offensive Coordinator	Jerry Rhome
Defensive Coordinator	Steve Sidwell
Home Field	Astrodome
Results
Record	8–8
Place	4th AFC Central
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous Season	Next Season
1995	1997 (Tennessee)

The 1996 Houston Oilers season was the 37th season overall and 27th with the league and their final season in Houston. The team bested their previous season's output of 7–9, but failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive season. The Oilers only won two out of their eight games at home. However, on the road they won six out of eight games as the Oilers finished with an 8-8 record. Houston running back Eddie George won the Offensive Rookie of the Year with 1,368 yards rushing. Despite finishing 8–8 record, the Oilers failed to sell out any of its home games at the Houston Astrodome for the second consecutive season.

Houston had already established itself as a lame duck franchise; the league had approved the team's relocation to Nashville, Tennessee, although it was not originally scheduled to take place until 1998. With the team having given up on Houston, the city responded in kind: fan support and attendance dropped to negligible levels for the 1996 season, the team's radio network was all but disbanded, and the local broadcasts were being cut off in favor of preseason NBA basketball. The Oilers, unwilling to continue in Houston after such a debacle, quickly moved to Memphis, Tennessee's Liberty Bowl in 1997, becoming the Tennessee Oilers (Memphis, too, would reject the "temporary" housing of the Oilers, forcing the team to move to tiny Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville until the new Nashville stadium was finished).

Personnel

Staff

1996 Houston Oilers staff
Front Office Owner/Chairman of the Board/President – Bud Adams Executive Vice President/General Manager – Floyd Reese Head Coaches Head Coach – Jeff Fisher Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator – Jerry Rhome Offensive Assistant/Passing Game – Dick Coury Running Backs – Sherman Smith Wide Receivers/Tight Ends – Les Steckel Offensive Line – Rennie Simmons Offensive Assistant/Quality Control – Mike Munchak			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Steve Sidwell Defensive Line – Rex Norris Linebackers – Gregg Williams Defensive Backs – Rod Perry Defensive Assistant/Quality Control – Alan Lowry Special Teams Coaches Special Teams – Russ Purnell Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Steve Watterson

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 1	Kansas City Chiefs	L 20–19	27,725
2	September 8	at Jacksonville Jaguars	W 34–27	66,468
3	September 15	Baltimore Ravens	W 29–13	20,082
4	Bye week
5	September 29	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 30–16	58,608
6	October 6	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 30–27	44,680
7	October 13	at Atlanta Falcons	W 23–13	35,401
8	October 20	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 23–13	50,337
9	October 27	San Francisco 49ers	L 10–9	53,664
10	November 3	at Seattle Seahawks	L 23–16	36,320
11	November 10	at New Orleans Saints	W 31–14	34,121
12	November 17	Miami Dolphins	L 23–20	47,358
13	November 24	Carolina Panthers	L 31–6	20,107
14	December 1	at New York Jets	W 35–10	21,731
15	December 8	Jacksonville Jaguars	L 23–17	20,196
16	December 15	Cincinnati Bengals	L 21–13	15,131
17	December 22	at Baltimore Ravens	W 24–21	52,704

Standings

Template:1996 AFC Central standings