1997 Tennessee Oilers season | |
---|---|
Owner | Bud Adams |
Head Coach | Jeff Fisher |
General Manager | Floyd Reese |
Offensive Coordinator | Les Steckel |
Defensive Coordinator | Gregg Williams |
Home Field | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium |
Results | |
Record | 8–8 |
Place | 3rd AFC Central |
Playoff Finish | did not qualify |
Uniform | |
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Timeline | |
Previous Season | Next Season |
1996 (Houston) | 1998 |
The 1997 Tennessee Oilers season was their 38th season overall and 28th in the National Football League (NFL). It was the team's first season in Memphis, Tennessee after moving from Houston, and they played at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.
Led by head coach Jeff Fisher, the Oilers finished the season with 8 wins and 8 losses, and did not qualify for the playoffs. Despite defeating the Oakland Raiders 24–21 in their first game in their new city, they lost the next four games and would not recover.
Offseason[]
NFL Draft[]
Pick # | Player | Position | College |
---|---|---|---|
18 | Kenny Holmes | Defensive end | Miami |
46 | Joey Kent | Wide Receiver | Tennessee |
75 | Denard Walker | Cornerback | Kent State |
81 | Scott Sanderson | Offensive Tackle | Washington State |
98 | Derrick Mason | Wide Receiver | Michigan State |
107 | Pratt Lyons | Defensive Lineman | Troy State |
143 | George McCullough | Defensive Back | Baylor |
181 | Dennis Stallings | Linebacker | Illinois |
216 | Armon Williams | Linebacker | Arizona |
Personnel[]
Staff[]
1997 Tennessee Oilers staff | ||||||
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Front Office
Head Coaches
Offensive Coaches
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Defensive Coaches
Special Teams Coaches
Strength and Conditioning
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Roster[]
1997 Tennessee Oilers roster | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
Tight Ends
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Offensive Linemen
Defensive Linemen
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Linebackers
Defensive Backs
Special Teams
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Reserve Lists
Practice Squad Rookies in italics |
Regular season[]
Tennessee Oilers Inaugural Season Logo
The Oilers' new stadium would not be ready until 1999, however, and the largest stadium in Nashville at the time, Vanderbilt Stadium on the campus of Vanderbilt University, seated only 41,000. At first, Bud Adams rejected Vanderbilt Stadium even as a temporary facility and announced that the renamed Tennessee Oilers would play the next two seasons at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis. The team would be based in Nashville, commuting to Memphis only for games—in effect, consigning the Oilers to 32 road games for the next two years. Even though this arrangement was acceptable to the NFL and the Oilers at the time, few people in either Memphis or Nashville were pleased by it. Memphis had made numerous attempts to get an NFL team (including the Memphis Hound Dogs and the Memphis Grizzlies court case), and many people in the area wanted nothing to do with a team that would be lost in only two years—especially to longtime rival Nashville. Conversely, Nashvillians showed little inclination to drive over 200 miles (300 km) to see "their" team. As a result, attendance at the Liberty Bowl was disastrous: fewer than 18,000 fans came to the stadium to see the Oilers, a number smaller than the attendance figures the team was getting in Houston after they had announced the move, and smaller than the fan bases the USFL's Memphis Showboats and XFL's Memphis Maniax would draw to the same stadium (although this was larger than the attendance for the CFL's Memphis Mad Dogs).
Schedule[]
Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Location | Att. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | August 31 | Oakland | W 24–21 | 1–0 | Liberty Bowl | |
2 | September 7 | at Miami | L 16–13 | 1–1 | Pro Player Stadium | |
3 | Bye week | |||||
4 | September 21 | Baltimore | L 36–10 | 1–2 | Liberty Bowl | |
5 | September 28 | at Pittsburgh | L 37–24 | 1–3 | Three Rivers Stadium | |
6 | October 5 | at Seattle | L 16–13 | 1–4 | Kingdome | |
7 | October 12 | Cincinnati | W 30-7 | 2-4 | Liberty Bowl | |
8 | October 19 | Washington | W 28–14 | 3–4 | Liberty Bowl | |
9 | October 26 | at Arizona | W 41–14 | 4–4 | Sun Devil Stadium | |
10 | November 2 | Jacksonville | L 30–24 | 4–5 | Liberty Bowl | |
11 | November 9 | NY Giants | W 10–6 | 5–5 | Liberty Bowl | |
12 | November 16 | at Jacksonville | L 17–9 | 5–6 | ALLTEL Stadium | |
13 | November 23 | Buffalo | W 31–14 | 6–6 | Liberty Bowl | |
14 | November 27 | at Dallas | W 27–14 | 7–6 | Texas Stadium | |
15 | December 4 | at Cincinnati | L 41–14 | 7–7 | Cinergy Field | |
16 | December 14 | at Baltimore | L 21–19 | 7–8 | Memorial Stadium | |
17 | December 21 | Pittsburgh | W 16–6 | 8–8 | Liberty Bowl |
Standings[]
Template:1997 AFC Central standings