1997 Tennessee Oilers

1997 Tennessee Oilers season
Head Coach	Jeff Fisher
Home Field	Liberty Bowl
Results
Record	8–8
Place	3rd AFC Central
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous Season	Next Season
1996	1998

The 1997 season was the Tennessee Oilers 38th season and their 28th in the NFL. The Oilers finished the season with 8 wins and 8 losses, and did not qualify for the playoffs. The head coach was Jeff Fisher, and the team played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. The 1997 season was the first season that the team was known as the Tennessee Oilers, following their move from Houston.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Pick #	NFL Team	Player	Position	College
18	Tennessee Oilers	Kenny Holmes	Defensive end	Miami
46	Tennessee Oilers	Joey Kent	Wide Receiver	Tennessee
75	Tennessee Oilers	Denard Walker	Cornerback	Kent State
81	Tennessee Oilers	Scott Sanderson	Offensive Tackle	Washington State
98	Tennessee Oilers	Derrick Mason	Wide Receiver	Michigan State
107	Tennessee Oilers	Pratt Lyons	Defensive Lineman	Troy State
143	Tennessee Oilers	George McCullough	Defensive Back	Baylor
181	Tennessee Oilers	Dennis Stallings	Linebacker	Illinois
216	Tennessee Oilers	Armon Williams	Linebacker	Arizona

Personnel

Staff

1997 Tennessee Oilers staff
Front Office Owner/Chairman of the Board/President – Bud Adams Executive Vice President/General Manager – Floyd Reese Director of Player Personnel – Rich Snead Director of College Scouting – Glenn Cumbee Head Coaches Head Coach – Jeff Fisher Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Les Steckel Running Backs – Sherman Smith Wide Receivers – Alan Lowry Offensive Line/Tight Ends – George Henshaw Offensive Line – Mike Munchak Offensive Assistant/Quality Control – Bart Andrus			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Gregg Williams Defensive Line – Rex Norris Linebackers – O'Neill Gilbert Defensive Backs – Greg Brown Defensive Assistant/Quality Control – Jerry Gray Special Teams Coaches Special Teams – Russ Purnell Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Steve Watterson

Roster

1997 Tennessee Oilers roster
Quarterbacks 17 Dave Krieg  9 Steve McNair 16 James Ritchey Running Backs 22 Mike Archie 27 Eddie George 35 Spencer George 33 Ronnie Harmon 20 Rodney Thomas Wide Receivers 83 Isaac Byrd 84 Willie Davis 83 Malcolm Floyd 21 Mel Gray 86 Joey Kent 82 Derrick Mason 85 Derek Russell 81 Chris Sanders Tight Ends 88 Roderick Lewis 87 James McKeehan 80 Michael Roan 89 Frank Wycheck		Offensive Linemen 77 Kevin Donnalley G 72 Brad Hopkins T 66 Jason Layman T 74 Bruce Matthews G 64 Erik Norgard G 69 Jon Runyan T 73 Scott Sanderson T 53 Mark Stepnoski C Defensive Linemen Anthony Cook Josh Evans Henry Ford Mike Halapin Kenny Holmes Pratt Lyons Bryant Mix James Roberson Gary Walker		Linebackers 58 Joe Bowden 51 Lemanski Hall 50 Terry Killens 56 Lonnie Marts 59 Dennis Stallings 52 Barron Wortham Defensive Backs 23 Blaine Bishop S Tomur Barnes Anthony Dorsett Steve Jackson Roger Jones Darryll Lewis George McCullough Rafael Robinson Rayna Stewart Denard Walker Armon Williams Special Teams Reggie Roby		Reserve Lists Practice Squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

File:Tennesseeoilersinauguralpatch.png

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	Attendance
1	August 31, 1997	Oakland Raiders	W 24–21	1–0	Liberty Bowl	30,171
2	September 7, 1997	at Miami Dolphins	L 16–13	1–1	Pro Player Stadium	64,439
3	Bye week
4	September 21, 1997	Baltimore Ravens	L 36–10	1–2	Liberty Bowl	17,737
5	September 28, 1997	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 37–24	1–3	Three Rivers Stadium	57,507
6	October 5, 1997	at Seattle Seahawks	L 16–13	1–4	Kingdome	49,897
7	October 12, 1997	Cincinnati Bengals	W 30–7	2–4	Liberty Bowl	17,071
8	October 19, 1997	Washington Redskins	W 28–14	3–4	Liberty Bowl	31,042
9	October 26, 1997	at Arizona Cardinals	W 41–14	4–4	Sun Devil Stadium	44,030
10	November 2, 1997	Jacksonville Jaguars	L 30–24	4–5	Liberty Bowl	27,208
11	November 9, 1997	New York Giants	W 10–6	5–5	Liberty Bowl	26,744
12	November 16, 1997	at Jacksonville Jaguars	L 17–9	5–6	ALLTEL Stadium	70,070
13	November 23, 1997	Buffalo Bills	W 31–14	6–6	Liberty Bowl	23,571
14	November 27, 1997	at Dallas Cowboys	W 27–14	7–6	Texas Stadium	63,421
15	December 4, 1997	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 41–14	7–7	Cinergy Field	49,086
16	December 14, 1997	at Baltimore Ravens	L 21–19	7–8	Memorial Stadium	60,558
17	December 21, 1997	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 16–6	8–8	Liberty Bowl	50,677

References

• Oilers on Pro Football Reference
• Oilers on jt-sw.com