1997 Tennessee Oilers

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

Standings

Template:1997 AFC Central standings

External Links

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