Turns Out J.J. Watt Got Ken Whisenhunt Fired In Tennessee

Nov 1, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt (99) salutes the crowd after sacking Tennessee Titans quarterback Zach Mettenberger (7) in the fourth quarter at NRG Stadium. Houston won 20-6. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

There are usually a lot of reasons for what a head coach gets fired in the NFL.  It can range from money, to age, to disagreements with the front office.  Most often it’s for the simple fact that his team didn’t win enough.  From the outside that seems like the case for Ken Whisenhunt, who was fired after winning just three of 23 games in his two years with the Tennessee Titans.  However, there are rumblings of a far more specific reason the team made the decision to cut him loose.

An extremely bad track record of protecting his quarterbacks.

Word was growing in the locker room that players had severe reservations about whether Whisenhunt could grasp the critical nature of keeping his quarterbacks from harm.  Since 2010 when he was still with the Arizona Cardinals, his offenses have given up 50+ sacks each and every year.  In case it wasn’t clear, that is really (REALLY) bad.  It’s little wonder his teams couldn’t win games and perhaps shed light on how crucial Kurt Warner was to saving his job for so long.

Now he’s lost his second team and isn’t likely to get another one.  According to Albert Breer of NFL Media, one man is directly responsible for sending him packing.  That is star Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt.

"Per Breer, the “straws that broke the camel’s back” were two recent decisions to single-block dominant pass-rushers. First the Titans allowed Dolphins defensive end Cameron Wake to register four sacks while being single-blocked. Then the Titans inexplicably did the same with Houston’s J.J. Watt, allowing the best pass rusher in the NFL to go one-on-one with rookie right tackle Jeremiah Poutasi. Watt gobbled up 2.5 sacks and nine quarterback hits on a statuesque Mettenberger."

The move to fire him became one of necessity.  The Titans just didn’t trust Whisenhunt with the security of prized draft pick Marcus Mariota, whom they see as the key to the franchises’ future.  So if anything else, this is a valuable lesson to all future head coaches.

Nothing matters more to the success of an offense and the security of your job than keeping the quarterback upright.  Perhaps in a more specific case:  always double team J.J. Watt.