Jeff Fisher completed his coaching staff with the addition of veteran receivers coach Fred Graves to replace Ray Sherman, who took a lateral move to Dallas.
A week and a half ago, Fisher stayed in-house by promoting Chuck Cecil to defensive backs coach and naming Marcus Robertson as assistant secondary coach to fill the vacancy left when Everett Withers accepted the defensive coordinator position at the University of Minnesota.
The 57-year old Graves has coached receivers for 31 years, primarily in college, including 19 years at Utah where he coached former Titan Kevin Dyson and All-Pro Carolina wideout Steve Smith. Graves has spent the last six years in the NFL, coaching receivers for Buffalo, Cleveland and Detroit.
Fisher was reportedly sought out by Smith, who made a case for Graves and gave him a recommendation. I’m sure Fisher also got opinions on Graves from his good friend Gregg Williams, who hired Graves at Buffalo, and from Dyson. Here’s Graves’ bio from the Lions’ website.
Graves will probably have the most difficult job of any of the Titans’ coaches. With the exception of Brandon Jones, the cupboard is about bare of proven receivers. Courtney Roby, Roydell Williams, Jonathan Orr and Justin Gage will all need to be coached up.
From what I’ve read about him, Graves is a good guy with a high-quality character. Welcome aboard, Fred, and good luck.
Cecil, formerly the safeties and nickelbacks coach for the Titans, was a no-brainer to replace Everett. A seven-year NFL safety, Cecil was selected to one Pro Bowl and has been on the Titans’ coaching staff the last six years. Here’s Cecil’s bio.
Robertson, a former safety for the Titans/Oilers, is a two-time All Pro with twelve years of playing experience. He’s spent the last four years as Tennessee’s Director of Player Development.
With both on-the-field and front office experience, Robertson was hungry for an opportunity to coach, and has expressed a desire to one day be a NFL general manager. There’s a very good read on that in this NFL Players article from last summer.
Here’s Robertson’s bio from the Titans’ website.
Congrats and best wishes to Fred, Chuck and Marcus.
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