Titans Owner & President Bud Adams "surrendered a job
title he's had since 1959" in naming former Vikings exec
Jeff Diamond the team's new President & COO, according to
Jeff Legwold of the Nashville TENNESSEAN. Diamond, who
received a four-year contract, will oversee football and
non-football operations. Diamond: "I feel like I can add
some continuity, add some stability to the organization"
(TENNESSEAN, 7/24). Legwold called the hiring of Diamond
"simply the biggest decision Adams has made about this team
since he decided to move it" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 7/24).
Also in Nashville, Paul Kuharsky wrote, "Officials and
agents around the league lauded the move and the stability
it is expected to add to an organization completing a
transformation" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 7/25). But in
Houston, John McClain wrote that "it was assumed within the
organization and around" the league that Titans Exec VP and
Adams' son-in-law Tommy Smith "would eventually be named"
team President. McClain: "Adams can't stir the pot with the
same zeal that he used to, but he still loves a good
controversy." McClain added that Smith "was conspicuous in
his absence" at Friday's news conference announcing
Diamond's hiring (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 7/24).
STASH OF THE TITANS: In Nashville, Paul Kuharsky wrote
that the Titans sold 32,286 single-game tickets during the
first day of sales, leaving the team "feeling resoundingly
reassured about the interest of fans." Of the tickets sold,
15% were purchased at Adelphia Coliseum, and the rest were
sold through Ticketmaster. Titans Exec VP Don MacLachlan:
"To know we moved that much in one day is just fantastic."
The team sold 85 PSLs and corresponding season-tickets, with
TENNFL officials "confident they can sell the bulk of the
remaining" 1,500 PSLs by August 27 (TENNESSEAN, 7/25).
