1994 Houston Oilers season

1994 Houston Oilers season
Head coach Jack Pardee (10 games)
Jeff Fisher (final 6 games)
Home field Astrodome
Results
Record 2–14
Division place 4th AFC Central
Playoff finish did not qualify

The 1994 Houston Oilers season was the 35th season overall and 25th with the National Football League (NFL).[1]

Despite finishing with a 12–4 record and a first round bye the previous season, team owner Bud Adams made good on a threat to break up the team if they did not win the Super Bowl. The two biggest losses the Oilers suffered were the trading of Warren Moon, the team's longtime starting quarterback, to the Minnesota Vikings and the departure of defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, who was hired to coach the Arizona Cardinals. With Moon being replaced by career backup Cody Carlson and the defense left without its leader, the 1994 Oilers went into a tailspin despite returning several of their explosive offensive players such as Ernest Givins and Haywood Jeffires. The team started out with only one win in their first ten games, which led to the resignation of head coach Jack Pardee. When the season was over the Oilers stood at 2–14, tying their 1983 squad with the team's fewest wins in a sixteen game season and the second fewest overall, with the 1972 and 1973 squads only winning once each season. The ten-game swing is the worst season-to-season drop in games won in NFL history, which would later be tied by the 2013 Houston Texans. Seven of their fourteen losses came by three points or fewer.

Although the Oilers finished with the worst record that season, they did not receive the #1 pick in the 1995 NFL Draft due to the entry of the expansion Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars into the league (under NFL rules, a new team is automatically granted the first pick in their first draft, unless they decide to give it up as the Panthers would do). However, the news was not all negative. With the high pick the Oilers chose Steve McNair, who would go on to become one of the franchise's all-time great players, and after Pardee resigned his defensive coordinator Jeff Fisher was promoted to replace him. Fisher would go on to lead the franchise, which moved to Tennessee under his watch, for the remaining five games of the 1994 season and stay for the next sixteen seasons before he was fired following the 2010 season. In A Football Life: Houston 93 the narrator says of the 1994 season that, "1994 would be the first season with the salary cap, and owner Bud Adams followed through on his threat to dismantle the team," and, "Guttered by the (salary) cap, the Oilers started 1-9 in 1994, Jack Pardee was fired along with Kevin Gilbride."

Offseason

After having imploded in the playoffs against Kansas City in the 1993 playoffs, the Oilers traded long-time quarterback Warren Moon to Minnesota, leaving Cody Carlson as the starter for the 1994 season.

NFL Draft

Main article: 1994 NFL Draft
1994 Houston Oilers draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 26 Henry Ford  Defensive tackle Arkansas
2 60 Jeremy Nunley  Defensive end Alabama
3 101 Malcolm Floyd  Wide receiver Fresno State
4 119 Mike Davis  Cornerback Cincinnati
4 129 Sean Jackson  Running back Florida State
5 157 Roderick Lewis  Tight end Arizona
5 161 Jim Reid  Offensive tackle Virginia
6 187 Lee Gissendaner  Wide receiver Northwestern
6 194 Barron Wortham  Linebacker UTEP
7 220 Lemanski Hall  Linebacker Alabama
      Made roster  

[2]

Personnel

Staff

1994 Houston Oilers staff
Front office
  • Owner/Chairman of the Board/President – Bud Adams
  • Executive Vice President/General Manager – Floyd Reese
  • Vice President of Player Personnel and Scouting – Mike Holovak

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Frank Novak

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Rehabilitation – Steve Watterson

Roster

1994 Houston Oilers roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

 Tight ends

Offensive linemen

 Defensive linemen

Linebackers

 Defensive backs

Special teams


Rookies in italics

[3]

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 4, 1994 at Indianapolis Colts L 45–21
47,372
2 September 11, 1994 at Dallas Cowboys L 20–17
64,402
3 September 18, 1994 Buffalo Bills L 15–7
55,424
4 September 25, 1994 Cincinnati Bengals W 20–13
44,253
5 October 3, 1994 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 30–14
57,274
6 Bye
7 October 13, 1994 Cleveland Browns L 11–8
50,364
8 October 24, 1994 at Philadelphia Eagles L 21–6
65,233
9 October 30, 1994 at Los Angeles Raiders L 17–14
40,473
10 November 6, 1994 Pittsburgh Steelers L 9–12
47,822
11 November 13, 1994 at Cincinnati Bengals L 34–31
54,908
12 November 21, 1994 New York Giants L 13–10
53,201
13 November 27, 1994 at Cleveland Browns L 34–10
65,088
14 December 4, 1994 Arizona Cardinals L 30–12
39,821
15 December 11, 1994 Seattle Seahawks L 16–14
31,453
16 December 18, 1994 at Kansas City Chiefs L 31–9
74,474
17 December 24, 1994 New York Jets W 24–10
31,176

Standings

AFC Central
W L T PCT PF PA STK
(1) Pittsburgh Steelers 12 4 0 .750 316 234 L1
(4) Cleveland Browns 11 5 0 .688 340 204 W1
Cincinnati Bengals 3 13 0 .188 276 406 W1
Houston Oilers 2 14 0 .125 226 352 W1

References

  1. ↑ 1994 Houston Oilers
  2. ↑ "1994 Houston Oilers draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  3. ↑ "1994 Houston Oilers starters, roster, and players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 28, 2014.

External links

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