Titans Coach Turns Down $3 Million Raise, Gets Fired The Next Day
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A bizarre scenario played out in Tennessee this weekend, where the Titans ended up firing head coach Mike Munchak after first offering to double his pay.According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, the Titans ownership offered a contract extension on Friday that would have almost doubled Munchak's $3 million annual salary.
Under the terms of the contract, Munchak would have had to fire a dozen assistant coaches, so he turned down the deal.
"I can't fire someone when I don't believe they should be fired. Firing someone is awful. Too many people were going to be affected" he told the Tennessean. Mortensen says ownership asked Munchak to sleep on it, but he still refused.
So instead of giving him a new contract, the Titans fired him a day later.
One of the more surprising parts of this story is that the Titans initially wanted to double Munchak's pay.
Tennessee was 22-26 in three seasons under Munchak. He never won more than 10 games or made the playoffs. They invested heavily in the running game this year, drafting Chance Warmack in the first round and spending $46.8 million on Andy Levitre. But they still struggled to move the ball in 2013.
Still, there's already buzz about Munchak getting another job, perhaps at Penn State.