Steve McNair or Warren Moon?
Eddie George or Chris Johnson? Ryan Tannehill or Marcus Mariota? Those were some of the challenging decisions Justin Melo faced when he accepted a proposal to write the book, “Titans of the South: Photographs and History of the Tennessee Titans.”
Along with photographs going all the way back to the team’s origin as the Houston Oilers in 1960 the book features all-decade teams selected by Melo, who spent more than two years on his research and depended on information from several sports writers who have covered the Titans since their move to Nashville including former Tennessean Titans beat writer Jim Wyatt. Wyatt, now senior writer/editor for Tennessee Titans.com, wrote the book’s foreword.
“There were some tough decisions that had to be made in picking the all-decade teams,” Melo said. “But I didn’t mind making them because they’re very interesting and needed to be part of the book. I explain in the book why I made the decisions I made.”
One interesting decision Melo made was to put Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive lineman Bruce Matthews, who played for the Oilers (1983-1996) and Titans (1997-2001), at two different positions — center and guard — on the 1990s all-decade team.
“He was that special,” Melo said.
Melo made writing the book a greater task by choosing to go back to the start of the franchise in Houston in 1960 instead of picking up when it relocated to Tennessee in 1997. The publisher left that decision up to Melo.
“The first thing I did when they offered me the role was ask if they wanted the Houston Oilers to be part of it or not and they said that’s a question for you,” Melo said. “They said, ‘You know better than us. We’re not in Nashville. Do Titans fans care?’ I’d be lying if I said it didn’t cross my mind leaving (Houston) out because I’d be cutting out about 90 percent of my workload. Then I asked myself, ‘How could I get online and argue with (Houston) Texans that history belongs with the Titans and then cut it out of my book?'”
Melo, 34, who writes for the Draft Network, is a lifelong Titans fan, which gave him a head start on the team’s history in Tennessee. That history included an initial move to Memphis followed by a season played at Vanderbilt. But he had to spend a lot of time in the archives to learn about the Houston Oilers days as a charter member of the American Football League and the merger with the NFL, which came in 1970.
“When I decided to take on the project one of the things that gave me confidence was the advice Jim Wyatt gave me was the same advice I had given myself already,” Melo said. “He said, ‘If you’re going to do it, when you dive into 1960 only worry about 1960. It doesn’t matter what happened in 1961 until you get to 1961.’ Of course, there was some looking ahead. There are chapters where I hint that a coaching change is coming, a quarterback change is coming. Usually it’s the last sentence in that chapter if it’s there. I wanted each chapter to be its own decade.”
Along with chapters on each season there is one on Titans/Oilers founder Bud Adams and full pages on the Music City Miracle along with one each on Johnson and Derrick Henry’s 2,000-yard rushing seasons.
Melo said he wanted the book to be as educational as it was entertaining and that’s why he included the Titans/Oilers year-by-year starting lineups, results, statistics, standings and individual accolades.
Along with lots of color photos the 176-page book includes newspaper clippings and Titans/Oilers fun facts and trivia quizzes.
The book is available at amazon.com and all bookstores.
Coach Ed Temple marker placed on TSU campus
A historical marker recognizing legendary Tennessee State track and field coach Ed Temple was placed at the intersection of Ed Temple Boulevard and John Merritt Highway during the Tigers homecoming week.
Former Vanderbilt football player Christie Hauck, founder of the Christie Cookie Company, and his son Read, raised the funds to pay for the marker and received approval from Metro to place the marker on the edge of TSU’s campus.
The marker points out the 34 national championships and 40 Olympians TSU produced on Temple’s watch (1950-94). It includes that Temple also served as an Olympic coach in 1960 and 1964 and is in the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.
Mose Phillips, Isabelle Harrison, Barry Burton part of Hillsboro Hall of Fame class
The Hillsboro High 2025 Hall of Fame class includes former football stars Mose Phillips and Barry Burton along with girls basketball standout Isabelle Harrison.
Phillips and Harrison went on to play at Tennessee and Burton played at Vanderbilt.
Others in the class include Reba Harris, Ricky Moss, Marcus Currie, Robert Scales, Donnie Sherman, Larry Fitzgerald, Rachel Bell, Eddie Hill, Hayworth Parks, coach Chuck Lewis and the 1981 boys state championship track and field team.
The induction ceremony will be Jan. 25, 2025 at the Burros’ home basketball game.
If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.com.
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