To our fans:

I want to address with you where we are as a league and as a team as we enter this time of labor uncertainty. We were all disappointed about the mediation coming to an end and the collective bargaining agreement expiring with the union on Friday. As a league, we believe that any agreement will have to be reached at the bargaining table with the union and not through the court system. We hope that those negotiations can be resumed sooner rather than later. I have a great deal of faith in the bargaining process and those who are leading us at the league level. I believe a lot of progress was made over the past two weeks through mediation and that the offer made by the NFL last Friday was done so in good faith and with the hope that it would lead to a resolution.

I know our fans are frustrated by Friday’s developments. We appreciate their long-term support and please know that we want to get this solved.

From a team perspective, we have a plan moving forward. Our coaches are watching tape to get familiar with our current personnel, putting together playbooks, exchanging ideas and preparing for the NFL Draft. Our other football people continue to prepare for the draft as well as plan for how to improve our team once there is an agreement. We will be ready as an organization once football activity resumes.

The Tennessee Titans have signed punter Brett Kern to a multi-year contract extension.

Kern completed his first full season with the Titans in 2010 and finished fifth in the AFC with a career-best 39.1-yard net avg. He appeared in all 16 games last season and registered career-highs with 77 punts for 3,302 yards. Over his first three seasons in the NFL, he ranks ninth in the league in net punting average (38.6).

The Titans claimed Kern off waivers from the Denver Broncos on Oct. 27, 2009. The Grand Island, N.Y., native saw action in 10 games for the Titans in 2009 and punted 37 times for 1,665 yards with 18 punts placed inside the 20-yard line. He appeared in the first six games of the 2009 campaign for Denver and punted 27 times for 1,245 yards (46.1 avg.), while placing nine punts inside the 20-yard line. Kern was originally signed by the Broncos as a rookie free agent on April 28, 2008. In 2008, he received all-rookie honors from Pro Football Weekly/PFWA and The Sporting News after appearing in all 16 games and ranking fifth in the league with a 46.7-yard gross punting average.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Titans have hired Mike Munchak to become the 16th head coach in franchise history and the first who was a former player for the team.

“This is a special day for this franchise as one of our former players takes over the team as the head coach,” said Titans Owner K.S. “Bud” Adams, Jr.  “Mike has been successful at everything he has been associated with at our franchise and I have no reason to believe that he won’t be successful as our head coach. He earned Hall of Fame distinction as a player and yearly he has been one of the best offensive line coaches in the NFL. He understands where we have been and knows where we need to go.”

After a 12-year playing career as a guard for the Houston Oilers, he spent three seasons assisting the coaching staff. Munchak became the offensive line coach in 1997 and has held that position for the past 14 years. Four of his players have totaled 10 Pro Bowl invitations and his offensive lines have paved the way for five different running backs to total 11 1,000-yard rushing seasons. In 2001, he became the fifth franchise player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He earned nine Pro Bowl invitations during his career and was bestowed the honor of having his Oilers #63 jersey retired in 1996.

“I have known Mike for 30 years and have always had the utmost admiration for him as a person, player and coach,” said Titans General Manager Mike Reinfeldt. “He is a smart football man, who commands respect and accountability from everyone around him and I am confident that he will be successful. There were many qualified candidates for this position, but Mike makes sense on so many different levels. He has seen this franchise from different angles as a player and a coach and has seen the team built and re-built in many different ways to achieve success. His franchise knowledge will be a great asset moving forward. This is a positive situation for us because he has a strong foundation built with us, but he has his own beliefs about how he wants his team to play.”

As a coach, Munchak is acknowledged as one of the finest teachers in the game. Only twice during his career has he had the benefit of starting the same starting five linemen from one year to the next; and yet, the Titans offensive lines are perennially one of the best lines in the NFL. His offensive line allowed the second fewest sacks (28.3 sacks per season) in the NFL since he assumed control of the group in 1997. Additionally, the Titans ranked seventh in the league in rushing yards (124.5 yards per game) during his tenure. He has seen Bruce Matthews, Brad Hopkins, Michael Roos and Kevin Mawae earn Pro Bowl invitations from his group in addition to providing protection for Pro Bowlers Eddie George, Steve McNair, Vince Young, Kerry Collins and Chris Johnson. His group aided McNair to NFL co-MVP (2003) and Johnson to Offensive Player of the Year (2009) honors.

As a player, Munchak started 156 regular season games (seventh in franchise history) and 10 playoff games for the Oilers between 1982 and 1993. Respected for his play, he was selected to the NFL’s “All Decade” team for the 1980’s. Chronic knee problems led him to retire while still at the top of his game. In his final year, he earned All Pro and Pro Bowl honors. A versatile player, he started his career in a run-first offense with RB Earl Campbell and transitioned to a pass blocker in the run-n-shoot offense guided by QB Warren Moon.

Munchak is a native of Scranton, Pa., and graduated from Penn State. He was the first offensive lineman selected in the 1982 NFL Draft with the eighth overall pick by the Houston Oilers. Munchak is married to Marci and the couple has two grown daughters – Alexandra and Julie.

According to the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Troopers arrested 32 people for driving under the influence during the 2010 Super Bowl weekend. Between Friday, February 5, 2010 and Sunday, February 7 at 11:59 p.m. there were 10 people killed on Tennessee roadways. Four of those deaths occurred in alcohol related crashes.