Oilers Take Offense and Fire Campbell : Former Express Coach Couldn’t Deliver Fireworks He Promised

Coach Hugh Campbell, whose promise of an explosive offense never materialized, was fired by the Houston Oilers on Monday and defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville was named as his interim replacement.

The announcement by General Manager Ladd Herzeg, which followed the Oilers’ 35-14 loss to the New York Giants Sunday, climaxed a feud that simmered since the end of last season when Herzeg criticized the Oilers’ offense as being unimaginative.

Sunday’s loss dropped Houston to a 5-9 record and assured the Oilers of their fifth consecutive losing season.

Campbell, 44, joined the Oilers after coaching the Los Angeles Express in the United States Football League. He also coached the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League to an unprecedented five Grey Cup titles. His overall coaching record is 131-84.

“This action as taken at this time because we’ve lost four of our last five games,” Herzeg said in a statement. “This, coupled with immense speculation concerning Hugh’s job status, which has become a major distraction to our players, is the reason it was felt the move was in the best interests of the football team.”

Campbell, 8-22 in his two seasons with the Oilers, was not available for comment.

Glanville, who formerly served as defensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons and a defensive coach for the Buffalo Bills, joined the Oilers last season. He becomes the club’s 13th head coach in its 26-year history.

“You come into something like this with mixed emotions because of the way you got the job,” Glanville said. “But you can’t hit a home run unless you take the bat, so I took the bat.”

Herzeg said Campbell failed in his promise to bring the Oilers a wide-open, exciting offense even with the addition of wide receiver Drew Hill and running backs Butch Woolfolk and Mike Rozier.

The Oilers are the only team in the league without a running back with 400 or more yards rushing.

Oiler players said they were not surprised that the move was made.

“I believe it came down to a matter of production,” nose guard Mike Stensrud said. “Obviously things were not getting done. It was disappointing to everyone, Hugh included.”