Chris Palmer ( American football ) Chris Palmer ( born September 23 , 1949 ) is the offensive coordinator of the American football NFL ' s Tennessee Titans . He is the former head coach of the Hartford Colonials in the United Football League , and also a former head coach of the Cleveland Browns and former assistant coach of the Houston Texans , Jacksonville Jaguars , New England Patriots , and Houston Oilers of the National Football League . He was the quarterbacks coach for the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants . High school and college . Palmer played high school football at Immaculate High School a small Catholic high school located in Danbury , Connecticut . After high school he attended and played at Southern Connecticut State University . Palmer played quarterback for Southern Connecticut State from 1968 - 71 . He earned both bachelor ’ s and master ’ s degrees at SCSU , where he was inducted into the school ’ s athletic Hall of Fame . He is also a member of the Hall of Fame at New Haven and Immaculate High School . After graduation from Southern Connecticut State University , Palmer coached under Larry Naviaux at the University of Connecticut . While at UCONN , Palmer also devoted his time to help develop sports talent , as quoted by Jeff Naviaux " Chris helped me learn the importance of a team " . Palmer coached the freshman defensive line in 1972 and the varsity wide receivers in 1973 and 74 . In 1975 , he became the wide receivers coach at Lehigh University . The following year , Palmer was named the offensive coordinator at Colgate University , where he stayed for seven years . In 1977 , the Red Raiders led the nation in total offense with an average of 486 yards a game . Prior to entering the NFL , Palmer was a successful college coach . He was the head coach at Boston University in 1988 - 89 and at the University of New Haven in 1986 - 87 , when the Chargers posted consecutive 8 - 2 records . Initial professional coaching experience . Palmer ’ s first professional coaching experience came in 1983 , when he was the offensive line coach for the Montreal Concordes in the Canadian Football League . The following year , he coached the wide receivers for the USFL ’ s New Jersey Generals . In 1985 , he was promoted to quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator . That year , Palmer ’ s offense featured quarterback Doug Flutie and running back Herschel Walker , who rushed for 2 , 411 yards . Houston Oilers . Palmer ’ s first NFL coaching experience was as the Houston Oilers wide receivers coach from 1990 - 92 when Kevin Gilbride was the Houston offensive coordinator . During those three seasons , the Run ‘ N Shoot Oilers had the NFL ’ s most productive passing attack . Four Houston wide receivers – Curtis Duncan , Ernest Givens ( twice ) , Drew Hill and Haywood Jeffires ( twice ) made the Pro Bowl while being coached by Palmer . New England Patriots . Palmer first worked under Bill Parcells as the New England Patriots wide receivers coach from 1993 - 95 . In 1996 , he became the quarterbacks coach , where he worked with Drew Bledsoe as they advanced to Super Bowl XXXI . Jacksonville Jaguars . Following Super Bowl XXXI , he joined the Jacksonville Jaguars , spending the 1997 - 98 seasons as offensive coordinator under head coach Tom Coughlin . Cleveland Browns . Palmer became the head coach of the reborn Cleveland Browns for the 1999 - 2000 seasons , the first two for the " new " Browns after the original team had moved to Baltimore . With a roster full of inexperienced players and cast - offs from other franchises , Palmer struggled to get the team competitive , especially on offense . Palmer was fired after posting a 5 - 27 record in two seasons , and was succeeded by former University of Miami coach Butch Davis . During his tenure in Cleveland , he starred as himself on an episode of The Drew Carey Show , which took place in Cleveland . Houston Texans . In 2002 , he became the offensive coordinator of the Houston Texans under head coach Dom Capers . He remained with Houston until he was fired in Week 2 of the 2005 NFL season as a result of Houston ' s lackluster offense . Dallas Cowboys . In January 2006 , several months after his firing from Houston , Palmer was hired by the Dallas Cowboys to be the quarterbacks coach . He was reunited with head coach Bill Parcells and quarterback Drew Bledsoe whom he had worked with during his days with the New England Patriots . New York Giants . In January 2007 , Palmer was hired by the New York Giants as their new quarterbacks coach , reuniting with the team ' s head coach , Tom Coughlin , whom he worked with in Jacksonville . On January 29 , 2010 Palmer announced his retirement . Hartford Colonials . Following his retirement from the NFL , Palmer was named as the head coach and general manager of the United Football League ' s Hartford Colonials . Tennessee Titans . On February 15 , 2011 , the Tennessee Titans named Palmer as the new offensive coordinator , which was previously held by Mike Heimerdinger Coaching tree . NFL head coaches under whom Chris Palmer has served : Assistant coaches under Chris Palmer who became NFL head coaches :