The Tennessee Titans fired Brian Callahan in October. We have been speculating on potential names for the next head coach ad nauseam since then. Yesterday, we received clarification from Amy Adams Strunk that General Manager Mike Borgonzi will lead the coaching search. Borgonzi can officially begin the process on Monday morning by lining up interviews that can start as early as Tuesday.
Here is everything you need to know about the Titans’ head coaching search:
Titans coaching search timeline
The Titans can begin virtual interviews
on Tuesday, January 6th, for any coaches who don’t currently have a job, coaches who are with a team that did not make the playoffs, or coaches on a team that played today, Saturday, January 3rd, whose team has a first-round bye.
On Wednesday, January 7th, they can interview coaches from teams that have a first-round bye whose team played on Sunday, January 4th.
On Tuesday, January 13th, the Titans can interview candidates on teams that played and lost in the wild-card round on Saturday, January 10th, or Sunday, January 11th.
Finally, on Wednesday, January 14th, they can begin interviews with coaches whose team played and lost in the Monday, January 12th, wild-card round.
Zac Lyons put together a fantastic spreadsheet laying out the timelines for potential coaching candidates:
What are the Titans looking for in their next head coach?
While we have no way of knowing the criteria Borgonzi actually has for the next head coach, we do know that the development of Cam Ward has to be near the top of the list. That doesn’t mean they will absolutely hire an offensive-minded coach, but it does mean that if they hire a defensive-minded coach, that person needs to have a strong list of potential offensive coordinators.
After the way things went with Callahan, it would also make sense for them to be looking for someone with previous experience as a head coach. Now, that comes with pluses and minuses. The minus is that any coach who has been a head coach before was fired from that job for not performing well. The plus is that they know what the job entails, and have hopefully learned from what didn’t work previously.
Titans’ rumored head coaching candidates:
As I said above, names have been floating around since Callahan was fired in October. Here are the names of guys who have been rumored to be on the Titans’ list by various reports (in no particular order):
- Matt Nagy – current Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator
- Mike McCarthy – unemployed, most recently the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys
- Lou Anarumo – current Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator
- Robert Saleh – current San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator
- Jeff Haley – current Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator
- Vance Joseph – current Denver Broncos’ defensive coordinator
- Chris Shula – current Los Angeles Rams’ defensive coordinator
- Jesse Minter – current Los Angeles Chargers’ defensive coordinator
- Klint Kubiak – current Seattle Seahawks’ offensive coordinator
- Anthony Weaver – current Miami Dolphins’ defensive coordinator
- Arthur Smith – current Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator
- Anthony Campanile – current Jacksonville Jaguars’ defensive coordinator
That is not an exhaustive list, but it is the names that I have seen reported. Zach’s list has a lot of candidates whom he assumes they will talk to, and my guess is that they end up interviewing a lot of the guys on his list. He also has three current head coaches listed, Mike Tomlin, Kevin Stefanski, and John Harbaugh, who may or may not be available pending whether or not they are fired from their current jobs.
Current favorite to be the next Titans’ coach
You have to start with Nagy here. He has the obvious connection to Borgonzi from their time together with the Chiefs. Dan Pompei mentioned in his article about Nagy at The Athletic this week that Nagy helped Borgonzi prepare for GM interviews last year.
After Nagy, it’s tough to really have a favorite. The guys with Green Bay connections would have been next before the report that this is Borgonzi’s show. Chad Brinker will be a part of the process, but it’s not going to be a joint effort between Brinker and Borgonzi as was previously assumed.
The next few weeks are just the beginning of what is going to be a very busy offseason for the Titans. We will have all of it covered for you here at MCM!
