NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Titans incredibly quiet search for a replacement for Matt LaFleur as offensive coordinator continues, and multiple league sources have heard nary a rumor about what direction Mike Vrabel is heading.
He and the Titans are incredibly good at keeping secrets.
Three small things I've been able to cobble together:
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- I've spent a good deal of time recently discussing the game-day experience at Nissan Stadium with members of this site and with the Titans in order to compile what I hope is a wide-ranging review complete with suggestions on how the team and Nissan Stadium can continue to make it better.
Season ticket holders lining up to greet players as they leave the locker room and greet the fans is a great feature at Nissan Stadium. Photo courtesy of Wade Dunn.
Let's dig right in.
Replays: The Titans got new equipment for the 2018 season, but they hardly mastered it despite additional hires. They feel they got better, but know they are not as good as they need to be. Nissan Stadium has eight to 12 camera stations plus portables and the equipment amounts to having additional DVRs. But the quickness, the accuracy and the angles were not there.
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Pro Football Writers of America gives its members some time to fill out ballots for postseason awards and All-NFL Team.
I appreciate that because I am a procrastinator and because I inevitably get stuck on a few spots which I wind up first debating with friends and then taking to a scout or two to make sure I’m on an OK track.
Postseason awards have gotten a bit more complicated in recent years as positions have blended.
All-Pro is pretty straight forward and it’s why it’s the most coveted award. One guy at each position where one guy plays, two where two play on the first team, and same on the second. Cut and dried.
But the positional grouping is tough on defense. Defensive fronts have gotten complicated. So the Associated Press, which runs All-Pro, created edge rusher, interior line and linebacker baskets.
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Greetings. I hope you are in line for a big weekend, and that while you are sprawled on your couch you can dive into this mailbag. But first, perhaps a nap inspired by this excellent video.
Awesome drone footage of a pod of dolphins swimming alongside a surfer off the Southern California coast. pic.twitter.com/94KVlscAAh
— Meredith Frost (@MeredithFrost) January 10, 2019
Now on to the best questions of the week.
What's your taking their time on the Titans choosing an OC? I'm guessing they are taking their time because the guy they want to look at could still be in playoff contention. maybe Aaron Kromer from the Rams?
— Daniel C. 🔥 (@ShreddShark) January 11, 2019
PK: First off, Matt LaFleur was hiriEd in Green Bay four whole days ago as I'm posting this on Friday, So do we really feel like the Titans are "taking their time?" I suppose the Titans could be back-channeling and have a feel for getting permission to talk to someone like Kromer. But the Rams have far more important concerns right now. (Also Kromer is very much a run-game guy, I don't know that he would be a great choice to run an entire offense.)
I have every confidence that Mike Vrabel has a plan, that the plan has several options and that he will wind up with one of them. I know fans need to know it right this second and that the four-day wait, which is unquestionably going to extend to next week, is unbearable for some. But we're all just going to endure it. It took him 10 days to hire his coordinators the first time.
Write comment (12 Comments)NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Mike Vrabel surely doesn’t want his next offensive coordinator to be someone else’s head coach in short order like Matt LaFleur was. And a retread career coordinator may not provide enough innovation.
Which puts a defensive head coach in a tough spot and has many with a strong interest in the Titans’ next OC predicting Vrabel will stay in-house for the hire.
If he does, those prognosticators are looking too much at the wrong guy.
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- I've been wanting to do this one for a while, as putting Marcus Mariota into context is a mission of mine.
So Alex Bonilla of profootballreference.com joined me to talk about the site's "Similar Players" feature. Then we ran through 10 quarterbacks the site rates as most similar to Mariota.
You can find it on iTunes, here, or directly through the Vokal website, here. Feel free to hook us up with a rating and review on iTunes.
If you're a member of the site, Part 1 and Part 2 are together, and all you have to do is head below the line.
Write comment (8 Comments)NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Given a chance to throw organizational support behind Marcus Mariota, Jon Robinson failed to do so in a Wednesday morning interview on The Midday 180. That hardly means he's out on the quarterback. But he wasn't fluffing up a complicated quarterback situation, either.
"Is your commitment to Marcus Mariota the same as it's been since you've arrived," I asked. [Unlocked]
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A tweet flashed across everyone’s phones that Matt LaFleur was in line for the Packers’ head job and, bam, the flurry of suggestion for who the replacement should be came raining down.
Except very little of it came with an understanding of how a coach under contract with another team can land in Music City.
Mike Vrabel can’t simply go get anyone he wants from anywhere he wants.
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