NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Greetings. Hope you're doing OK in the snow and staying warm. I am due for a nap.
I thought a mailbag would be a good way to check in on multiple things at once.
So let's dive right into an an early-week edition.
Do you get the sense that if a HC candidate is not all in on Levis that it’s a showstopper? Would they be open to hearing a plan that includes drafting another QB early?
— The General (@mac9nj) January 16, 2024
It’s a little tricky. Amy Adams Strunk said in her statement that the Titans have already added “a promising young quarterback.” Ran Carthon said at his press conference that, “We're not going to make our whole search about Will Levis.
“We have other guys on his team that are going to require coaching, they're going to require development. But we will bring someone in here who sees it the same way and is more than willing to work with him.”
Open to hearing a plan for drafting another QB? Sure. Eager to jump aboard such a plan? I highly doubt it. It’s pretty early to say no on Levis and spend a very high pick on another quarterback, which would then mean a first, a second (with a trade-up) and a third (with a trade-up) in the span of three drafts with a pile of needs at other positions.
If you want the job your odds go up if you like Levis, right? So, you come in saying you like him, emphasizing the good about him. Then in a year if you’ve been with him and don’t feel like he can be it, you can change your mind having bought yourself a free year with the team’s previous choice at QB.
I don’t think anyone will come in and say they don’t like him, or can’t win with him. He has some tools a good coach should be able to work with to some degree.
Saying you can’t would be a pretty quick route to not getting the job. So, if you believe that and say it, props on your honesty but not on your ability to massage your way into the coach’s office.
Shaun Ferguson We’ve already seen a nice list compiled by Herndon. Do you think there is a rush to get your preferred guy quicker than other teams? And are they keeping the same scouting department? Or will they clean house.
Seems pretty methodical to me so far. The timing for a couple of the top guys is really dictated by the progress of their teams in the playoffs. If you want Ben Johnson, you’ve got to wait on the Lions and same with Bobby Slowick of the Texans or Mike Macdonald of the Ravens.
Scouting staff changes come with the arrival of a new GM or after a draft. That’s why it was a surprise that Ran Carthon didn’t make any changes to his scouting staff. Ryan Cowden and Monti Ossenfort, high-ranking guys in the scouting department, left and were replaced by two assistant GMs in the new structure. But the guys who do college and pro scouting all stayed in place.
“With this change, we got to continue to look at our scouting staff and what changes may or may not need to be made there,” Carthon said last week. “One thing when I was hired, I didn't know any of these guys when I came in and I wanted to give them a chance to prove themselves because I have never worked with them and I didn't want to just come in and just gut the place and have to start over and do all of that. And so, we'll continue to evaluate all phases of the organization. We have to get it right and I'm confident that we will.”
Robert Draper Walk us through a high-demand HC candidate's considerations. Will AAS's capriciousness towards Vrabel carry weight? The roster depth issues? Pros/cons of Nashville as a residence/market?
It’s pro and con list like anything else. Amy Adams Strunk’s capriciousness is on there, but so is the fact that there was a five-year period where Mike Vrabel got a pretty smooth run under the guy who hired him, Jon Robinson. I think if you get a smooth five-year run in your first job that’s generally pretty good.
But if you like new ownership in Washington, that may be way preferable in terms of resources and scope and vision. I think Arthur Blank would be better to work for, he’s a steady hand with a bigger bankroll.
You’ve got to get Strunk, management and Ran Carthon all to have reasonable expectations about what the roster is now and can be in the short term. I’m biased but I’d prefer to live in Nashville with no state income tax than in just about any place with an open job, though Southern California sunshine sure is nice.
What are the chances this *wide net* for head coach is also potentially to fill coordinator positions? Or is the hc expected to build his own staff?
— Dontthinkson (@Dontthinkson01) January 16, 2024
I don't think the intention is to fill coordinator positions. I think it's to see as many good head coaching candidates as possible. But we saw what happened with the Titans hired Mike Vrabel. His primary guys for offensive coordinator didn't pan out and Jon Robinson said Hey, Matt LaFleur was pretty good in his interview, you should take a look and he did and a marriage was made.
So there are certainly possibilities that can sprout out of the interview process.
If you need a 2nd back next year AND if you believe Henry is one of the better FA options (maybe that’s a big if?) why wouldn’t you make a competitive (I.e., NOT above market) offer early in the offseason to Henry. What will you learn later on FA you don’t know now? #Titans
— McC (@Auth_McC) January 16, 2024
What is that “competitive” offer? What is the market? How do you predetermine things that are shaped by 31 other teams?
The danger is insulting him.
What you learn later is who’s available as an alternative you (likely) prefer who is younger and more versatile and what their price is. You can’t move on that low-level free agent until free agency starts or that low pick or undrafted until late in the draft or after the draft.
And if you want Henry back cheap, you may have to let him see what the market dictates he’s worth before you give him that offer. Give it too early and you risk hurting his feelings. Give it to him after he’s got a feel for the market and you stand to do better.
Does the cliff dive of the Eagles, the rise and fall of the titans, the perpetual failure of the Jets bc of lack of offense, the success of the Packers, clearly signal that the failure to hire an offensive leader as your HC is a receipe for short-lived success at best?
— Rube Fleetwood 🎈 (@RubeFleetwood) January 16, 2024
It’s generally better right now to be an offensive team driven by an offensive coach, I think we’d all agree. Most of us would like our teams to be the 49ers or the Lions if we could choose direction. But it’s not that clear-cut.
The Bills are a pretty balanced team led by a defensive head coach and I’d say they’re having sustained success. The Ravens are also a balanced outfit, led by a coach with a special teams background. I look at them and see sustained success.
Nick Siriani is an offensive coach, so the cliff dive of the Eagles would be a strike against offensive coaches, not support of your stance.
The Titans and Jets are cherry-picked teams with defensive head coaches. You didn’t pick the Bills or the Steelers who also fit your criteria.
Jim McCann Why is Jim Schwartz not being mentioned as a candidate to interview for the Titans HC?
I don’t know. I am sure he would be interested. He’d like to be a head coach again and he loves Nashville. The playoff ending for the Browns was tough, but his defense in Cleveland was terrific.
I’d work hard to hire an offensive coach, but in being through I’d certainly talk to Schwartz to get his view and allow him to convince me why I should hire him.
Do you think Vrabel’s loyalty to players led him to kept them around longer than they should have been?
— Sunmaker (@ccdb610) January 16, 2024
Vrabel would have loved to have traded more than Kevin Byard this season. My understanding is the Titans simply couldn’t get sufficient returns for players like Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry, Denico Autry or Teair Tart. Keep in mind Tannehill’s cap number would have been restrictive before or even during the season and then he was hurt.
Vrabel was overly loyal to coaches in terms of patience and failure to bring in potentially superior outsiders rather than promoting guys from within.
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