What Is Left For Tennessee Titans: Coaching Staff
Nov 10, 2013; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Munchak watches a replay on the jumbotron in a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the second half at LP Field. The Jaguars beat the Titans 29-27. Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports
Tennessee Titans fans know by now that we have now lost two straight games. Both were within our division and one was to a winless Jacksonville Jaguars team. We have fallen to 0-3 in the AFC South, lost five of our last six games, and now sit at a measly 4-6 overall record with a slim-to-none chance of making the playoffs.
So, many Tennessee Titans faithful, including myself, are asking: What is next for the Tennessee Titans? What does all of this mean?
While there is no complete answer, here are some things I can put together for you and things that are either certain to happen or may very well (most likely) will happen at seasons end. First we will start with the coaching staff:
1) The purge begins with the Head Coach
That purge will begin with the one constant over the last few dreadful seasons since his hire, with the one and only Mike Munchak. As Josh Huffman stated previously (he summed it up quite nicely), is there any reason to keep the guy around? The serious and honest answer to that is no.
Munchak has no identity as a coach. Nothing tangible that sets him apart. No fire in his gut that motivates this team. Nothing that truly makes him the best option for this team.
All of the empty promises, disappointments, and deflating seasons will leave with him. A complete overhaul is what this team, this organization, and Nashville needs and deserves.
2) Alan Lowry, we miss you buddy
The special teams has been abysmal…no they have been the epitome of awful this entire season. What would any Tennessee Titans fan give to have good ole Alan Lowry on our sidelines again? Well, just about anything if you ask me.
Punting, returning, and kickoffs have been subpar (to put it nicely), all season long. We saw Darius Reynaud come and go, Damian Williams fall to injury, and Devon Wylie (who the heck is that anyways) all show horrendous returning abilities. Who knew it was hard to find someone capable enough to return. How much did losing Marc Mariani ACTUALLY hurt us? More than most would have ever imagined.
Don’t even get me started on the onside kicks. All I have to say is when Rob Bironas thinks they are crazy, something is really wrong. Simply put, expect major changes at special teams as far as coaching goes next year.
3) Dowell Loggains, the offensive “genius” we never saw
I have never been more frustrated with offensive play-calling at the NFL level. I had to watch Jim Bollman at Ohio State for several years and that was excruciating, but this is to that level if not worse. The play calling is consistent, predictable, and quite frankly not right for the players he has on his team.
If I saw another screen, fake-screen, double fake screen or whatever else yesterday I was going to lose it. Wouldn’t you think after running it oh, I don’t know, five times and losing yards every single time you shouldn’t run it anymore? Apparently not if you’re Dowell Loggains.
The guy has to go, can’t say it any simpler than that. We need an offensive coordinator who is ready to be an offensive coordinator, not a guy who is “really quite not sure of what to run just yet.”
4) Defense is an up-and-down roller coaster
As usual the defense yesterday had points where they looked great and other times where they looked extremely susceptible to multiple different types of attacks. Once again, however, the run game was horrific and we made Donald Brown look like an all-pro, which he most certainly is not.
This is one of the tougher puzzles to crack. Who is to blame for defensive inconsistency? Is it Jerry Gray, who typically most Titans fans point the finger at, or is it Gregg Williams? The guy who everyone raved about coming into the season. Or is it a combination of the two?
Being unbiased, I am going to say it’s most likely a combination of the two. Maybe it’s just an inability to see things a normal, breathing Tennessee Titans fan can bluntly see. Inability to stop the run game with large gaps because linebackers can’t fill holes. How about Coby Fleener being wide open underneath, not once, not twice, but multiple times across the course of the game? Someone other than me has to notice these things.
It’s not rocket science. They are defensive coordinators for a reason. See it happen, make an adjustment, that’s what you do.
Maybe this whole coaching staff simply just isn’t able to make adjustments. After a while you accept that that’s the way it is with this coaching staff. In the end, however, it may be the reason a purge of everyone comes swiftly at the end of this season. I, along with many other Tennessee Titans fans, wouldn’t be upset about it.