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Tennessee Titans and head coach Mike Mularkey part ways

By Matias Wodner

FOXBOROUGH, MA - JANUARY 13: Head coach Mike Mularkey of the Tennessee Titans looks on in the second quarter of the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on January 13, 2018 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
FOXBOROUGH, MA - JANUARY 13: Head coach Mike Mularkey of the Tennessee Titans looks on in the second quarter of the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on January 13, 2018 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /
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Less than a day after offering him an extension, the Tennessee Titans have parted ways with head coach Mike Mularkey.

Yesterday night, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Mularkey was offered an extension by the front office. We laid out the reasoning for why that move was made. Just this morning, a complete 180 resulted in Mularkey and the Titans mutually parting ways.

Here is the statement from Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk:

"I want to thank Mike Mularkey for his contributions to our franchise over his tenure with our organization. He took over our team during a low moment and together with Jon built a solid foundation for our franchise. I appreciated that Mike devoted himself to this team and the community.In fact, we did discuss extending his future with our team over the past week, but in those discussions about the direction of the team, it became evident that we saw different paths to achieve greater success.It is certainly unfortunate that we couldn’t find enough common ground. I generally believe that continuity is the best path for success, but I also view this as an important moment for our football team as we try to make that next step to sustained success on the field. Jon will begin the search immediately to identify that person"

As we noted on twitter yesterday, this felt like a Mike Munchak situation from the get-go once the season ended. Back in 2013, Titans head coach Munchak was offered an ultimatum by the TItans brass: Overhaul your coaching staff and keep your job, or don’t and lose it. Munchak chose the latter, opting instead to die on the hill his coordinator choices built.

This year’s situation seems eerily similar. In yesterday’s press conference, Mularkey praised OC Terry Robiskie and said he was pleased with QB Marcus Mariota’s development. Any fan with eyes could see that both were topics of contention, and that both needed to be improved. Later that night, Mularkey was offered an extension, and Rapoport says that the extension was real and on the table.

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In the statement above by Strunk, she notes that “we saw different paths to achieve greater success”. It’s easy to deduce that Mularkey was brought forth an ultimatum like Munchak’s, and Mularkey refused to make the changes the front office deemed non-negotiable.

The Titans went 9-7 in both of Mularkey’s first two full seasons as the head coach. They won a playoff game this year in dramatic fashion with an epic comeback against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Mularkey did an unprecedented job in helping change the culture and attitude of this organization within the locker room, and that must be applauded. But his unwillingness to change both his own scheme and the ones executing it left the front office with no choice.

Now, it’s time for GM Jon Robinson to find his guy. By the looks of it, he’ll throw all his eggs in the Josh McDaniels basket.

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