The Tennessee Titans suddenly need a new OC.
The Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur is now the head coach for the Green Bay Packers.
In one of the quickest and quietest developments of the offseason the Packers interviewed LaFleur and apparently loved what they heard. A big part of this hire was that he was willing to keep nearly every other coach on which is always dangerous, but that is his choice.
So the Titans now have one of the big three coaching jobs open. Who are the names that people should expect to hear with connections to the opening?
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Established hires
Freddie Kitchen OC, Cleveland Browns
Kitchens was great this year and when he was allowed to call the offense after Hue Jackson was fired, the Browns averaged 23.8 points per game. That number would be good for 14th in the NFL if that was over a full year.
Currently he is being interviewed for the Browns OC job, but if they decide to go a different direction then he could leave seeking a new opportunity. Tennessee would be a great fit, plus he wouldn’t have to play against Baltimore twice a year.
John DeFilippo, Free Agent
I think DeFilippo got a raw deal in Minnesota. Just a year ago the trio of he, Doug Pederson and Frank Reich were winning the Super Bowl and making two different QBs look like MVPs while they did it.
Fired halfway though his first season as an OC coming from a QB coach, he was never really given a chance to make a big impact. Like we saw with LaFleur, sometimes it takes a few games for an OC to really get going.
With a year of experience calling plays under his belt maybe the Titans can get a talented OC who is still young an innovative without having to overpay.
Risky promotions
Gregg Knapp QB coach, Atlanta
Matt Ryan quietly had a career years in completion percentage, interceptions, and 2nd his second best season in terms of TDs, YPA and QB Rating.
I got this idea from Justis Mosqueda who has been doing a lot of research on which coaches actually positively affect teams the most in terms of passing game especially.
Greg Knapp is underrated. Pretty great resume for a current QB coach. https://t.co/ZCzDpw1RfF
— Justis Mosqueda (#13for12) 💎🤲 (@JuMosq) January 7, 2019
Mark Helfrich OC, Chicago Bears
Helfrich is kinda the Matt LaFleur of Chicago. He is the OC technically, but he really doesn’t have the authority to call plays as freely as other OCs with Matt Nagy on staff.
I don’t think Helfrich would be a good HC, but as an OC he seems like a great fit. It was under his coaching in Oregon that Marcus Mariota won the Heisman and almost won the national championship. I would imagine if anyone could get comfortable with Marcus Mariota it would be he or Chip Kelly.
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College connections
Lane Kiffin HC, FAU
Kiffin’s time at FAU has felt like a rest stop more than a final destination since he was hired. He is a very talented offensive mind that pulled Nick Saban into the 21st century effectively wrecking college football for a decade.
That sort of modern thinking would be fun to see in Tennessee and it may allow some continuity between what LaFleur was trying to do and where the Titans are going.
Kliff Kingsburry OC, USC ?
Kingsburry was the OC of USC until earlier today when he just…wasn’t? He was listed on the staff in the morning but then later that day his name was missing. Meanwhile, it was rumored that he would interview for HC jobs with the New York Jets and the Arizona Cardinals.
On top of that, it looked like if Josh McDaniels left he would interview for the OC job with the New England Patriots.
Who knows if he burned bridges with USC in an attempt to break into the NFL as a HC, but isn’t an NFL OC job worth more than a college OC job on a resume? I think he would be a great fit with the Titans.
Wildcards
Chip Kelly HC, UCLA
The beginning of the Chip Kelly era at UCLA was….not what anyone expected. Maybe it is best for everyone that Chip Kelly takes a step back and gets back to focusing on being the offensive innovator that he was for so long.
Could the Titans seek to reunite Marcus Mariota with the coach who was enthralled with him from college to the pros? Probably not, but it is still a name that needed to be included.
Gary Kubiak, Denver Broncos
The Broncos aren’t allowing Kubiak to interview with anyone right now, but does that honestly matter? Don’t we have a big enough sample size of what he likes to do offensively to know what changes he would make?
If that wasn’t enough, that offense is essentially what the Titans were trying to run anyway with LaFleur. This would just be like getting a more experienced version of what they were hoping to get.