Former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Mularkey has announced his retirement.
Former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Mularkey, who was most recently the tight ends coach for the Atlanta Falcons, has announced his retirement from football.
In a statement shared by the Falcons’ official website, Mularkey said that he wants to spend more time with his family now that his coaching days are over.
"“I’ve been blessed to do this for a long time and have a lot of great memories from the game I love,” Mularkey said. “I’ve also missed a lot of time with my family who I love and who has supported me so much throughout my career. I am looking forward to spending even more time with them and making even more memories.”"
This was Mularkey’s second stint with the Falcons, as he also held the offensive coordinator position from 2008 to 2011. He spent one season as the team’s tight ends coach in 2019.
Mularkey was the head coach of the Titans for two-plus seasons.
He took over in 2015 when Ken Whisenhunt was fired after a disastrous 1-6 start. Tennessee would go 2-7 the rest of the way under Mularkey, but he was able to revive the Titans franchise from the dead the next two years.
He compiled an 18-14 record (9-7 twice) the next two seasons and made one playoff appearance during the 2017 season in which Tennessee beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild card game. The Titans would later lose to the New England Patriots in the divisional round game.
Following the 2017 season, Mularkey was let go and the Titans went on to hire Mike Vrabel as the next head coach.
In total, Mularkey was a head coach for three different teams, with the other two being the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars. In total he posted a record of 36-53, and was 1-1 in the playoffs.
Mularkey also spent nine years as a player in the NFL, playing with the Minnesota Vikings and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was originally drafted by the San Francisco 49ers, but never played a game with them.