Tennessee Titans list of names as the search for a defensive coordinator begins.
You wouldn’t think that hiring a defensive coordinator would be a big deal for the Tennessee Titans given that they have a former defensive coordinator as the head coach in Mike Vrabel. You would be wrong.
Unlike a lot of coaches (and more like Bill Belichick) Mike Vrabel views himself more as a CEO than some of the other coaches around the league. What I mean by that is that he defers a lot of the play calling to his coordinator only chiming in to push for an aggressive play.
That means that while Mike Vrabel had a hand in developing the playbook in the offseason, it was really Pees who was the mastermind and the play caller on that side of the ball.
So, finding someone that Vrabel can mesh with but who also is a completely capable play caller in their own right isn’t an easy thing to do. These are the names that interest me the most as potential replacements going forward.
Wade Phillips
Wade Phillips should be on every head coach’s speed dial and the fact that he doesn’t have a job right now astounds me. I don’t know that I need to sell Phillips to anyone, but here is a quick snapshot of his resume.
Since 2015 this is where Wade Phillips has put the defenses he coached in terms of DVOA:
2015: 1st
2016: 1st
2017: 6th
2018: 17th (Super Bowl loss to the Patriots allowing just 13 points)
2019: 9th
So three top-6 finishes and only one season below average. For reference, the Titans were 16th in 2019 and 19th in 2018.
When you look at takeaways, Phillip-led defenses haven’t finished outside of the top-10 since 2015 either and in terms of sacks he has finished 1st, 3rd, 4th, 15th, and 4th.
Whether you want someone to elevate the good talent you already have or mask deficiencies in your personnel, he has shown that year in and year out he can put out a consistently great product.
He is one of those guys that you need to go get if he is willing to listen.
Kris Richard: Dallas Cowboys defensive passing game coordinator
Richard is a free agent after the coaching turnover in Dallas, but I would imagine someone is going to have to entice him with a DC title to get him inside the building.
What you get with Richard is less of what you get from what you saw in Dallas, and more of what you saw when he was fired from Seattle. During Richard’s time in Seattle the team averaged 18.3 points per game but in the two years since he left they have averaged 23.3 points per game.
5 points might not seem like a lot on paper, but if the Titans were 5 ppg better this year they would have been the 2nd best defense in the NFL while 5 ppg worse would have made them the 23rd ranked defense.
Deeper than that, he is a defensive backs coach at heart which is an issue with Kerry Coombs leaving today too. Adding someone who helped cultivate the Legion of Boom and get the best out of guys like Byron Jones this year would be a big help for the Tennessee Titans.
Tyrone McKenzie: Tennessee Titans inside linebackers coach
McKenzie is really interesting because just connecting dots and playing with the idea of what could happen, there is a scenario that I would love to see no matter how unlikely.
First of all, credit to McKenzie for the job he has done with Rashaan Evans, Jayon Brown, Wesley Woodyard, and David Long. Since he has been on the staff the inside linebackers have been impressive and very rarely seem like they are the weakest unit on this defense.
How much of that credit should go to Mike Vrabel is impossible to know without being at practice every day and listening to them on the sideline as games are going on.
However, just looking at what his job description is and his history as a coach in this league he may be ready to take that next step up like Arthur Smith was last year.
That part is the obvious and easy part, the next domino I want to fall to really make this a homerun move is for Luke Kuechly to come in and replace McKenzie as the inside linebackers coach.
For the Titans, you get one of the most impressive minds in all of football on your staff who can instantly step in and help with game plans and finding keys to identify in game.
Kuechly gets a position job in the NFL right off the bat which is something you don’t really see. Also, he gets to work with McKenzie who knows what he is doing and who can help bridge the experience gap, while he learns how to start his path from player to head coach studying Mike Vrabel.