The Tennessee Titans have reportedly failed in their bid to replace recently-departed inside linebackers coach, Tyrone McKenzie.
In an attempt to fill their linebackers coach vacancy, the Tennessee Titans reportedly offered the job to University of Cincinnati defensive coordinator, Marcus Freeman.
The Titans job became open when inside linebackers coach Tyrone McKenzie and the team decided to part ways, with McKenzie moving on to the coaching staff of the Detroit Lions.
Some reports had McKenzie’s exit as being a mutual situation, while another report suggested he was fired. Whatever the case may be, the Titans reportedly failed in their bid to replace McKenzie with Freeman.
Interesting note: the Titans offered their LBs coach job to Univ. of Cincinnati DC Marcus Freeman, sources say. In the end, Freeman (like Mike Vrabel, an OSU football alum) decided to stay at UC.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) February 4, 2020
But this is another example of Vrabel thinking outside the box with his hires.
As Breer points out, Freeman was an alum of Ohio State like Titans head coach Mike Vrabel. He played for the Buckeyes from 2006 through 2008. Freeman has been the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati since 2017.
McKenzie wasn’t the first coach to leave Tennessee this offseason.
Secondary coach Kerry Coombs also departed and took the co-defensive coordinator position at Ohio State. He has since been replaced by former Houston Texans secondary coach, Anthony Midget.
The biggest vacancy left on the Titans is at the defensive coordinator position, as former defensive coordinator Dean Pees decided to retire at the end of the 2019 season.
There have been reports suggesting that Vrabel could take on the role of defensive coordinator in 2020, but nothing has been confirmed yet. Vrabel recently made it clear that continuity is important to him in the search for a replacement, therefore the future defensive coordinator will likely come from within.