Tennessee Titans lose defensive quality control coach Matt Pees
The Tennessee Titans have lost yet another coach from their 2019 coaching staff.
Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel has seen a lot of changes to his coaching staff from the 2019 season, and on Monday night he lost yet another coach.
The son of former defensive coordinator Dean Pees and the team’s defensive quality control coach, Matt Pees, is leaving the Titans to take the head coaching job at Findlay High School in Ohio.
Pees reacted to the announcement, which was shared by the school’s Twitter page.
This is a rather minor departure, especially when compared to some of the other coaches who have left during the early stages of the offseason. As Titans beat writer Paul Kuharsky notes, Pees’ job as defensive quality control coach is an entry-level job.
Entry level. A coach has to see you as an up and comer. You have to work sick hour. Have some legit experience already.
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) February 11, 2020
ESPN’s Turron Davenport went into a bit more detail about Pees’ job.
#Titans coaching news. Pees worked a lot with the defensive line as an assistant to Terrell Williams. He's leaving his role as defensive quality control. https://t.co/roDXtpv1k7
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) February 11, 2020
Pees joins multiple other coaches who have left Nashville recently, and his departure comes after the team announced it had finalized the coaching staff last week.
Defensive coordinator Dean Pees retired following the 2019 season, secondary coach Kerry Coombs left for the co-defensive coordinator position with Ohio State, and inside linebackers coach Tyrone McKenzie left (or was fired) and joined the Detroit Lions’ coaching staff.
While the Titans replaced McKenzie with veteran coach Jim Haslett, and Coombs with former Houston Texans secondary coach Anthony Midget, the team did not officially name a defensive coordinator to take Pees’ spot.
Instead, Vrabel is expected to have a larger role in the defense, which could lead to him calling plays in 2020. We’ll see if that ends up coming to fruition or if the Titans will use a different approach.