Enter Tim Kelly
Before being hired by the Tennessee Titans, Tim Kelly spent nearly 7 years with the Houston Texans in numerous offensive roles until being promoted to the offensive coordinator in 2019.
Under his tutelage, Deshaun Watson enjoyed continued success and even elevated his stats in 2020. During the Texans head coaching search that brought in David Culley, Watson pushed for the support of keeping Kelly as his offensive coordinator.
Maybe his most impressive feat is what he did with the offense when the Texans were forced to hold Watson out for the season with a major ongoing legal situation. Kelly was able to develop Davis Mills into an efficient starting quarterback.
Mills, the young rookie QB from Stanford finished with a 66. 9 completion percentage and broke the franchise record for most passing yards in a season for a rookie with 2,664. If you were forced to give everyone in the NFL a truth serum they would tell you he was more impressive than Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, or any rookie QB not named Mac Jones.
When it comes to bringing out the best in quarterbacks, Kelly has a golden touch.
Titans Head Coach, Mike Vrabel jumped on the chance to hire him early this February, and he even created a new coaching position just for him, and just like that Kelly was the first “Passing Coordinator” in Titans history.
The Titans’ respect for Kelly has been there for years and if Houston hadn’t denied the team permission to interview Kelly for the offensive coordinator job in early 2021, he would have probably gotten that title.
Now the two will work together just like defensive coordinator Shane Bowen and “senior defensive advisor” Jim Schwartz did in the 2021 season.