What we know about the Tennessee Titans GM search
By Will Lomas
Nearly a month ago the Tennessee Titans fired GM Jon Robinson and outside of one press conference from Head Coach Mike Vrabel and a clip from Owner Amy Adams Strunk, there hasn’t been a lot of news on the future of the position.
It is almost unheard of that a GM would be fired in the middle of a winning season when their team was in a prime position to win the division, but that is what happened. Nearly everyone assumed that it might have been in response to A.J. Brown’s performance against the Titans.
People working for the organization were quick to say that wasn’t the case and that Amy Adams Strunk makes decisions from a calm place and she makes measured decisions. I certainly don’t have any evidence to disagree with that.
When the owner gave her interview on the firing, she said that the timing of the decision would allow the team plenty of time to identify future candidates that they were going to interview for the position and it would also allow them to monitor internal candidates.
In what is shaping up to be a crucial offseason for the Tennessee Titans, the only potential candidate that can be confirmed is acting GM Ryan Cowden.
Justin Melo and Zach Lyons both had good articles on internal candidates and potential hires that have connections to the Tennessee Titans.
From a broader perspective, Jonathan Jones recently posted an article for CBS Sports outlining the 11 people who league insiders said are ready to step up and be a GM.
Altogether there were 21 names mentioned on those three articles. Here they are in alphabetical order according to the teams they were most recently associated with.
22 names to keep an eye on for Tennessee Titans fans
Before I list the 21 names from those articles, I took a shot in the dark and asked Dane Brugler for the name of someone who deserves a GM job. His response was Will McClay of the Dallas Cowboys.
He has had a key role in the franchise since 2015 and if you exclude Tyler Smith who is a rookie starter for Dallas, the Cowboys have spent 6 of their 7 first-round picks on Pro Bowlers. That is an incredibly strong record.
Also, McClay is from Memphis, Tennessee which is a nice bit of trivia.
It is going to be tough to beat that resume, but these are the other 21 people who are theoretically competing for the Tennessee Titans GM position.
1. Quentin Harris (Arizona Cardinals)
2. Adrian Wilson (Arizona Cardinals)
3. Rob Kisiel (Atlanta Falcons)
4. Joel Collier (Atlanta Falcons)
5. Thomas Dimitroff (Formerly of the Atlanta Falcons)
6. Brian Gaine (Buffalo Bills)
7. Ian Cunningham (Chicago Bears)
8. Glenn Cook (Cleveland Browns)
9. Rick Smith (Formerly of the Houston Texans)
10. Mike Borgonzi (Kansas City Chiefs)
11. Ray Farmer (Kansas City Chiefs)
12. Scott Pioli (Formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs)
13. Jeff Ireland (New Orleans Saints)
14. Brandon Brown (New York Giants)
15. Jon Carr (New York Jets)
16. Ran Carthon (San Francisco 49ers)
17. Adam Peters (San Francisco 49ers)
18. Jacqueline Davidson (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
19. Ryan Cowden (Tennessee Titans)
20. Monti Ossenfort (Tennessee Titans)
21. John Streicher (Tennessee Titans)
Out of that list, there are a few names that stick out as interesting candidates, but right now it is all hypothetical.
There is always work going on behind the scenes that isn’t being seen or talked about, but with such a wide pool to choose from it seems like a waste to promote from within if ownership thinks the talent on the roster was really the issue.
The Tennessee Titans have a massive decision in front of them and they need to take their time to get it right, but if it is just an internal promotion one of two things has happened. Either the entire search was a sham, or they wasted time.
Since the Robinson firing half a dozen players have gone on I.R. and the Titans have been in a downward spiral losing every game since then. The entire season now somehow hinges on a Saturday night game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Will the Tennessee Titans sink back into the oblivion that Jon Robinson pulled them from or can a new GM help prevent that from happening? We are close to finding that out and fans might not like the answer.