It has been two weeks since the Tennessee Titans fired former head coach Brian Callahan just six games in his second season. Then, with a 1-5 record, the Titans decided to appoint the coach on their staff with the most experience as a previous head coach in the NFL in Mike McCoy.
Considering his 27-37 record as head coach of the then-San Diego Chargers from 2013 to 2016, most analysts don't consider him a serious candidate to be promoted from interim head coach to full-time head coach at season's end.
Regardless, the opportunity is there for McCoy to be considered if he yields good results the rest of this season, including positive development of rookie quarterback Cam Ward. However, two games into his interim tenure with the Titans have shown exactly why McCoy won't be considered a serious candidate for the position.
The Titans don't need any more conservative head coaches
One of the major jobs for NFL head coaches is deciding when to be aggressive or conservative with their play calls and general decision making. Callahan was confusing in that department as he was mostly conservative, but would be aggressive at the wrong moments after a cautious approach.
Conservative approaches are more common with old-school style head coaches. Including McCoy, the Titans' last four head coaches are considered to be of that coaching style (three with the first name "Mike"). Well, his conservative approaches have already grown tired with the Titans' fanbase after just two weeks.
In his first game against the Patriots, McCoy elected to run the ball with three timeouts and 49 seconds remaining in the first half, trailing 17-13. The Titans completed short passes afterward, failing to aggressively pursue to get into field goal. He followed it up against the Colts by electing to punt on 4th & 3 on Indianapolis' side of the field while trailing 17-7 on their first possession in the third quarter.
That decision elicited a frustrated response from Ward, who seemed to be gaining a rhythm before the team ran the ball on third down, followed by the decision to punt. The Colts made them pay as Jonathan Taylor broke loose for an 80-yard touchdown run on the Colts' next offensive play to essentially put the game out of reach with a 24-7 score.
Considering the Titans' recent trend of head coaches choosing the conservative approach in crucial situations, it is safe to assume McCoy won't be promoted to head coach heading into the offseason.