Tennessee Titans hire offensive coordinator Nick Holz

The Tennessee Titans have hired Nick Holz as their new offensive coordinator.

Despite his age (39), Holz has already spent more than a decade in the NFL. Most of that time was in Oakland/Las Vegas working with the wide receivers, but last season the Jacksonville Jaguars targeted him to be their passing game coordinator.

The transition from passing game coordinator to an OC that doesn't call plays, won't be a massive difference. There are a lot of aspects that I expect to be the same for Holz when he joins the Titans.

Considering that Brian Callahan is bringing his own scheme with him, the offensive coordinator's job in Tennessee will be about teaching and communication. It is going to be his job to listen to Callahan and know exactly how Callahan wants things done for every position group, and considering his background I would assume that he is going to be most concerned with the wide receivers.

How should Tennessee Titans fans feel about the hire?

It is hard to say that this is an underwhelming hire considering that the OC job under Callahan is going to be so nuanced that it will be hard to tell how much impact Holz is having. However, I thought that Eric Studesville would have been a better fit on paper.

Charles Robinson was on Robby and Rexrode on 102.5 in Nashville this week, he was asked about the OC job opening in Tennessee. At the time, Studesville seemed like the leader in the clubhouse from an outside perspective given his age and experience with running backs (which is something that this staff currently lacks).

Robinson said that the first word that comes to mind with Studesville is intensity, which is similar to what he knew about new Tennessee Titans DC Dennard Wilson.

Intensity is great, and I still think that Studesville would have been a good choice, but he might not have been the right choice. Callahan is assembling a staff of teachers and communicators, and Holz might have the right skill set for what an OC is going to be asked to do in Tennessee.

Holz and Callahan worked together with the Oakland Raiders, and the two have known each other since they were teammates in high school. Usually leaning on friendships to decide which coaches you hire, is a risky decision, but this feels like the rare exception where trust and being on the same page is the most important factor.

This hire shouldn't excite fans the way that the Brian Callahan, Dennard Wilson, or Bill Callahan hirings did, but it also isn't a discouraging hire. The staff is taking shape and it already feels like it is significantly better than any staff that Mike Vrabel assembled with the possible exception of the 2018 staff.