Tennessee Titans interview Thomas McGaughey for the special team coordinator job

Mike Vrabel was forced to fire special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman before Vrabel himself was let go, and now the Tennessee Titans have to figure out which special teams coordinator is available who won't continue to make the Titans an embarassment in that phase of the game.

Yesterday, word came out that Brian Callahan and Ran Carthon were bringing in former New York Giants special teams coordinator, Thomas McGaughey, to interview for the vacant position.

Unlike some other positions on the coaching staff, there isn't an obvious connection between Ran Carthon/Brian Callahan, and McGaughey. However, he has been a special teams coordinator at a major college or in the NFL for 20 years, so has to be a well-known coach around the NFL.

While McGaughey's special teams haven't been great recently, he had more success earlier in his career and he might do better with a change of scenery.

Special teams coordinators tend to cycle around the NFL more than any other coordinator position, and there are some good things and bad things that go with that. For a first-time coach like Brian Callahan, an experienced STC takes a lot off of his plate because he is going to come in without needing training wheels.

On the other hand, it severely limits your hiring pool and it means that you aren't going to have many chances to land an above-average candidate.

There could still be other names that the Titans look at for the special teams coordinator role, but it is noteworthy that McGaughey's name was the first one that we have heard. The first name connected to a vacancy has been important for the Tennessee Titans this year because Brian Callahan was the first name we heard for the head coaching job, Dennard Wilson was the first name we heard for the defensive coordinator job, and Nick Holz was the first name that we heard for the offensive coordinator job.

A name the Tennessee Titans should look at

If the Tennessee Titans do go in another direction, I would like to see them target University of Tennessee special teams coordinator, Mike Ekeler.

Ekeler has been a huge asset for the Vols and he is one of the most intense and charismatic coaches in the game, which is saying a lot. On top of having the right personality for the job, he has also churned out impressive results in every aspect of special teams.

Adding Ekeler to a team with a kicker and a punter in place would almost guarantee success. Still, it is an outside-of-the-box idea and Tennessee Titans fans shouldn't get their hopes up because the Tennessee Vols coaching staff loves him.