In the aftermath of the first two days of the NFL’s Super Wildcard Weekend, one thing has become apparent: a great offense will almost always beat a great defense. The Tennessee Titans have to adapt to this new NFL.
Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers dominated what was thought of as an outstanding Dallas Cowboys defense, limiting Micah Parsons to a nonfactor. C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans similarly had their way against an elite Cleveland Browns defense.
If Amy Adams Strunk and the Tennessee Titans truly want to modernize the team like they say they do, the only way for them to do that is to bring in an offense-minded head coaching candidate.
And, while I have been largely critical of how Titans ownership has handled the Vrabel firing, they did pick an unprecedented time to look for a head coach considering the number of great prospects out there.
Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, Jim Harbaugh, (potentially Mike McCarthy), and Mike Vrabel are all out there right now, and even though those coaches are likely to go to teams that are currently better on paper than the Titans (like the Chargers and Cowboys), that means that the Titans will have a great shot to land a very good coordinator like Ben Johnson, Bobby Slowick, or Brian Callahan.
If the Titans can get the right guy for the job, it gives Will Levis a great chance to put everything on display in a crucial 2nd year for the Titans. With the right offensive scheme, great draft capital, and the money to make a splash move in free agency, this team truly can be competitive as soon as next season.
When it comes to offensive continuity, you are never going to get that with a defensive-minded coach. However, if Tennessee gets a guy like Ben Johnson, it means they won’t have to reset with a new OC and scheme as soon as they see offensive success.
Guys like Matt Lefleur and Arthur Smith are perfect examples of guys getting poached as soon as the Tennessee Titans had any offensive success under Mike Vrabel. It’s an impossible task to replace an OC year in and year out, and even if you can stay afloat for a while, you can't do it forever.
Everyone knows the old saying “defense builds championships,” but in 2024, offense builds dynasties.