In a bizarre series of events, former Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon spent an hour on 104.5 The Zone in Nashville on Monday morning, less than a week after the team fired him. For those hoping Carthon would go scorched earth on president of football operations Chad Brinker, well, that didn't happen.
It was peculiar for someone in Carthon's position to do local media after being relieved of his duties, especially when you consider that 104.5 is the Titans' flagship station. Carthon's appearance was announced just hours before it took place, which led listeners to believe something juicy was coming.
Unfortunately, the conversation was largely tame, dominated by opinions on music and other non-football topics. Considering the situation, it certainly felt like we would get something more substantial.
It wasn't completely worthless, though. There were a few nuggets that shed some light on how people in the building feel about head coach Brian Callahan, Will Levis and team's the quarterback situation.
When it comes to Callahan, Carthon still believes he's the right guy for the job. Do Brinker and the next GM feel the same way? Time will tell.
"I truly believe in Cally [Callahan] and what he can do," Carthon said. "I know he will be much better next year, and you would have had to be there to understand how he works diligently at his job every single day to have a plan every single week and to have a plan moving forward. I really believe in him and wish him nothing but the best."
Is this a massive deal? No, but Carthon certainly could have used this platform to be more ambiguous, or to suggest that maybe Callahan's inexperience cost the Titans in 2024. Instead, he left no doubt that he largely drove the bus on Callahan's appointment, leading to more questions about how Brinker truly feels about the coach he's essentially inheriting.
The support Carthon offered Callahan was noteworthy considering he no longer has any professional obligation to offer him a ringing endorsement.
When Carthon was asked about the Titans' quarterback situation, he also offered support to Levis.
"I think Will is going to be fine," Carthon added. "We have to understand with Will that this may be the fourth offense he has had to learn in as many years. Just him having another year in the system is going to help him understand what it takes to play quarterback in this system and what Cally wants in this system."
Carthon went on to discuss how you can always find quarterbacks in the draft because of how much talent is in college football right now. He also said that the playoffs this season were proof that you don't always have to look high in the first round to find those guys, because some of the quarterbacks still playing were drafted later.
When pressed on what he would do with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft if he was still with the Titans, Carthon slyly said he would "draft a good player" before finally being pressed to give lukewarm endorsements to the top QB prospects in the class, Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward, saying that he believed that they were both "more than capable of being starters" in the NFL.
Time will reveal if Brinker and the next GM share Carthon's opinions.