Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Major Coaching News - Who Is the New Titans DC, What to Expect Now & Super Bowl Sound Bites

Episode Date: January 30, 2020

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Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, there is so much news to go over. All the changes on the defensive coaching staff are coming quick and they are coming hot. We got two big drops on the first day of the offseason with Dean Pease and Kerry Coombs leaving the team. Now in the last 48 hours or so, we've gotten three big moves, including the report from Teron Davenport about who exactly is going to be the next Titans defensive coordinator so we're going to talk about all those changes individually and make sure they were all caught up on exactly where

things stand in our first segment and then after that we are going to just talk about the fallout and talk about what comes next after all of these moves and all the changes that we have heard about here in the last two days. Then to cap off the show, there have been some really good quotes and some really good sound bites coming out of the Super Bowl media sessions about this Tennessee Titans football team from some significant members of the football community. You could say, so I want to make sure that you guys get all of that as well.

So I'll play you some of that in our final segment. We got a lot to get into, a lot of big changes for this Titans football team. that you guys get all of that as well. So I'll play you some of that in our final segment. We got a lot to get into, a lot of big changes for this Titans football team. So let's get it. With the retirement of defensive coordinator Dean Pease, most would expect the Titans to fill that role through either of the traditional routes, hiring an outside candidate, or promoting from within. But we learned on Wednesday night from ESPN's Teron Davenport that the Titans would be doing neither of those.

They would opt to not hire a defensive coordinator and let head coach Mike Vrabel take an expanded role coaching the defense. Will Vrabel be installing game plans and calling plays for the defense like a traditional defensive coordinator? We don't know. Will he be sharing that responsibility, which is something that does happen within the NFL where someone else would be calling plays or installing the game plan? We will see as the offseason progresses. What we do know though is the Titans will not be hiring a defensive coordinator. So that is something that we have to pay attention to going forward and something that during the

season we will have to make sure we have our eye on how Vrabel is handling both those responsibilities as he has proven that he will have success in the role that he was in. So let's see how he does with a little bit more on his plate. Also, within the last 48 hours, we learned that inside linebacker coach Tyrone McKenzie would be leaving the team and joining the Detroit Lions defensive coaching staff in some capacity. News broke late on Wednesday night as well from Paul Kaharski that Tyrone McKenzie was actually fired. So the circumstances around that and what exactly happened to lead to that after McKenzie clearly performed very well as an inside linebacker coach. Jayon Brown has become one of the best three down linebackers in the NFL. Rashawn Evans took a huge leap in his second season.

Inside linebacker rookie David Long had a fantastic season when he was asked to play. Veteran Wesley Woodyard has done a really good job in the role that he was asked to play and then when he had the opportunity to get snaps late in the season. So you can't say that McKenzie didn't do a good job. Very curious to find out a little bit more about what happened between McKenzie and Vrabel there. Some speculated that he would want the defensive coordinator position and maybe that was the crux of the issue but at

this point we can't be certain. We also learned on Wednesday that the defensive back coach position left by Kerry Combs would be filled by Anthony Midgett from the Houston Texans who had the same role with the team. He grinded his teeth at the college level from 2008 to 2013 with Georgia State, Marshall, and then finished at Penn State. From 2014 until last season, he was with the Houston Texans. He started as a defensive back assistant coach and then moved his way to be the full-time defensive back coach. He actually coached with Mike Rabel in Houston from 2014 until 2017, so he'll now be taking over that position. It is worth note that last year, the Houston Texans gave up the 29th most passing yards

per game with 267. Now, that can't exactly be a reflection of the defensive backs coach because he isn't the one calling plays and coordinating the entire defense and installing the game plan but it is still of note for this Titans defense that needs help defending the pass there are a lot of questions coming out of these changes in the reports that we've gotten over the last 48 hours so let's talk some more next about the fallout here what are some of the options and what are some of the outcomes that we could see going forward in terms of role distribution or the hierarchy of the defensive coaching staff. We can also talk about some of the pros and cons that go along with these decisions. What I do know is I'm going to be here with you guys throughout the entire offseason daily,

breaking down all the news and all the changes coming out of Nashville with the Titans. So make sure that you are subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast and you are following me on Twitter at TicTacTitans. We are going to get into some more breakdown of the coaching changes next. Are you the type of fan that knows football so well that you could choose any game and call it? Well, my bookie is the place for you because they let you turn all your sports knowledge into cash in your wallet.

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Once again, text the word advertising to or visit lockedonpodcast.com We look forward to hearing from you. Let's continue our conversation about Mike Vrabel as the pseudo defensive coordinator for this Titans team. And as I said, let's talk some pros and cons about that. One thing that we can say and some things that we just got to lay out here is this is more common than people want to believe. And some initial takeaways I saw out there were upset about it being too much on a head coach's plate.

But we see this quite a bit in a couple of different capacities. So Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills calls plays for his defense as the head coach. Mike Zimmer calls the plays on defense for the Vikings as the head coach. You see Sean McVay as the head coach call plays on offense. Matt LaFleur, Kyle Shanahan, who's in the Super Bowl right now. You see a lot of these offensive-minded coaches be the head coach and still be calling plays. Mike McCarthy for the Packers called plays for forever on offense and then sometimes what happens is the you know the head coach will give up the play calling duties but they can still be integral parts of you know setting up the game plan each week look at Bill Belichick he is a defensive coordinator through

and through he is responsible with the installation of the game plan on defense. But reports out of New England this year all pointed to Steve Belichick, his son, who's the defensive backs coach, calling plays. And that's successful. Now, obviously, anytime you're making a parallel to the Patriots, that's a dangerous road. You got to take it with a grain of salt because the Patriots system is quite unique. But I just wanted to give you guys an example of how these things can play out so that kind of moves me into the conversation of what will Vrabel's role be here what exactly is the capacity

in the report it doesn't say he will be the defensive coordinator it just says that they won't be hiring a defensive coordinator and he will have an expanded role so when you think about that that doesn't mean for certain that he'll be calling the plays it doesn't even mean for certain that he'll be installing game plan but you have to think it'll be one of those roles to to be considered an expanded role he's not going to be a traditional defensive coordinator we know that he can't be and that brings me to one of the cons here this obviously I know I mentioned the concern about putting too much on his plate but Vrabel's style as a head coach isn't as an X's and O's tactician even though he's involved it's clear that he's a leader a CEO type someone who really manages everything going on quite

frankly in terms of his in-game management, he was very up and down throughout the season. Some of his early season decision-making in Jacksonville against the Colts, we saw some really strange decisions from him throughout the season in terms of, like I said, his in-game decision-making. You have to wonder if he's even more focused about the defensive game planning and the adjustments after halftime. Will that make him less focused on the decisions that he already struggled with throughout the season? That's definitely a con and it's definitely a concern that you have to

think about just from Vrabel and his head coaching experience that we've seen. Not even to get into his defensive coordinator experience, which is where you've got to be careful judging him based on the personnel he had and everything that took place. But in that lone season with the Houston Texans in 2017, like I mentioned, Vrabel gave up the most points per game on defense, the most total points for any defense in that season. Now he had injuries up front, like I mentioned in our first segment with J.J. Watt and Whitney Merciless.

The personnel in the defensive backfield is something that needs to be upgraded in Houston and has been that way for multiple years. He was under Bill O'Brien, so there's no guarantee that he was allowed to do exactly what he wanted to do. You have no idea what kind of restrictions or what kind of suggestions that were put on him. no idea what kind of restrictions or what kind of suggestions that were put on him. He was replacing Romeo Cornell at that moment in time as the defensive coordinator for them, so he probably wanted to keep some continuity in terms of their scheme and what their personnel was doing. There

are a lot of different factors that you could use as, quite frankly, excuses for what turned out, but the reality is it wasn't a banner season for Vrabel as a defensive coordinator, and it's the only season in which he's gotten to call plays on defense. So at this point in time, the Titans don't have anyone on the defensive coaching staff with more than one year of defensive play calling experience. So even if, and this is another, I guess, pro situation, we could look at it like I mentioned the Steve Belichick, Bill Belichick model where someone else on the defensive

coaching staff is calling plays. And you see that on the offensive side of the ball from time to time as well. So what if Mike Vrabel is installing the game plan with the team, being a defensive coordinator throughout the week, and then during during the game he goes back to his head coaching role like he had most of the season and somebody like outside linebacker coach Shane Bowen would take over play calling maybe that's one of the reasons that Anthony Midgett was hired over from the Houston Texans even though he's going to the same role he's not getting a promotion in any way he was the defensive back coach for the Houston Texans he's going to be

the defensive backs coach for the Tennessee Titans so he's not getting any kind of upgrade maybe Rabel said hey you can call plays on defense and that's somewhat of a promotion that I wish and who knows if it was offered to inside linebacker coach Tyrone McKenzie as I mentioned he was I mean his unit out on the field performed fantastically while he was with the Titans for the two seasons that he was under Mike Rabel so I'm curious to hear more about that situation that's something that I wanted to talk a little bit more about as well why not offer Tyrone McKenzie the opportunity to call plays but continue being the inside linebacker coach was that offered maybe that was offered and McKenzie's like no I thought I should get the defensive coordinator position and that caused him to have a disagreement with Mike Vrabel and

John Robinson and that led to him being fired I mean it's it's a lot to speculate on there are a lot of different ways that it could have gone, but at this moment in time, I think the most likely outcome is the one I mentioned just now. He wanted to be the defensive coordinator. Mike Vrabel wasn't willing to give him that responsibility. They had a disagreement and just determined that it would be best to just let him go.

He was instantly hired by the Detroit Lions. Like I said, it's not a question of his ability. He led some great units, and the results speak for themselves with the inside linebackers on the Tennessee Titans. So that will wrap up our conversation about all the coaching changes. We are going to continue to monitor this situation throughout the offseason and see if we get any more changes. We know that we have to fill that inside linebacker coaching position,

so I'll make sure to break that down for you when it happens. Next, we are going to head down to Miami for some of the Super Bowl media sessions. There have been some pretty juicy quotes, some good sound bites from some of the more notable names in the NFL community down at the Super Bowl, so I'm going to play those for you guys next. There have been some good sound bites and quotes coming out of Super Bowl media week in regards to the Titans and head coach Mike Vrabel. We are going to hear some of those now from some Hall of Fame quarterbacks and Hall of Fame coaches.

Audio is courtesy of Jim Wyatt from titansonline.com. First, we are going to hear from Hall of Fame head coach Jimmy Johnson. I'll tell you, Vrabel, he did as good a job of coaching as anybody in this league. The decision he made at quarterback quarterback putting Tannehill in, I mean, that's not easy to do for a head coach. But I watch him play. They don't make a lot of mistakes. They play great defense. They run the ball. It's old school football, but they're a physical, physical football team. I love the way Braywell is coached. He learned a lot from Bill Belichick. But already I would put him as one of the better coaches in our league.

High praise for Vrabel there from a Hall of Fame coach. Next, we are going to hear from former Miami Dolphins head coach and former Pitt coach Dave Wonstadt about Ryan Tannehill. You know what? Ryan Tannehill, to me, you know, I defended him when he was at the Dolphins. And they got the maximum out of him. I mean, you know, and he always probably had the ability, whether it's a comfort zone or just getting into a new environment, I don't know. But the guy had a fantastic year.

At the end of the day, he was probably his bigger reason of anybody that they had success. He deserves credit for that. But I think you've got to give Grable credit again to make that call with, you know, number one pick, Marcus Mariota. You know what I mean? That, hey, we're going to make a quarterback change for a guy that was a backup, you know, I mean, to start the season and who was kind of forced out of Miami. You know, I mean, that takes a lot of guts.

And so you've got to give Braybill credit for that. You know what? I remember when I first watched Ryan Tannehill, I thought that he was almost a better thrower when he was on the move than he was in the pocket. And I hate to put this on, I don't even know who the coach was, to say, okay, they tried to make him a drop-back passer, which he's not. I don't know if that's a reason or not, but what he's doing right now, in my mind, is

what he does best. You know, the play-action pass, he makes some plays with his legs. So I just think he's more comfortable. Next, more love for Ryan Tannehill from Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw. What happened was he just got around better players. Ryan's a solid player, you know, and he played really good even against Kansas City. So you put a coach that has a good philosophy, and I like their coach there in Tennessee. And he had good players around him, good running game,

and he just went out there and just did his job. Listen, you go talk to Jimmy Johnson, and Jimmy will tell you, I've always liked him. Even when they were hammering him down here in Miami, I always liked him. I was shocked this guy was a wide receiver. When they talk about great athletes in the NFL, this guy can flat run. This guy can run. Like the kid at LSU, Joe Burrow, that guy can run, man.

That guy is something. And then some more Mike Vrabel praise, this time from Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman. When Mike Vrabel was a defensive coordinator, I'm asked from time to time when these head coaching jobs come open as to who I recommend. And that year, the only guy I was recommending was Mike Vrabel. And I never played with Mike, never was on a team where he was on the staff. And I never played with Mike, never was on a team where he

was on the staff, but I would watch him. We'd do Houston Texans games and I'd go over and watch him coach linebackers. And I just loved his approach. I loved his intensity, felt that he was smart, felt he had the great pedigree having been raised essentially with the New England Patriots and his versatility as a player. Very smart, so I knew he knew a lot about different facets of the game. And I'm proud of what he's done. I've been a big fan of his. I'm not surprised by anything that's happened.

And they'll be back. They were in the championship game, and they've got a bullet going into next year. I like them. And lastly, I want to let you hear from Titans legend and my favorite Titans linebacker of all time, Keith Bullock, and what he sees for the direction of this football team and where they need to go next. I'm definitely proud. You know, I'm very, I'm definitely looking forward to the next step because I feel like, you know, Mike Malarkey left. They were a 9-7 playoff team. Vrabel got here.

They were on the cusp last year, and this year, you know, they got in the last game of the season. So, obviously, they're a team to be reckoned with. They are a playoff team. But I want to see that next step when they become that, you know, 10-6, I mean, 13-3 team or that 12-4 team where they show that consistency throughout the entire season. It's one thing to be a scrappy, gritty team. What they are tough can go against any team every Sunday.

But I want to see them get to the point where the teams are coming into Titan Stadium or Nissan Stadium or the Titans are going into their stadium and they're looking at them like, all right, we got the Titans this week. I mean, I'm sure they think that already, but it's a little different when you know you're playing a scrappy team than when you know you're playing a juggernaut. I want them to create their own identity. They can never replace it.

The game doesn't allow for that style of football anymore, so there'll never be another Tennessee Tyrants, but I feel that they have the capabilities to create whatever they they want to create I like a lot of those players on that team and um you know I think um you know hopefully if time permitting schedule permitting I can you know get with a couple of them this summer and I definitely like to just learn them a little bit talk some football with them maybe you know give them a little something that uh outside the game that coaches can't. That is going to do it for today's show.

We went over all of these different coaching changes and all of the reports, went over all the ramifications that come along with the changes we're seeing to the defensive staff and what could come next, and then we took a stroll down to Miami to get some sounds from the Super Bowl media scrums and hear what some of the national perspective is on this Tennessee Titans team moving forward. So I really hope you guys enjoyed today's episode. As I've mentioned throughout the show, I will be here with you guys throughout the offseason breaking down every report, all the news, and all the moves that we see from this team as they move forward and try to reach a Super Bowl next season.

Make sure you're subscribed to the show on whatever platform that you stream your podcast, and follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans for more. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans. you