Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans GM Interviews CONTINUE, GM Hire Must Happen QUICKLY & Mike Keith Leaves Titans

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Tennessee Titans made more GM interview requests on Thursday. I'll tell you who they were for and why this move needs to happen quickly on today's edition of Locked on Titans. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans. Today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is brought to you by PrizePix. Go to prizepix.com slash locked on NFL.

Starting point is 00:00:40 Use the code locked on NFL, all lowercase to win $50 instantly when you play. $5. We got more Tennessee Titans general manager interview requests. I'm going to remind you of who they've requested so far. Talk about who got interview requests on Thursday. Give you my top candidates and I'll tell you why the Tennessee Titans

Starting point is 00:00:59 need to make this move quickly and also we got some crazy news for the Titans. Mike T, the voice of the Titans, will be leaving the team and not going very far. So I'll talk about all of that on today's show. Before I get into it, do want to thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for

Starting point is 00:01:24 free. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day. Speaking of every day, of course, it's going to be the weekend, but if Tennessee Titans news happens with this general manager position, you know that I'm going to be all over it and ready for a bonus episode with you guys.

Starting point is 00:01:38 So, again, make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed so you never miss a moment of Tennessee Titans information. Stay subscribed so you never miss a moment of Tennessee Titans information. But again, we got more interview requests on Thursday for the Tennessee Titans. I'm going to go over the new names, but just as a reminder to you guys, the people who got interviews, not had their interviews, but got an interview request from the Tennessee Titans already, Mike Borgonzi from Kansas City, Terrence Gray from Buffalo, John Spitek

Starting point is 00:02:05 from Tampa Bay, Catherine Hickman from Cleveland, Ed Dodds from Indianapolis, Reggie McKenzie from the Miami Dolphins. If you guys want a full review on all of these candidates, I talked about that on yesterday's episode. I went through 16 different candidates and a lot of those guys are names that got interview requests from the Titans on Thursday. The new interview requests that have come in, Thomas Dimitrov, who was the longtime general manager of the Atlanta Falcons. We talked about him yesterday.

Starting point is 00:02:35 Ian Cunningham, who I talked about twice on yesterday's show by accident. The Philadelphia Eagles, the Baltimore Ravens, he was with those organizations as a scout for a long time, 14 years with those two teams. Been in Chicago for the last three years. He's currently the assistant general manager. A guy who was the runner-up to Rand Carthon, was a finalist to Rand Carthon

Starting point is 00:02:56 when the Titans looked to hire a general manager a couple of years ago. Matt Berry is another guy who got an interview request for the Tennessee Titans. He's currently with the Seattle Seahawks, but he is a college guru. He's currently the senior director of player personnel for the Seahawks, but he's been a regional scout, been a national scout, been a director of college scouting. So that really fits the mold of the college guru who can handle the draft really, really well that the Titans

Starting point is 00:03:26 described with their description of what they're looking for in the new general manager. And the final name that I want to talk about here, though, those are the three that got interviews from the Tennessee Titans on Thursday. And I'm going to talk about those three, but I want to throw another name in the ring here that did not get an interview request from the Tennessee Titans yet. It's probably because he got fired on Thursday and it's Tom Telesco of the Las Vegas Raiders. Again, he hasn't got an interview request from the Titans, but I think they need to reach out to him.

Starting point is 00:03:56 He was the longtime general manager of the Los Angeles Chargers back when they were in San Diego as well. Tom Telesco was a one-year general manager for the Las Vegas Raiders. Now, what I want to do is, before I talk about Tom Telesco, I want to mention why he was let go of his last two jobs. One, for the Chargers, he could never hire a good enough coach. And they were going with Jim Harbaugh, and Jim Harbaugh wasn't going to inherit a general manager.

Starting point is 00:04:24 Jim Harbaugh is going to get his own guys. And I agree with the Chargers that letting Jim Harbaugh come in and run the organization and pick a general manager, I'm perfectly fine with that as a plan for the Chargers. I think that was the right move. But what it doesn't mean is that Tom Telesco is a bad GM. They were just going a totally different direction, and that's what happened here with the Raiders as well. The Raiders hired Tom Telesco, but now Tom Brady is a minority owner.

Starting point is 00:04:50 He's got a lot of influence and say on the organization. They fired Antonio Pierce, and it makes sense because this is what most franchises want to do. They are going to hire a brand new coach, and they want to hire a GM that came in with the coach, so those two are partners instead of this weird thing the Titans like to do where they have a general manager, they have a coach and they want to hire a GM that came in with the coach. So those two are partners. Instead of this weird thing the Titans like to do where they have a general manager, they have a coach, and they fire the other one and don't fire both at the same time. Most teams want to bring a new GM in when they bring in a new coach so that those two are tied at the hip and tied together with their contracts, their philosophy on what they want to do. Okay, so my point is Tom Filesco wasn't fired because he did a bad job.

Starting point is 00:05:29 Look what he did for the Las Vegas Raiders in one draft class. One draft class. He brought in Brock Bowers, the best rookie tight end in NFL history, and he brought in Jackson Powers Johnson on the offensive line, who we all wanted as Titans fans last offseason, who was tremendous this year as a rookie. So he had three or four really, really good picks in one year with the Raiders, and you go back to Tom Telesco's time at the Los Angeles Chargers,

Starting point is 00:05:55 Joey Bosa, Justin Herber, Rashawn Slater, edge quarterback, offensive tackle, what the Titans need. He brought in Derwin James, a playmaker at the safety position. Asante Samuel Jr. at cornerback. Keenan Allen at wide receiver. Mike Williams at wide receiver. I mean, he's brought in a ton of talent. The problem with the Chargers over the last five, six years

Starting point is 00:06:21 hasn't been that they don't have talent on the roster. It's that they haven't had a good coach. And if you hire Tom Telesco to consistently build a good roster and draft well, you don't need him to hire coaches. That's what Chad Brinker is going to be doing because Chad Brinker is ultimately over Tom Telesco. And Telesco may have to wait it out

Starting point is 00:06:44 to get another general manager job and be the top dog in an organization, but he doesn't have to wait. If he jumps with the Titans and he can help them build their program for a while before becoming the top dog somewhere else. I think Thomas Dimitrov fits this as well. Dimitrov isn't a young pup

Starting point is 00:07:02 who's looking to work his way up and is willing to take the GM job and then keep going. Thomas Dimitrov has been out of the NFL for a couple of years now. I'm sure he's been consulting and working with teams and having conversations, but it's not like people are rushing to hire Thomas Dimitrov as their general manager. And if the other general manager options, the Las Vegas Raiders and the New York Jets, if they aren't seriously interested in Thomas Dimitrov and he starts to feel like, well, I may not get another opportunity to be a general manager in the NFL anytime soon. Well, then I think he would make a ton of sense for the Tennessee Titans as a veteran guy who isn't that worried about moving up the corporate ladder at this

Starting point is 00:07:40 point, who just wants to get back into the NFL, help build a team, help build a roster, and ultimately have a job again. I think Thomas Dimitrov and Tom Telesco both make a ton of sense from that aspect. So it would be interesting to see what happens if the Titans do offer an interview request to Tom Telesco after being let go by the Raiders. But either way, you could kind of see the mold there for some of those guys who this may be the last opportunity.

Starting point is 00:08:03 Is that really what I want the Titans to hire? No, I would prefer younger guys. I would prefer guys who are still hungry and want to work their way up the ladder. Thinking about guys like John Eric Sullivan out of Green Bay, a guy like Terrence Gray out of Buffalo, guys who I identified yesterday that I really like. Spytek isn't necessarily the youngest guy ever, but I think he's a guy who fits that mold. So I think there are a lot of good options available for the Tennessee Titans. I think Dimitrov and Telesco are good options, but I mean, honestly, I'm fine with them, but I would prefer maybe some of those younger guys that I was mentioning in Gray and Sullivan as well. But with that being said, the Titans need to make this move and they need to make it as

Starting point is 00:08:44 quick as possible. I'm going to explain why this needs to move quickly for the Tennessee Titans. And the voice of the Titans is now gone. We're going to talk about why this is a critical moment for the franchise. Before I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by Intuit TurboTax. This is a message from our sponsor, Intuit TurboTax. Are you tired of endless waiting, wondering, and worrying about your taxes? Well, now that's a thing of the past. You see, taxes don't need to be complicated or stressful. TurboTax is here to change the game by matching you with a TurboTax expert

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Starting point is 00:11:40 The Tennessee Titans sent out some new requests to interview general manager candidates, went over those, the names I like the most. Now I want to tell you why this move needs to happen and why it needs to happen quickly. The Tennessee Titans cannot drag their feet on this, and based on what they've done so far, it looks like they're not going to do that. So I want to tell you why it's so critical

Starting point is 00:11:59 that the Titans do this so fast, and also explain what the timeline is going to be here and when we should expect a general manager hire announcement. But number one, to me, this move is so, so critical because of how critical the NFL draft is for the Titans and how critical the offseason acquisition period is going to be for the Tennessee Titans. So, number one again, an incredibly, incredibly important draft for the Titans.

Starting point is 00:12:32 Not only do the Titans need a quarterback, but the Titans have the number one pick. The Titans could take one of the quarterbacks. The Titans could trade down. This is a franchise-changing draft. Whether it be the Titans take a quarterback and they hit or they miss, that could be franchise changing for the next few years. Also, if the Titans trade down and get a bunch of picks and then they need to fill out the roster with a bunch of studs. So to get it ready for a quarterback in the future, that'll be absolutely

Starting point is 00:12:59 critical. Whatever happens in this draft, whether it's a trade down for more picks, whether it's taking one of the top quarterbacks, it is going to be transformative, either good or bad for the Titans moving forward. So from the draft perspective solely, it's an incredibly, incredibly important offseason for the Titans. But then you add in the roster management. And of course, that starts with free agency. Are you going to go out and get a veteran quarterback? Are you going to go out and pay Sam Darnold $150 million for three seasons? What are you going to do? Are you going to go make a trade for a young guy with upside like a Jake Browning or a Joe Milton? Even, you know what I mean? Like what is, what is your move at the quarterback position? What are you going to do with Will Levis? Are you going to trade Will Levis?

Starting point is 00:13:44 Are you going to keep Will Levis? Are you going to keep Will Levis? Are you going to give Will Levis another opportunity going forward? That's just at the quarterback position, not to mention, what about Harold Landry? His contract is very, very hefty going into next year. And Harold Landry is a good player, good player, but he's not very good and he's not elite. He's not great. He is a good player, but he's not very good, and he's not elite. He's not great.

Starting point is 00:14:07 He's a good player, but is he worth what he's getting paid? Are you going to cut him? What about Jeffrey Simmons? I love Jeffrey Simmons. I don't think the Titans should get rid of Jeffrey Simmons, but with where the Titans are at right now as a team and where Jeffrey Simmons is at in his career,

Starting point is 00:14:23 would it make sense to maybe trade Jeffrey Simmons for a couple of first-round picks? Is that a logical move? Should they explore that? The Titans need a general manager in the building so they could start having those conversations. And although this general manager expected to be college-heavy with a major focus on the college aspect of things,

Starting point is 00:14:42 they're certainly going to look at the Titans roster. And if the Titans go out and hire a veteran guy, like some of the names that we've seen, Thomas Dimitrov, Tom Telesco, Ray Agnew, Reggie McKenzie, who got an interview. If the Titans go that route with an older guy, who's been a general manager before in the NFL, they're certainly going to have input on the rest of the roster outside of just the college and the draft process. It's a general manager job. So of course, so the Titans have a ton of roster decisions to make. Again, we heard from a report a couple of weeks ago or a week ago that the Tennessee Titans want to change the course of the franchise. They want to make sure that they are building for the

Starting point is 00:15:22 future. They want to collect draft picks. They want to trim off some fat on their roster. Okay. You want to do all that. That's perfectly fine. I agree with that. But what does that absolutely entail? What veterans are you getting rid of? What trades are you making to accumulate those draft picks? Those are serious questions that the Titans have to answer immediately as soon as this general manager is hired. So you can't drag your feet and wait on that. And if you want the general manager to be a college-specific guy and have a focus towards the college scouting part of this, well, the senior bowl is right around the corner. The shrine bowl is right around the corner.

Starting point is 00:15:59 The combine is next month in February. So if you want your general manager to be college-focused, that puts even more of an emphasis on the fact that you need to get this general manager in the building right away because I would imagine, especially, again, if you get one of these veteran guys like a Dimitrov or a Telesco or a McKenzie, they have their way of doing things and their process and their methods that they're going to want to instate and institute as we get into the most important offseason in franchise history, or at least the

Starting point is 00:16:31 most important offseason for the Titans to define their next five to ten years. Look what the Titans did in 2016. It's been eight seasons, nine seasons since then. The Titans trading down from number one overall with Jared Goff and collecting picks, not only for 2016, where they got Jack Conklin, Derek Henry, Kevin Byard, foundational pieces for the team, but also they got picks in 2017, which Corey Davis and Adoree Jackson didn't turn out to be all-stars or great players, but they were still foundational solid pieces that allowed the Titans to build out a good roster. That was 2016, and it set up the run that the Titans went on from that moment until 2022 when they collapsed in the middle of the season.

Starting point is 00:17:21 It set up the run for the next five to six to seven years. That's how important this offseason is. So you have to get the general manager in here quickly and ask for a timeline. The Titans are going to conduct virtual interviews probably throughout the rest of this week, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then next week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, they'll probably get into some in-person interviews with their top candidates with their second round, and we'll probably get updates on who those people are. One thing I do want you to take into account, though,

Starting point is 00:17:50 is that the weather is a big factor here. There's bad weather all over the country. It's that time of year. I know I'm snowed in right now where I'm at in Ohio, so I think that that could push things a couple of days in each part of the process, but I would imagine we get a hire for the Tennessee Titans, I would say by the 20th or 21st that week, two weeks from now, the 23rd, 24th of January, I would feel very confident that the Titans have

Starting point is 00:18:21 hired somebody by then, and if they haven't, I'll be a little bit concerned with how the new general manager can implement their process in a quick enough time to have full maximum productiveness and full maximum influence by the draft and by the time the Titans need to make their moves in February and March and then, of course, in April. But with that being said, that's the timeline. That's why it's so important that they move quick. Now we got big news for the Titans. The voice of the Titans, Mike Keith, moving on.

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Starting point is 00:20:14 We talked about the most recent general manager requests for the Tennessee Titans, what it means, talked about the timeline and why the Titans need to move quickly on this. But now I just need to get in some big news for the Tennessee Titans as a franchise. And it may not have a huge on-field impact, but I think this bit of news signifies how critical this moment is for the Tennessee Titans as a franchise moving forward. But before I get into that, I do want to thank you again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day.

Starting point is 00:20:45 Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast. For your second listen, check out Locked on NFL. I'm the lead host of Locked on NFL in the morning show. I'm going over all my best bets of the weekend, talking about every single game during this wildcard slate. So you get all your Titans news here with me in under 30 minutes every day. Get your NFL news with me in under 30 minutes for free every day

Starting point is 00:21:14 at Locked on NFL. But with all that being said, we got big news on Thursday. Mike Keith, the lead broadcaster for the Tennessee Titans, the voice of the Titans for their entire history as a franchise in Tennessee, has quit. He's quit on the Titans, and he will be taking the job with the Tennessee Volunteers. Now, there's a legendary Tennessee Volunteers broadcaster who is retiring.

Starting point is 00:21:46 I'm from Ohio, folks. I'm not a Tennessee Vols fan. I don't know the guy's name. I'm sure a lot of you in my comments do, and you can inform the rest of the public on exactly who that is, but what really matters is for people who aren't into the Tennessee Vols is Mike Keith is taking the broadcasting job he had with the Titans before the Tennessee Vols. And first and foremost, good for Mike Keith. Congratulations. As I understand it, he's alumni there. This is his dream job.

Starting point is 00:22:14 He's waited for it his whole life. Congratulations to Mike Keith. I have no problem whatsoever with Mike Keith going to do his dream job and going over to Tennessee. But I think that, you know, some of this, outside of just Mike Keith's motivations, some of this has to do with how destitute the Titans franchise is right now. And if, think about it this way, if there's all this infighting and all this drama going on

Starting point is 00:22:37 that's causing the head coach to get fired and the general manager to get fired and power structure differences and power struggles behind the scenes. If all of that is happening at the highest levels of the Tennessee Titans organization, then I would imagine that some of that is happening at lower levels of the Titans organization as well. That's the example that's being set. The Game of Thrones vibes is what the Tennessee Titans organization feels like from top to bottom. Well, if you're Mike Keith, yes, that's your dream job. Yes, you want to go do that.

Starting point is 00:23:07 Yes, you're alumni there. But the situation with the Titans being as bad as it is has to contribute somewhat to your decision to make that move too. Like, you know, it's say you're fast and it's easy to steal second base. You're on first base. And every time this was, I was fast. That was my one good athletic quality that I had. I was a fast guy, fast kid growing up.

Starting point is 00:23:31 Once I hit puberty, of course, before that, not so much. But so I would steal second and third base in, you know, Babe Ruth baseball every single time. I don't care who's pitching, who's catching. I'm too fast for you to throw me out. It's not going to happen. Well, it was easier if the catcher bobbled the ball, you know? So yeah, Mike Keith would be able to steal second no matter what, but the Titans also bobbled the ball and made it that much easier. I didn't even, Mike Keith didn't even have to slide to steal second base on this one. So I'm not saying that Mike Keith only left the Titans

Starting point is 00:24:05 because the Titans are in a bad spot as a franchise. He might have done it anyway, but it definitely helps grease the skids to make a move like that when the employer that you currently have is in total disarray and is a public embarrassment. You know what I mean? So a lot of people got mad at me

Starting point is 00:24:20 because I said the Titans being a clown show right now has to have some sort of impact. But I mean, just be logical here. You know, I'm not saying it's the reason, but it probably helps. You know what I'm saying? So anyways, moving along, Mike Keith leaving the Titans. The spot is open. Amy, call me. I'm available. I'll do it uh anyways this is this while Mike Keith like I said while Mike Keith didn't have an impact on the product on the field it's not like the Titans lost or won games because of the broadcaster in the booth that works for the team but the Titans have lost a lot of public support in recent years. Whether it be the losing, the Bengals game,

Starting point is 00:25:12 trading A.J. Brown, firing Mike Vrabel, the lost games, now firing Ran Carthon. The Titans have done a lot of things in recent years to lose public trust. They let Derrick Henry leave. Whether you agree with these moves, whether they should or shouldn't happen, whether the Titans should or shouldn't have traded A.J. Brown, or should or shouldn't have re-signed Derrick Henry, or should or shouldn't have fired Mike Vrabel,

Starting point is 00:25:38 whatever you think about all those moves, it doesn't matter because at the end of the day, the public perception of them with a casual fan is that the Titans are idiots. So they've lost a ton of public support and they fired a lot of people in the organization that have been around for a long time. The Titans have lost their fan base a little bit here

Starting point is 00:26:02 with some of these moves. And again, whether you agree with it or not, drafting Will Levis, not drafting Hendon Hooker. Like these things are silly to be mad about, but whether they're silly or not, people are mad about them. So you trade A.J. Brown, you totally collapse in 2022. You fire Mike Vrabel. You don't bring back Derrick Henry, you fire people in the organization that's been there for a while,

Starting point is 00:26:30 and now you lose Mike Keith? It just contributes to the same public lack of interest and lack of trust in the Titans as an organization and institution. So, as I lay that out and paint that picture for you, my point of that is, this is such a critical offseason for the Tennessee Titans. If they draft a quarterback and they bust immediately, this team is going to lose a generation of fans. They're going to lose out on so much ticket sales and ad revenue and public standing.

Starting point is 00:27:08 The literal value of the franchise is going to be impacted if they draft a quarterback and they bust because the team and the fans of the team are just going to be so out on anything the team does. And in a place like Nashville, it's not quite the same as Los Angeles or Miami, but there are so many things to do in Nashville. They don't need a pro sports team to captivate them all the time. It's not like Cleveland, Ohio. It's not like Indianapolis. You know, it's not like Green Bay, Pittsburgh.

Starting point is 00:27:42 Look, there's stuff to do in those cities, but not like Nashville. Nashville is the tourist capital of the country on the east side of the country past the Mississippi River. That is where people go. There's plenty to do in Nashville that doesn't include the Tennessee Titans, and we've seen

Starting point is 00:28:00 that in recent weeks, and when other fan bases come in and take over. Because people in Tennessee don't care enough about the Titans to go to the games or to not sell their tickets the only way that you change that is to change the product on the field and all of the things that I just mentioned in the last couple of minutes have contributed to a lack of interest and the Titans more than, have to fix that. And they have to get this right right now or they're going to lose, again, a generation of interested fans.

Starting point is 00:28:33 So with that being said, though, that's going to do it for me today. That's going to do it for me this week on the Locked on Titans podcast. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.

Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans GM Interviews CONTINUE, GM Hire Must Happen QUICKLY & Mike Keith Leaves Titans

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