Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Ran Carthon LOSES CONTROL to Chad Brinker, General Manager Change & Messy Process

Episode Date: January 8, 2025

The Tennessee Titans fired Ran Carthon as general manager and it became very clear that Chad Brinker is the man with the football power for the Tennessee Titans. Brinker has worked his way around Cart...hon for a spot even higher than general manager. Which makes the general manager title mean something entirely different that what it typically does in professional sports. Knowing this should reset our expectations for what to expect. All of this may be good for the Tennessee Titans, but the process to get here has not been. This is a messy situation and leaves a stain on the franchise's public image.Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitansTicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=ascFollow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Turbo TaxReady for stress-free taxes and the most money back, guaranteed? Head over to TurboTax.com today and get matched with your Expert—who’s ready to take your taxes off your plate, so you can focus on your day. LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.PrizePicksDownload the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 after firing Rand Carthon, make no mistake about it, we are in the Chad Brinker era of Tennessee Titans football. I'll explain 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.
Starting point is 00:00:34 Huge news on Tuesday with Rankarthon being fired, but after processing that fact, the reality is Chad Brinker is in charge for the Tennessee Titans. We're going to talk about that. Also, I'll explain why the general manager role going forward is not the traditional general manager role that you would think of. And at the end of the day, I'll talk about how this may be right for the Titans, but man, did they botch this entire process in a bad way.
Starting point is 00:01:05 Before we dive into all of 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 free. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day. Speaking of every day, shout out to my everydayers out there tuning in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys.
Starting point is 00:01:26 If you aren't an everydayer, well, you need to be one. Tomorrow, we're going to be looking at some general manager candidates for the Tennessee Titans who actually make sense. And again, I'll explain why it's not going to necessarily be the type of list that you might think of when you're looking at how to replace a general manager. So you don't want to miss out on that. But with that being said, again, we see Rand Carthon fired on Tuesday by the Tennessee
Starting point is 00:01:50 Titans. And I think as the dust settles and as we all kind of slowly come back down to earth after the decision happens, the one thing that is most clear over everything else, the number one thing that matters most going forward for the Tennessee Titans. We know what happened, but what happens now, the most important thing for the Tennessee Titans is Chad Brinker is in charge of the football program. He was called, quote unquote, the leader of the football program. Chad Brinker is the guy who, when you think right now, it's like who the Titans going to hire as a general manager?
Starting point is 00:02:25 I want everybody to stop thinking about general manager. That's going to be a theme of today's show. Don't think about general manager in the sense of the traditional way that you would think of general manager. Don't think of general manager like how John Robinson was general manager. Don't think of general manager in like the traditional sense. You know what I mean? What the Titans have done here is they have created a power structure
Starting point is 00:02:50 where the top guy on the totem pole, where most people would think general manager. That's typically in your sports setup. You have the head coach. You have the owner. You have the general manager. If you think about the traditional setup like that, then you're not going to fully understand what's happened here on Tuesday
Starting point is 00:03:06 with Rand Carthon being fired. Chad Brinker is the president of football operations. That is what your traditional general manager role is. You have to remove the title and think about the responsibility. Having the final say on the roster, being the top dog, being the guy that everybody answers to within the football ecosystem, within the football structure, and the only person above Chad Brinker on the football side of things
Starting point is 00:03:31 is Amy Adams-Strump. General manager, like you've traditionally thought about general manager, that is president of football operations now for the Tennessee Titans. And the general manager, where in a typical structure, is the top person on the food, you know, top person in the chain on the football side of things. That is the second person.
Starting point is 00:03:52 That is a lower level than what Chad Brinker is as the president of football operations. So you have to fully understand how the role has changed and not look towards general manager like that's so much of a big deal. So that's a big thing that came out of today. That is the number one most impactful thing going forward in the future for the Tennessee Titans is that now we know that Chad Brinker is the one above all. You know what I mean? Honestly, for me, I looked at it, it looked like a Game of Thrones
Starting point is 00:04:20 situation here with Mike Vrabel going for a power grab and then Rancor Thon winning that. And then a year later, Chad Brinker going for a power grab behind the scenes. You know, he's like little Brinker is what I would call him for some Game of Thrones action there in the Tennessee Titans front office. But that is what matters here outside of Rancor Thon being fired and all the drama and all that. If you want to think about how the Titans can get better as a football team,
Starting point is 00:04:47 the number one thing that matters is can Chad Brinker do the job? All right, and that's why I want to remind people of Chad Brinker's resume here when he was hired. So he got hired 2023 as an assistant general manager with Rancarthon. Then when Mike Vrabel was fired last year, he's really promoted above Rancarthon. Rancarthon was the general manager. He gotar Thon. Then when Mike Vrabel was fired last year, he's really promoted above Rancar Thon. Rancar Thon was the general manager. He got final say on the roster.
Starting point is 00:05:10 But everything else a general manager would do went to Chad Brinker is basically how it's been reported at this point in time. So if you think about it from that perspective, Chad Brinker, after one year with the organization, basically got given more responsibility than R Carthon had in year two. That is, you know, quite sobering to realize. But again, Chad Brinker's resume here,
Starting point is 00:05:35 he was a lead scout for the Green Bay Packers for six seasons. He became their assistant director of pro scouting and was a salary cap analyst at the same time. So he's doing scouting and he's doing salary cap management. In 2021, he was the personnel and administrative executive for the Green Bay Packers. So he got promoted throughout the entire franchise and organization in Green Bay,
Starting point is 00:05:58 one of the best organizations in the NFL consistently. He did pro personnel, scouting, college pro, and opponent scouting. Did free agent visits. He did salary cap management. He did contract structure. He did negotiations with free agents as well. Then in 2021 as well, he got sent to an executive MBA program at Northwestern, a business program at Northwestern, which is obviously one of the best schools in the country. The Packers sent him there to learn about finance, analytics, and management in this executive MBA course. So this is a very, very brilliant, intelligent individual while also being a guy with a ton of experience at every level. I mean, you know, he was the IP models guy. He's got his own intellectual property
Starting point is 00:06:48 that's patented that he takes with him from the Packers to the Titans on injuries and scouting. He's got all, you know what I mean? So that's who is in charge now. Will it work right now? I would say that it's fair to not have much faith in the Tennessee Titans and their process, and no matter what they do, and we'll talk about how messy this has actually been at the end of the show, but the reality is, and the number one most important thing coming out of this
Starting point is 00:07:14 is that Chad Brinker is in charge of the Tennessee Titans, and when you think about a general manager or what John Robinson was or what we thought Rand Carthon was last year or whatever it happens to be, the buck stops with Chad Brinker, and there's going to be a lot of uncertainty going forward as to well whose decision was it to sign Calvin Ridley was that Brinker or Carthon whose decision was it to draft Peter Skowronski was it Vrabel or was it Carthon Carthon wanted to save flowers Carthon
Starting point is 00:07:39 wanted like we're going to be doing that for a couple more years now because there's so much uncertainty over the last two years of whether it was a Vrabel, Carthon, or Brinker move. But there is clarity now going forward. Going forward for this team, there is clarity that whatever happens next is on Chad Brinker, no matter what happens even after he hires a new general manager, in finger quotes.
Starting point is 00:08:01 And I'm going to explain why we got to look at general manager in a different way after what has happened with the Tennessee Titans on Tuesday. Do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by PrizePix. It's playoff time. And if you're like me, you want to make the most of these final weeks of football action. And that's where PrizePix comes in. If you love football and you want a chance to win real money while watching the games, PrizePix is the place for you. It's the best way to turn your sports opinions into cash with daily fantasy player projections. With PrizePix, you simply pick more or less on player stats like passing yards or rushing touchdowns. For a shot to win up to a thousand times your money, you can make your picks in less than 60 seconds.
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Starting point is 00:09:21 app today. Use the code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. It's PrizePix. Download the PrizePix app today. Use the code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 instantly. After you play your first $5 lineup, it's PrizePix. Run your game. Titans fans, let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Had a little bonus podcast earlier in the day after the news that Rancarthon got fired. That was definitely more of like the emotional reaction, instant raw feelings to the decision, of course. Now trying to take a step back here and think about what comes next. decision, of course. Now trying to take a step back here and think about what comes next. Obviously, like I said, the most impactful thing here is that
Starting point is 00:10:07 Chad Brinker, still having a hard time processing it. Chad Brinker is the top dog in the Tennessee Titans football organization going forward. And now we actually have somebody who has the final say on the roster, has the final say on the analytics staff, has the final say on all these different things. And we see that muscle flexed already, really, because the Tennessee Titans have already fired more people. Like, we got more firings by the Titans later in the day on the executive side. According to Paul Kaharski, the Titans have fired Vice President of Team Operations,
Starting point is 00:10:43 Brent Akers. The Titans have fired Vice President of Team Operations, Brent Akers. The Titans have fired Vice President of Football Technology, Anthony Pastrana. The Titans have fired Assistant General Manager, Anthony Robinson, who played a huge role with Rand Carthon on the scouting side of things, with the college scouting side of things, for the last two years. And then Senior Director of Security, John Albertson, was fired as well. As PK notes here, Pastrana had been with the team since 1997 and Akers had been with the team since 1998.
Starting point is 00:11:11 So that's Chad Brinker who already, make no mistake now, now that the smoke is cleared a little bit on how the Tennessee Titans feel, make no mistake now that we can see the changes that got made last year promoting Chad Brinker to the president of football operations and having this weird division of, wait a minute, what is Chad doing versus what is Rand doing? Chad doesn't report directly to Rand. He reports up to Amy Adams Strunk, but he's equal to Rand Carthon.
Starting point is 00:11:38 So what is he doing that's different? All these other questions that we have, it's obvious now that Amy Adams Strunk didn't trust Rand Carthon. They didn't think that he was a very hard worker, so they equaled Chad Brinker with him to make that balance of power good enough, which I guess I understand, but why would you give Rand Carthon a four-year extension if you didn't believe in him and had to put Chad Brinker as his equal?
Starting point is 00:12:01 Either way, either way, moving right along, the Tennessee Titans are firing more people, and it's clear that the expansion of the analytics department, how the roles were divvied out last year and how people got promoted, and then these moves right now and how the Titans are clearing out the front office, these are Chad Brinker-driven decisions, not Rand Carthon-driven decisions. That is what is clear now, is that Chad Brinker is totally overhauling the power structure within the Tennessee Titans football operations.
Starting point is 00:12:31 He's put himself at the top. Again, I keep calling him Little Brinker, like Littlefinger, from Game of Thrones because of the way that he, within two years, found a way to get to the top of this power structure and get Vrabel and Rancarth on out. And maybe it's not quite as nefarious as that, of course. That's the possibility.
Starting point is 00:12:50 But still, one way or another, if you think about general manager, it's Chad Brinker. And he is the one behind these moves and making all these changes. So no surprise that general manager is not going to mean what it's meant to you going forward. If you are a traditional sports fan, and again, you're used to the head coach, general manager, owner, setup, and those are the holy trinity of an organization. Those aren't the titles that work that way for the Titans now.
Starting point is 00:13:19 It's really just a title situation. Roles are going to be pretty much exactly the same, but the Titans have done it in a different way. They have made Chad Brinker the president of football operations and the general manager who you would typically think is the Chad Brinker. He's actually just going to be another lieutenant to Chad Brinker's general. You know what I mean? So you're going to have a head of analytics. You're going to have a head of player personnel. You're going to have a general manager.
Starting point is 00:13:49 You're going to have a head of scouting. Like there's going to be all these different departments. And general manager is just going to be one of them. And I want to read to you what Chad Brinker had to say about the general manager position and what they're looking for. I talked about this on the bonus episode earlier today, but I want to bring it up again here. Chad Brinker said, quote,
Starting point is 00:14:12 I think the general manager position is unique to their respective organizations, saying that it's going to be unique to the Titans. This particular job, what we'll be looking for is someone who has spent their career as a scout, is a top-flight, top-level evaluator who has spent the majority of their career projecting college players to the NFL. They've had a major hand in setting draft boards and preferably a consistent winning organization.
Starting point is 00:14:38 You can see their fingerprints all over the roster. Look, that right there is telling you what did he mention? A top-flightator, projecting college players to the NFL, setting the draft board. They want someone in charge of the draft. Chad Brinker is going to be in charge of, you know, making the decision, but a general manager for the
Starting point is 00:15:01 Tennessee Titans is not going to be a general manager like what you would typically think. He's going to be a general manager like what you would typically think. He's going to be a general manager that is focused on the draft. That's why they fired Anthony Robinson, who was the draft guy under Rand Carthon. Brinker handled all the pro personnel, the free agency, the salary cap management.
Starting point is 00:15:21 Brinker was in charge of all that. And then Anthony Robinson handled most of the draft stuff and the scouting layout. So now what they're doing is basically consolidating Rand Carthon's role and Anthony Robinson's role. That's what's happening right now, is the Tennessee Titans are consolidating the head scout role and the general manager role. That's essentially what's happening here.
Starting point is 00:15:41 So instead of having Anthony Robinson and Rand Carthon, you fire both of them, hire somebody new in that role, and it's just one role instead of two. So now, although Amy Adams Strunk has to pay Rand Carthon for the next four years and pay the new general manager that they hire, she doesn't have to pay Anthony Robinson. Or maybe she still does on that contract, but it's clearly not as much. It's just allowing you to consolidate a role instead of hiring a new general manager
Starting point is 00:16:06 and still having Anthony Robinson and expecting them to focus on the same things. So to me, from what Chad Brinker says, this general manager role for the Tennessee Titans will not be the traditional general manager role that you think of. It'll be someone more focused on the NFL draft and projecting those players into the NFL, while Chad Brinker is the guy at the actual top who makes the salary cap decisions and signing free agents and who they're ultimately going to draft and all of that. I know it's confusing, and it is,
Starting point is 00:16:35 but hopefully today after what's happened, there is some clarity going forward, and that's why I'm telling you guys that the general manager role, we have to adjust our expectations for what the general manager means for the Tennessee Titans. Now that Chad Brinker is the de facto general manager of what you traditionally think of it. So what should our expectations be of the general manager role going forward?
Starting point is 00:16:58 And what I want to kind of lay down, and we're going to talk about candidates for general manager for the Titans on tomorrow's show, my next show. That's what we're going to discuss about candidates for general manager for the Titans on tomorrow's show, my next show. That's what we're going to discuss. That'll be the prime topic, unless more craziness happens, of course, which can absolutely happen. But we'll talk about general manager candidates, but I don't think it's going to be the people that you would typically think of. I don't think the general manager candidates that the Titans are going to be picking from are going to be the guys who are in all the big articles every year about who's going to be the next general manager candidates that the Titans are going to be picking from are going to be the guys who are in all the big articles every year about who's going to be the next general manager. And, you know, things like, I don't think we're talking about Lewis Riddick and, you know,
Starting point is 00:17:32 guys like that. I don't, I don't think we're even a guy like, um, Mike Borgonzi from, uh, the Kansas city chiefs. I don't think we're taught Ian Cunningham, a guy who interviewed for the Titans general manager job when rank our thong got it. I don't think we're talking Ian Cunningham, a guy who interviewed for the Titans general manager job when Rancar Thon got it. I don't think we're looking at those kind of guys. I think the Titans are going to be looking at people
Starting point is 00:17:51 who are the director of pro personnel, director of college scouting, director of player personnel, director of pro scouting. I think the Titans are going to be looking at guys who are a level below
Starting point is 00:18:04 what the general manager candidates look like for general manager jobs in the NFL. I think they're going to be looking at a level lower than that. And quite honestly, the titles and the responsibilities and the roles and who has final say, apparently, according to Josina Anderson, that's gotten the Titans in a little bit of trouble because there are rules about who you can hire and who you can interview and who you can steal away from who based on what role you're giving them within your organization.
Starting point is 00:18:31 And apparently the NFL hasn't been happy with the Titans, with the Rand Carthon situation about, like, you know, the Titans hired Chad Brinker away from the Green Bay Packers, but he didn't get final say of the roster. And now Rand Carthon didn't have final say in the first year. So could he technically have been hired away from San Francisco? Like it's all complicated jargon in the NFL rules. But at the end of the day, the Titans have been under the microscope
Starting point is 00:18:54 for that type of stuff. So this definitely changes things, makes clarity in the structure. But the general manager role, as you typically would think about it, is not going to be the same for the Tennessee Titans going forward. And we shouldn't expect the typical general manager candidates to fill that role.
Starting point is 00:19:12 We should expect a rung below on the football executive ladder. That's the type of candidates. And I'll go over those candidates on tomorrow's show. But at the end of the day, all of this stuff is confusing. It's messy, it's ugly. And it's gross.
Starting point is 00:19:25 And whether the Titans have done the right thing or not. That's not going to change. Today's episode is brought to you. By Game Time. I love going to live events. Whether it's sports, music, theater, comedy. One of my favorite memories was attending a concert last year. And I got the tickets.
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Starting point is 00:20:22 Terms apply. Again, create an account. Redeem the code L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-F-L for $20 off. Download the GameTime app today. What time is it? It's GameTime. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about Chad Brinker, a little refresher on Chad Brinker's resume here.
Starting point is 00:20:56 He is the one in control going forward for the Tennessee Titans, and I think that's the most important development of the day for the future. The general manager role after Rand Carthon's fire is not going to be the same as we looked at it before this. So we have to adjust our expectations not only on the role, but also on the candidates that the Titans will be looking for there. But I want to finish here with just the most disappointing part. We talked about the most important part,
Starting point is 00:21:24 the thing that's changing the most. Now let's talk about what's most disappointing part. We talked about the most important part, the thing that's changing the most. Now let's talk about what's most disappointing throughout this process. Now, before I finish, do want to thank you again for making Locked on Titans your first listen each and every day. See, when big stuff happens, guys,
Starting point is 00:21:36 I'm bringing bonus episodes to you. I'm on the news immediately delivering content to you guys. All I'm asking in return is to subscribe, maybe throw a five-star review up, maybe throw a like on the video if you're watching on YouTube. You know, I give the show for free.
Starting point is 00:21:51 The things I ask for in return are always free, and I appreciate you guys for it. But this was ugly, man. This was awfully, awfully ugly. Now, here's the thing. I finished my bonus episode earlier today with positivity, right? I wanted to finish with trying to see it positively. I think that it's negative. I don't think that things are going to get better anytime soon,
Starting point is 00:22:16 but that's not necessarily what's going to happen. There is a realm of possibility where the Tennessee Titans have stumbled their way into a good thing. They have tripped and fallen into prosperity. You know, it's possible they have ripped victory from the jaws of defeat here. Maybe that is the case. And if we follow down that line of thinking, you think maybe, and again, I am putting on the two-tone glasses here. This is not necessarily
Starting point is 00:22:48 what I think, but I'm just trying to frame this in a way that a Titans optimist could. Let's think about how this could possibly work. So put on the two-tone glasses with me. If the reports that we heard today are true, and Rancarthon was not a very hard worker,
Starting point is 00:23:07 and Rand Carthon, you know, was not necessarily as responsible for things as we think, and the franchise didn't trust him to make decisions, and we go back to the reports that, you know, he wasn't ready, Mike Vrabel didn't think he was ready to be a general manager in the NFL and things like that. If you think about all of that, then let's assume that that's true. Again, I don't know that it's all true. I think that things probably go haywire, but let's assume that's true.
Starting point is 00:23:37 Then it's probably a good thing that the Titans cut bait with Rand Carthon. If he wasn't working hard enough, they didn't trust him to do the job. People didn't believe working hard enough, they didn't trust him to do the job. People didn't believe in his message, like according to Paul Kaharski's article that his relationship-focused style didn't necessarily work for everybody like you think it would. If all that stuff is true, then it's probably a good thing that the Tennessee Titans moved on. Not only that, but they have clearly defined the power structure to where Chad Brinker is the guy who has the final say. And Chad Brinker has the experience being a lead scout,
Starting point is 00:24:15 being a director of pro scouting, being a salary cap analyst, clearly an intelligent guy considering his upbringing, the way people speak about him. This is the reason why I predicted earlier this week, literally a day before Rand Carthon got fired, my show came out on Monday night into Tuesday morning, and by the time that Tuesday afternoon
Starting point is 00:24:35 hit, Chad Brinker had taken over like I had talked about at the end of the show. Like, I saw this coming because Chad Brinker is so qualified. He's a football guy, college running back, same as Rand Carthon, might I mention, but all the experience that he has, the analytical nature. And I don't know, like I see people, you know, Chad Brinker isn't a football guy.
Starting point is 00:25:02 What are we talking about here? Chad Brinker has worked in football guy. What are we talking about here? Chad Brinker has worked in football for much of his professional career. He was literally a college running back for Ohio University. Chad Brinker is a football guy to his core. So we know that,
Starting point is 00:25:18 that that's the truth. So if you're following down my logical path, and I'm trying to be optimistic about things, Chad Brinker, like I tweeted out and talked about earlier this week, is going to be a general manager for a team eventually. He's going to be at the top of the football program eventually. So the Tennessee Titans just decided they needed to do it now rather than let him out of the building and be stuck with Rand Carthon.
Starting point is 00:25:48 That's what it feels like to me and if that's true if that's true, that could actually be a good thing for the Titans if they're right. So that's possible. But regardless of that, even if that happens, even if that's the way that it turns out, that getting rid of Rand Carthon and going to Chad Brinker was the best thing this organization has ever done. He builds the organization just like the Green Bay Packers.
Starting point is 00:26:14 The Titans flip the narrative. Don't become a poverty franchise. Build a consistent winner that stays relevant all the time. If Chad Brinker does that, in 10 years from now, we look back at this and say, man, firing Rand Carthon and Mike Vrabel and. If Chad Brinker does that and 10 years from now we look back at this and say Manfire and Rancart Thon and Mike Vrabel and going to Chad Brinker was the best thing this organization could have ever done. Even if we do that, the process to get here was disgusting. The process to get here was terrible. This is
Starting point is 00:26:40 like having braces for the Tennessee Titans. Yeah, by the time that you're done with braces you got perfectly straight teeth, but like having braces for the Tennessee Titans. Yeah, by the time that you're done with braces, you got perfectly straight teeth, but God having braces for two and a half years was miserable. That's what this was. That's what this was. And it's what it will be. And no matter what happens,
Starting point is 00:27:01 even if things turn out roses for the Tennessee Titans because of this decision. The Titans will have a stain on their legacy and a stain on their reputation for how this last two years, and I'm not just talking about fire and Rand Carthon, I'm talking about fire and Mike Vrabel as well, which the Titans were a laughingstock for fire and Mike Vrabel, and now they're a laughingstock again for Mike Vrabel. And now they're a laughingstock again for this organizational dysfunction.
Starting point is 00:27:27 So the entire process of John Robinson trading A.J. Brown to John Robinson getting fired midseason to Mike Vrabel getting fired the next season to Rand Carthon getting fired the next season and then installing Chad Brinker, the entire process of that is about as messy as it could possibly get.
Starting point is 00:27:45 For me, what it reminds me of is a breakup when you work at a restaurant. You guys ever worked at a restaurant before? I've worked at a ton of restaurants. Fast food, sit down. I've worked at a ton of restaurants. Had to get a job really, really early in life. You know what I mean? I worked through college.
Starting point is 00:27:59 And I know that a lot of you guys out there have worked at a restaurant before. You know how it is at a restaurant when the cook is dating one of the servers and then they have a fight. And now you're in the kitchen of the restaurant during the rush hour and they're screaming at each other at the top of their lungs. And instead of cooking the steaks and the burgers like the cook is supposed to do, he gets mad and he walks out and he starts smoking a cigarette. Now you got people sitting at the table that the server is supposed to be giving the drinks to.
Starting point is 00:28:24 And she's not around because she's out back screaming at the top of her lungs scaring away the customers. That's what the Titans look like right now during this process. Whereas when you get fired at a corporate job you go into a little office. You have a meeting. You say hey we wrote you up for these circumstances. We wrote you up for these circumstances, and this is a third strike. We have documentation of everything.
Starting point is 00:28:52 Here's your signature. I'm sorry we're going to have to let you go. We would like to conduct an exit interview in the HR office afterwards to get your perspective on this firing. Thank you so much for your contributions to this company. I'm sorry and best of luck to you in the future. That's how you get fired at a good organization. That's how you get fired with the Los Angeles Rams. That's how you get fired with the Green Bay Packers. In Tennessee, people
Starting point is 00:29:20 are throwing plates in the kitchen as you tell the cook that he's not allowed to come back and he's telling Johnny that he won't be able to hook him up next week. But it's crazy out there. And you and you and you, he's cool. Like the Titans are just so, so messy right now. And that's the most disappointing part of this entire process. But again, as a recap here. Chad Brinker is a guy who's qualified
Starting point is 00:29:45 and we know now at least that he is 100% in charge the general manager position as you think you know general manager is now the president of football operations which is what Chad Brinker is and the general manager role is going to be more of a glorified head scout of college and even if that's the right way to do it going forward manager role is going to be more of a glorified head scout of college. And even if that's the right way to do it going forward and that gets the Titans out of this depression,
Starting point is 00:30:11 the way that they did it was gross and disgusting. And that's all it comes down to. So it's the Titans bar and grill, not the Tennessee Titans corporation. And that's the Titans bar and grill, not the Tennessee Titans corporation. And that's the biggest problem. We talked about growing this team up from a mom and pop shop to Wall Street or from Main Street to Wall Street, from mom and pop shop to Fortune 500.
Starting point is 00:30:37 And that process clearly is nowhere near complete. But with that being said, again, on tomorrow's show, we're going to look at potential general manager candidates for the Tennessee Titans. I'm going to clarify again why this role is going to be a little bit different and use that to frame our discussion on who makes sense for the Titans
Starting point is 00:30:55 going forward and what they have to do very, very well. But with that being said, that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.

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