Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tim Kelly's Role in Tennessee Titans 2022 Offense, Carthon Hires Sidekick & Weird Kelly Reactions

Episode Date: February 9, 2023

The Tennessee Titans promoted Tim Kelly to offensive coordinator on Tuesday and some folks used the Titans 2022 offensive collapse as a reason why he did not deserve the job, but based on comments from Mike Vrabel, it looks like Kelly did well with what he was asked to do. Also, Ran Carthon made a massive hire in the front office on Wednesday. Adding Chad Brinker as his assistant general manager. Finally, some of the reaction to Tim Kelly's promotion did not make any sense.Follow 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!BlueNileAt Blue Nile, you can find the perfect piece of jewelry for life’s special moments—or even create the custom engagement ring of her dreams! Right now, you can save up to fifty percent at BlueNile.com.BetterHelpThis episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at Betterhelp.com/LockedOn and get on your way to being your best self.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONUltimate Football GMTo download the game just visit Ultimate-GM.com or look it up on the app stores. Our listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDON (ALL CAPS) in the game store.TurboTaxCome to TurboTax and don’t do your taxes. Visit TurboTax.com to learn more.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Place your first FIVE DOLLAR bet to get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Free Bets – win or lose! Visit Fanduel.com/LockedOn today to get startedFANDUEL 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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What did Tim Kelly even do for the Titans offense in 2022? We're going to discuss all of that and more on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Titans fans, welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. We got a lot to talk about on today's show. First, what did Tim Kelly even do within the Titans offense in 2022?

We're going to break down what his role was according to Mike Rabel. Also, Titans new GM Rand Carthon hires a sidekick and it is a fantastic hire. We're going to break that down and I'm going to give you guys a little bit of a Roland's rant on some of the weird reactions that we saw to Tim Kelly's promotion to offensive coordinator. Before we get into all of that, I want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates that you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash LockedOnNFL. Also, thank you guys for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every

day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on all platforms and always for free. Make sure you get subscribed and stay subscribed to the Locked On Titans podcast. It's your team every day, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Again, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, nearly 25 years as a Tennessee Titans fanatic and a certified film junkie. I am a staff writer over at the All Titans Sports Illustrated site as well.

So check out all my work over there as well as everything we do here on the Locked on Titans podcast. But we got to talk more about Tim Kelly being promoted to offensive coordinator. What I wanted to point out was Mike Vrabel had an interesting comment yesterday when he was talking about Tim Kelly's promotion when he talked to the media. And I want to pull up a little bit of a tweet here from Teresa Walker from the Associated Press. Shout out Teresa, the GOAT.

She says, Vrabel says, Tim Kelly's contribution as passing game coordinator wasn't limited to just the pass. Kelly also worked with first and second downs and the red zone. Okay, so we know from Mike Vrabel's comment there that Tim Kelly was a part of the early down passing attack, first and second downs. He was a part of the red zone attack. And as Mike Grable has said

before, Tim Kelly worked directly with the tight end group during individual periods. So if we take those three things that we know Tim Kelly was involved in last year and use those as a way to judge his impact on the offense, I think that's a pretty good place to start. So number one, we need to talk about red zone offense, something that Tim Kelly obviously had a direct hand in. Well, out of all of the terrible things that were a part of the Titans offense last year, the one glimmer of light was the Titans red zone offense. The Titans finished as the sixth best red zone offense in the NFL. They scored a touchdown on 64.3% of their red zone opportunities.

Now the Titans were 31st in red zone appearances, but when they got into the red zone, they were one of the most dynamic teams in the NFL. Again, 64.3% of their red zone opportunities were converted to touchdowns. So if Mike Vrabel is telling us that Tim Kelly was intimately involved in the red zone planning, well, that's a pretty good sign for what's to come with Tim Kelly. So red zone offense, check. Next, Mike Vrabel did mention first and second downs. The passing attack on first and second downs.

Well, I got some visual aids for you guys here as well. We're going to look at the Titans on first and second downs and their expected points added per play on passing dropbacks. This is first and second downs. As you can see, and if you can't see, I'll explain, the Titans were above average when it came to passing plays on first and second downs. They were one of the, you know, I don't want to say best,

but they were one of the better passing offenses in the NFL on first and second downs. They were one of the, you know, not, I don't want to say best, but they were one of the better passing offenses in the NFL on first and second downs. Look at it on third down as I'm putting up right now and the Titans drop all the way back to the bottom seven teams in the NFL when it comes to passing the ball on third and fourth downs. So, I mean, we talked about the red zone. The Titans were one of the top six teams in the NFL, and that's something that Tim Kelly was involved in. We talked about the ability to pass the ball on first and second down. The Titans were one of the better passing teams in the NFL on first and second down. They were at least in the top half, which is not something that you would have thought if you just looked at the Titans passing offense last year.

I mean, they were in the bottom five teams and passing yards and passing scores. But on first and second down, when Tim Kelly was involved, the Titans were one of the better teams in the NFL at throwing the ball. the Titans were one of the better teams in the NFL at throwing the ball. So red zone offense, passing the ball on first and second downs, Titans offense was actually pretty good. And those were two things that Tim Kelly was involved with. The third and final thing that we know that Tim Kelly was involved with

was the development of the tight end group. Tim Kelly worked directly with the tight end group on a day-to-day basis. Take a look at the Tennessee Titans stats from their tight ends in 2021 with Jeff Swain, Anthony Ferkser, Michael Pruitt. They had 79 catches, 646 yards, and eight touchdowns. When you look at what the Titans tight end trio did in 2022 with Austin Hooper, Chigga Conquo, and Jeff Swain, they had 85 catches, 952 yards, and six touchdowns. Yeah, two less touchdowns than they had as a group in 2022 compared to 2021. But we know that the Titans offense as a whole scored a lot less touchdowns.

So hard to really fault them there. But I mean, more catches, a lot more yards, almost 300 more yards. I mean, whether we want to judge red zone offense, whether we want to judge first and second down passing offense, whether we want to judge the tight end production, all three of the things that Mike Vrabel told us that Tim Kelly was involved with were three of the best things that the Titans offense had going for them all year long. So I'm just saying I get people who are maybe not

totally thrilled with Tim Kelly being hired as offensive coordinator or promoted to offensive coordinator but based on the three roles that Mike Grarabel told us that Tim Kelly was in and the things that Tim Kelly was involved in, those are three of the best aspects of the Titans offense all year long.

So you have to think that Tim Kelly can keep that foundation and then build on that and improve the Titans offense in the areas where Todd Downing clearly let them down. So with that being said, we got to move forward here. Rand Carthon is a dog. He made an incredible addition to his front office staff.

He stole a great talent in the front office away from the Green Bay Packers on Wednesday. I'm going to tell you who that is, what his credentials are, and why I think this is such a great move for the Titans. Before we get into that though, do want to tell you guys a little more about today's sponsor, LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the number one place that your small business can go if you want to make sure that you're making the best hires possible in 2023. Be like Rand Carthon and make great hires for your small business in 2023. LinkedIn Jobs helps you quickly attract qualified candidates to your open jobs with targeting tools. They go beyond just resume data by using insights from

your job post, your company, and their 875 million member profiles that make sure you get the most qualified candidates put right in front of you. You can quickly identify who the most qualified candidates are and connect with them fast and for free. It's why small businesses rate LinkedIn Jobs number one in delivering quality hires

versus leading competitors. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions do apply. Titans fans, we got a big addition to Rand Carthon's front office that was made on Wednesday. I'm going to tell you who it was and why he's such a valued member in the NFL community.

Before I get into that, do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year long on all platforms and always free. It's your team every day here at the Locked on Titans podcast.

So make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed. If you're on YouTube, hit that notification bell. And hey, throw a thumbs up on the video right now. I do appreciate the support. The show will always be free. All I ask for in return is the press of a button. But with that being said, let's dive into this hire. And the man that was hired to be Rand Carthon's assistant general manager

is a man named Chad Brinker. And Brinker comes over from Green Bay. He's worked in Green Bay since 2010. He rose up the ladder within the front office in 2010 and 2011. He was a scouting assistant. In 2012, he found a way to be a pro scout. And for the next five years, he did that for Green Bay. In 2018, the New England Patriots tried to hire Chad Brinker away from Green Bay so that he could be the leader of their cap salary cap management team. This guy is a salary cap guru and the Patriots tried to steal him away from Green Bay. But Green Bay valued Chad Brinker so much that they declined the Patriots interview request and then immediately gave Chad Brinker a promotion

to assistant director of pro scouting and salary cap analyst. He did that job for two seasons. And then prior to 2021, he got promoted to personnel football administrative executive. This is a guy who has had almost every job and has held almost every role that you could possibly have while climbing up the front office ladder. Okay, incredibly, incredibly impressive.

And we got word from Albert Breer. I'll throw his tweet up on the screen here. And it says source the Titans are hiring Packers personnel and football admin executive Chad Brinker as their new assistant GM. Brinker's got an incredibly diverse skill set and has been on our future GM list the last two years. He'll be a part of a Cleveland-like model under Ran Carthon. And the Cleveland-like model, Albert Breer actually specified later on what he actually meant with that. And what he was saying is that the Titans are going to use a Cleveland-like model, which was based on Philadelphia's

executive model, where you have a football ops and strategy executive, which is what Brinker is going to be, the strategy executive and a scouting executive that lead two different departments. And both of those guys report back to the general manager. So you have one guy going over the NFL pro scouting stuff, free agency, undrafted free agency, monitoring NFL transactions. And these are all things that Brinker has done in his past and been at the top of the food chain when it comes to those responsibilities. And then on the other side, you're going to have somebody who's solely responsible for scouting, college, pro, future game planning, stuff like that. And both of those guys are going to funnel the information up to Rand Carthon. One thing that I want to point out here,

when you talk about football ops and strategy executive, one of the things that is included in that is analytics. And you guys know that I've been talking about the Titans' use of analytics or lack thereof for quite some time. Okay?

The Titans have been in the basement when it comes to use of analytics as a team. Historically or notoriously, I got word from Danny Kelly from The Ringer. He responded to me on Twitter and told me that at the Combine recently,

he asked John Robinson about analytics and John Robinson said, I am the analytics department. Well, Titans fans, welcome to the future. Rand Carthon is hiring an executive to be his assistant general manager to run an analytics department, a whole department. And you think about analytics and most people think about in-game decision making. If I go for it on fourth down here, if we kick a field goal, if we punt, how does that impact win probability? But think about it deeper than that. Analytics when drafting players, using analytics when signing free agents. Rand Carr-Thon, when he was hired,

told a great story about how his analytics department in San Francisco identified Elijah Mitchell as the best outside zone runner in the NFL draft. And with that information, Rand Carr-Thon went to Kyle Shanahan using the tape and the analytics and said, look, I know that you want to take this linebacker for Robert Sala, but instead we need to take this running back because the data shows that he's the best outside zone runner in the draft. And that running back turned into Elijah Mitchell, who has been very important for the 49ers for the last two years. So, I mean, I hope that my excitement is coming through the screen right now. The Titans hired a guy who is a salary cap guru

who also has an incredible amount of experience with analytics. I mean, I just can't believe that this is the Tennessee Titans. I cannot believe. I cannot believe. I cannot believe that it's happening. Yeah, I see hire outside the company. They hired Rand Carthon. They just hired Chad Brinker. All guys from, and listen, I got to respond to this.

Same boring offense. Pack a day, you tell me, what did the Titans do schematically on offense, and what did Tim Kelly do in Houston schematically on offense? Answer that question for me to tell me it's the same boring offense. Answer that question. I'll wait. I'll wait. Because I see a lot of people

talking about Tim Kelly's scheme and Tim Kelly's offense and same old, same old. You don't know what he ran in Houston. You don't have a clue. So how can you say it's going to be the same as before? The Titans hired a general manager from outside the organization. The Titans hired an assistant general manager from outside the organization. The Titans hired a defensive passing game coordinator

and Chris Harris from outside the organization. The Titans hired their quarterback coach and defensive passing game coordinator and Chris Harris from outside the organization. The Titans hired their quarterback coach and offensive passing game coordinator from outside the organization and Charles London from Atlanta. Tim Kelly was an outside the organization hire in 2021 just a year ago. Just a year ago.

He was an outside the organization hire. So you guys can complain all you want about promoting from within but the Titans have made some serious hires in the front office and on the coaching staff from outside the organization these are just

preposterous complaints and speaking of that, what a segue. I got a Rollins rant for you guys that I have been stewing on since Wednesday morning. Everybody complaining about the Tim Kelly hire. I get it. But there's one specific complaint that I've seen from not only the fans,

but from people in the media that just makes no sense whatsoever. Before I get into that though, do want to tell you guys that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel, the official sportsbook partner of the Locked On Podcast Network and the official sportsbook partner of the NFL. I'm really excited about our new sports betting partner, FanDuel. They're the number one sportsbook in America.

And if you're new to FanDuel, that's even better. They have so many great features that make betting on sports fun and easy. And right now, if you download FanDuel and you bet on Super Bowl 57, you'll get a no-sweat first bet to do so, and you could get up to $3,000 back in bonus bets, even if your first bet doesn't win. You could bet the money line, the point spread, who will score the first touchdown, all kinds of different things.

Me, I love the Kansas City Chiefs getting one and a half points. Pat Mahomes and points. I will take that all day long. The FanDuel Sportsbook app is safe, secure. It's super easy to use. And best of all, you can get paid your winnings instantly. So join FanDuel today at FanDuel.com slash locked on to claim your no sweat first bet on Super Bowl 57. That's FanDuel.com slash locked on to claim your no sweat first bet on Super Bowl 57.

That's fanduel.com slash locked on. Make every moment more with FanDuel, the official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Titans fans, we are going to cap off today's show with a Rollins rant about one of the just unsubstantiated criticisms that I see about the Tim Kelly promotion. And we're going to talk about quite a bit here. We talked about Tim Kelly's role in the 2022 offense and how all three things that Mike Vrabel said

that Tim Kelly was involved with are some of the best things that the Titans offense had going for him. Red zone offense, first and second down passing attack, and the tight end development. All three of those things, surprisingly to some people, were very good aspects of the Titans offense. We talked about Rand Carthon hiring Chad Brinker and outside the organization hire

to be his salary cap guru, his analytics department head, and his assistant general manager. But now I just got to rant for a moment about some of the things that I have seen in reaction to Tim Kelly's promotion. I've seen it from fans. I've seen it from media members. And it's this. Some people are complaining

that the Titans didn't fire Todd Downing in the middle of the season and give Tim Kelly the offensive play calling duties as an audition at the end of the year. So they're not that mad about the Tim Kelly promotion. It's that the Titans didn't fire Todd Downing midseason and then promote Tim Kelly to call plays at the end of the year last year. That's the complaint that I'm seeing.

I think it's absurd, quite frankly. It's insane. So you're telling me that the Titans, with Malik Willis, Josh Dobbs, four backup offensive linemen, 23 players on IR, you're telling me that that would be a fair way to judge whether Tim Kelly is a good offensive coordinator or not? And not 2020 with the Texans where Deshaun Watson had his best season of his entire career. 2021 where they made Tim Kelly made Davis Mills look like a better rookie quarterback

than Trevor Lawrence. There were respected people in the NFL community saying that Davis Mills was the best rookie quarterback in 2021. Tim Kelly was calling those plays. Once Tim Kelly left Houston, Davis Mills fell off a cliff. His completion percentage dropped five points. His passer rating dropped 10 points. He went from 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions to 17 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Tied for the league lead. Deshaun Watson's

best year ever. Davis Mills probably best year ever. Tim Kelly was doing that. With, by the way, with by the way, the worst roster in the NFL in both years. In 2020 and 2021, the Texans had the worst roster in the NFL. And Tim Kelly made them look decent. Made Davis Mills look good. Gave Watson his best season ever that got him the biggest payday in NFL history.

That was Tim Kelly. If Tim Kelly wasn't an offensive assistant on the Titans staff last year, how would you guys feel? Also, want to remind you that Mike Vrabel tried to interview Tim Kelly before he hired Todd Downing and the Texans said no.

Let me say this though, back to the point about Tim Kelly's audition. It is absurd to think that we would know whether Tim Kelly can be an offensive coordinator for the Titans based on having him call plays in the middle of the season with Dobbs and Willis, four backup offensive linemen, 23 players on IR. And let me point this out, Tim Kelly's system is not like

Todd Downing's system. They run different schemes. So, this is the example that I give you. The analogy that I give you. Have you guys, tell me in the chat, have you guys ever driven someone else's car? You get in, they want you to drive their car. You get in the car.

The seat. The seat doesn't feel right. You got to scoot it back, scoot it up. Change the angle that the seat is laying back at. You're looking at the mirrors. They're not right for your line of sight. You got to adjust all the mirrors. Make sure that you can see.

You go to click a button that you're used to clicking in your car and it's in a different place in this car. The brakes. The brakes are really touchy in this car. Like I feel like I can barely hit the brakes. Or the brakes just give a lot more than your car. What you guys are saying is you want Tim Kelly to drive Todd Downing's car and win a race with it.

Imagine if you took a NASCAR driver out of his Chevy and put him into a Ford in the middle of the race and said, hey, go win. The car handles and feels totally different because it's not your car that you've been in, but you got to go win. And if you don't win, you don't deserve the job.

Think about how absurd that sounds. You are asking Tim Kelly to drive Todd Downing's car. And if Tim Kelly doesn't win the race, then he's a bum? It just doesn't make any sense. It really doesn't win the race, then he's a bum? It just doesn't make any sense. It really doesn't. I mean, it's that simple.

Tim Kelly would have been calling plays in Todd Downing's offense with two backup quarterbacks, maybe a quarterback who shouldn't even be in the NFL at this point. Four backup offensive linemen, 23 players on IR on the team, and that is how you're going to get a fair judge of Tim Kelly? I see people in the media saying this. We have to have some sense here.

Just absurd. So I just wanted to address that because I'm just seeing a lot of boohooing and a lot of crying and honestly, a lot of baseless complaints about what the Titans have done. Talk about hiring within the organization. Tim Kelly was just hired before last year. Charles London, hired from outside the organization. Rand Carthon, hired from outside the organization. Rand Carthon, hired from outside the organization.

Chris Harris, hired from outside the organization. I mean, how can you complain about Mike Vrabel only hiring from within? And I see it in the chat. I see it in the chat. No, he's just hiring his buddies. What about all of these outside the organization hires that the Titans have made? You're just ignoring those to make your point that Mike Vrabel is bad? Shane Bowen was an internal promotion.

Arthur Smith was an internal promotion. So if you're judging Mike Vrabel based on that, then he's two for three. Because Shane Bowen and Arthur Smith look like pretty good hires, right? Todd Downing didn't work out, but Mike Vrabel wanted Tim Kelly instead of Todd Downing before 2021, and the Texans wouldn't let him interview him. So I'm not telling you that Tim Kelly's going to be great, but I'm just saying some of the complaints that people have,

oh, it's the same old offense. Oh, he hired from within. Oh, it's just as... Those don't make any sense. They really don't. Because one, you don't know what scheme Tim Kelly ran in Houston. None of you guys could tell me that. Mike Vrabel hired a bunch of people from outside the organization this year.

And two out of the three internal promotions that Mike Vrabel hired a bunch of people from outside the organization this year. And two out of the three internal promotions that Mike Vrabel has executed turned out pretty dang good. So complain if you want, but I just see a lot of baseless complaints and I have nothing else to say other than it's annoying to me. But that's my Roland's rant. That's today's show. If you missed any of the show, right when I hit the end button, you're going to be able to go back

to the beginning. Three things that Tim Kelly was responsible for in 2022 that bode well for him as offensive coordinator in 2023. Rand Carthon hires a new sidekick, Chad Brinker. It's a great hire. Make sure you check out the rest of the

show if you missed it. That's going to do it for me today though folks as always I am your host Tyler Rowland and this was Locked on Titans