With one win in six games, Tennessee is searching for a new head coach after firing Brian Callahan on Monday.
Callahan was hired to replace Mike Vrabel and posted a 3-14 record last season before the Titans opted to fire general manager Ran Carthon.
Under a new power structure headed by team president Chad Brinker and general manager Mike Borgonzi, the Titans used the No. 1 overall pick to draft quarterback Cam Ward in April.
Even with Ward, the franchise is clearly in the throes of a rebuilding project.
Borgonzi’s background during 14 years in scouting with the Chiefs can help connect some of the dots in the coaching search, but this front office is anything but usual — or predictable.
Before the Vrabel firing, the Titans gave GM Jon Robinson the boot.
Will the next coach-GM pairing bring harmony to Nashville?
Here are five names to know as the Titans begin their search:
–Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo
Age was a concern Spagnuolo discussed as a perceived road block to his return to a top NFL coaching job prior to the Super Bowl last year, a lopsided loss to the Eagles.
But “Spags” is one of the coaches on the list with a deep history and detailed understanding of Borgonzi, and vice versa, from their time together in Kansas City.
In the case of the Titans, experience might become his trump card.
A defensive coordinator for six Super Bowl participants and a coach in seven Super Bowls in his career, Spagnuolo has four rings.
But he was 10-38 as head coach of the Rams from 2009-11 and 1-3 as interim coach of the Giants in 2017.
–Chiefs OC Matt Nagy
Nagy has experience as a head coach and is from the Andy Reid coaching tree. At 47, he’s 18 years younger than Spags and has head-coaching experience.
Nagy coached the Bears from 2018-21 before returning to the Chiefs’ staff.
–Giants OC Mike Kafka
When the Chiefs drafted a first-round quarterback to learn and develop while Alex Smith ran the offense, it was Kafka’s job to help Patrick Mahomes prepare each week. Like the others above him on the list, Kafka knows Borgonzi. As a college quarterback at Northwestern — Brinker earned his MBA in Evanston — he sees the game through the eyes of the quarterback.
Now Kafka, 38, is the lead tutor of first-round pick Jaxson Dart as offensive coordinator of the Giants.
–Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury
The 46-year-old Kingsbury has been central in the development of 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels and previously was head coach of the Arizona Cardinals when Kyler Murray entered the league as the No. 1 overall pick in 2019.
In 2017 when Borgonzi was assisting the Chiefs’ research and scouting of Mahomes, he was in regular contact with Texas Tech’s head coach and play-caller — Kingsbury.
–Mike McCarthy
The former Cowboys head coach has significant ties to Brinker from their days together in the Packers’ organization. Brinker broke into the NFL as a scouting intern in 2009 and became an executive with scouting and salary cap responsibilities before the Titans came calling.
McCarthy, 61, coached some of the best quarterbacks to play the game — Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, Dak Prescott — and is currently unemployed and untethered contractually.
–Field Level Media
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