Titans Hire Robert Saleh As HC
Robert Saleh was expected to be choosey with his second head coaching opportunity, but the 49ers’ defensive coordinator has made a decision to dive back in after one season. The Titans are hiring Saleh as their next head coach, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The team has since confirmed the news.
Saleh, 46, impressed the team’s decision-makers during his interview Monday in Tennessee. He was originally scheduled to speak with the team virtually on Sunday, but the two sides pivoted to an in-person meeting that could not take place until the following day due to league hiring rules.
The race appeared to be down to Saleh and Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, who was set for his own in-person interview with the Titans on Tuesday. Nagy was the rumored frontrunner as of Monday afternoon, though Saleh was on the radar as a finalist over the weekend. Saleh won over owner Amy Adams Strunk and general manager Mike Borgonzi to become a head coach for the second time in his career. Saleh had an in-person interview with the Cardinals on Tuesday, but the Titans have convinced him to pass on that meeting.
Borgonzi was leaning toward Nagy, per ESPN’s Turron Davenport, but ownership’s preference for Saleh ultimately (and unsurprisingly) won out. Davenport sent a follow-up tweet clarifying Saleh impressed Borgonzi, who then voiced his support for this hire rather than reuniting with Nagy. Considering Strunk’s recent history with hirings and firings, it will be interesting to learn if Borgonzi was leaning strongly in the direction of hiring his former Chiefs coworker. Both Nagy and Saleh were second-chance candidates. The Titans interviewed or sought to interview 15 such options, prioritizing experience.
Saleh’s first opportunity as a head coach came with the Jets. Like his new job in Tennessee, the New York stint followed a successful run as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator, a position Saleh first held from 2017 to 2020. He was Kyle Shanahan‘s first hire when he took over as San Francisco’s head coach, and the two worked together to turn the league’s bottom-ranked defense into one of its best. By 2019, the transformation was complete, and another strong year in 2020 turned Saleh into one of the hottest head coaching candidates in the 2021 hiring cycle.
The Jets swooped in with a five-year contract, and Saleh moved to New York with the goal of turning the hapless franchise around. But, like several other coaches before him, he could not get the job done with the AFC’s Big Apple franchise. He finished with a 20-36 record before he was fired midway through the 2024 season, his fourth as head coach.
Saleh’s tenure with the Jets was heavily impacted by the team’s inability to land a solid quarterback. General manager Joe Douglas used the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft to select Zach Wilson, but the BYU product never came close to meeting his billing.
New York’s offense, coordinated by fellow ex-Shanahan assistant Mike LaFleur, struggled through two seasons with Wilson as a starter before Douglas pivoted to Aaron Rodgers in 2023. As part of their play for the MVP quarterback, the team mutually agreed to part ways with LaFleur to recruit former Packers OC Nathaniel Hackett immediately after his disastrous year as the Broncos’ head coach. Rodgers tore his Achilles on the fourth Jets offensive play of the 2023 season, and the Jets’ offense collapsed with Wilson back under center.
On defense, however, Saleh was able to replicate his work in San Francisco. The Jets finished 32nd in points and yards allowed in his debut year and fourth in both categories in his second. Another strong year in 2023 was wasted after Rodgers’ injury, and Saleh was then fired after a 2-3 start in 2024. Many saw the decision from owner Woody Johnson as an unfair one, as Douglas had been the driving force between acquiring Wilson and Rodgers. Saleh did not receive a full season with the latter, and his 7-10 showings with Wilson under center have aged pretty well.
Saleh signed on as a consultant with the Packers for the rest of the 2024 season before returning to San Francisco in the offseason to retake his former job. The 49ers’ defense did not have the same statistical results in 2025 as their previous top seasons under Saleh, but he coached his way through injuries to several key players. San Francisco lost All-Pros Nick Bosa and Fred Warner early in the season but still finished 12-5 and stifled the Eagles’ offense in the first round of the playoffs. The 49ers, who also lost first-round defensive end Mykel Williams, finished last in sacks but still ranked 13th in points allowed. Though Saleh’s defense allowed just 281 yards in the divisional round, turnovers from San Francisco’s offense led to a 41-6 victory by the Seahawks.
Saleh will have a chance to shape a franchise that does not have many long-term cornerstones outside of rookie quarterback Cam Ward and defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons. Tennessee is projected by OverTheCap to have almost $100MM in 2026 cap space and is slated for the fourth pick in April’s draft.
Saleh’s first order of business will be filling his new staff. His long history in the NFL gives him plenty of relationships with other coaches around the league, especially those also branching off of Shanahan’s tree. Saleh will likely prioritize hiring his offensive coordinator, as he is expected to call defensive plays in Tennessee, per NFL insider Jordan Schultz. In New York, he handed that job off to defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, and though the unit excelled, Saleh felt disconnected from the game, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.
Former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel could be the first name on Saleh’s list of OC candidates. The two worked together in San Francisco, with McDaniel staying one year longer before he took the job in Miami. They could reunite in Tennessee, per SNY’s Connor Hughes, which would create one of the most exciting head coach-coordinator duos in the league.
Saleh and McDaniel worked together for four seasons in San Francisco. The latter is still up for HC jobs and has been tied to a few OC positions as well. He would certainly be a prime option to coach Ward given his success revitalizing Tua Tagovailoa‘s career earlier this decade.
Connected to the Tennessee job since Brian Callahan‘s firing, Nagy suddenly stands on unstable terrain. He coached this season without a contract for 2026, and the Chiefs hired his predecessor — Eric Bieniemy — to replace him as OC today. It had looked like Nagy would land in Nashville for a bit, and a second interview being scheduled only reaffirmed that expectation. Now, Nagy — who returned to Kansas City as quarterbacks coach under Bieniemy in 2022 before replacing him in ’23 — is a coaching free agent.
Strunk has struggled with big-picture decisions in recent years. She famously fired GM Jon Robinson months after extending him and then fired Mike Vrabel following the 2023 season. She refrained from a true attempt to trade Vrabel in order to get in on the 2024 HC market from the jump. Her Callahan hire backfired, with the Titans giving him only 23 games. Strunk also fired GM Ran Carthon after two years, hiring Borgonzi. The latter snared roster control from president of football ops Chad Brinker after the 2025 season and ran the coaching search.
It is rather interesting to see the Titans hire Saleh before meeting with Nagy a second time, but they will head in a defensive direction — as they did with Vrabel — with Saleh becoming Borgonzi’s first hire as a GM.
Sam Robinson contributed to this post.
Robert Saleh Could Emerge As Titans HC Finalist
Yesterday, the Titans began arranging second interviews for head coaching candidates. A trio of names emerged, but more will likely need to be added to the list. 
Kevin Stefanski was among the staffers Tennessee requested a foll0w-up interview with. However, his visit with Atlanta resulted in a deal being struck last night. Stefanski is thus off the market. The same could also be true of Jeff Hafley in short order. The current Packers defensive coordinator has increasingly been viewed as the frontrunner regarding the Dolphins’ HC opening.
The only other candidate to arrange a second interview with the Titans so far is Matt Nagy. That comes as no surprise, given the links between he and Mike Borgonzi stemming from their time together in Kansas City. Nagy is set to meet with Tennessee on Tuesday, and over the coming days the team’s group of finalists will no doubt come into focus. Another name to watch in that regard could be Robert Saleh.
The 49ers‘ defensive coordinator is seen as a “solid candidate” for Tennessee, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reports. Saleh is set to interview for the first time with the Titans today. San Francisco’s season ended last night, so Saleh will now turn his attention even further to the strong possibility of landing a second NFL head coaching gig. The 46-year-old led the Jets from 2021 though the first five weeks of the 2024 season.
Saleh returned to his previous role of guiding San Francisco’s defense this year, and his success in that capacity has once again made him a top HC option for many interested teams. Saleh has called plays during his second 49ers stint, something which was not the case when he served as a head coach in New York. As NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo notes (video link), things will change in the event of a hire during this year’s cycle. Saleh plans to call plays on defense should he wind up taking charge of a team for the second time.
Borgonzi was not in place when Brian Callahan was hired in 2024, making this his first offseason running a head coaching search. The former Chiefs staffer has drawn strong reviews from candidates so far in the process, as noted by veteran Titans reporter Paul Kuharsky. Borgonzi is playing a lead role in the interviews of Nagy, Saleh and any other candidates who receive a look, although owner Amy Adams Strunk will once again have the final say on a hire.
Titans Owner Amy Adams Strunk Will Give ‘Final Blessing’ In HC Search
11:45am: The Titans have rounded out their group of executives who will participate in initial interviews, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. A list that unsurprisingly includes Brinker and assistant GM Dave Ziegler. Vice president/football advisor Reggie McKenzie – a former Raiders linebacker and general manager – will also join, as will vice president of player personnel Dan Saganey.
10:35am: Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk announced a front office reshuffle in Tennessee on Friday, but she is expected to remain a part of the team’s search for a new head coach.
Both Mike Borgonzi and Chad Brinker are remaining in their respective positions as general manager and president of football operations, but Borgonzi will lead the hiring process in the coming weeks.
The Titans will conduct virtual interviews with about a dozen candidates, per Titans insider Paul Kuharsky. Strunk will not sit in on those interviews, though she may review them for in-person interviews of the team’s shortlist. Those she will attend.
This largely resembles the team’s approach to landing on Borgonzi last offseason. Brinker led that process, but Borgonzi received approval from Strunk before the hiring was made official. Similarly, she will give a “final blessing” for the Titans’ new head coach.
The extent of Strunk’s input on the Titans’ new coach remains to be seen. She has not been afraid to impose her will on the franchise when it comes to coaching and front office decisions, all the way down to specific moves regarding specific players. That was a source of friction with Mike Vrabel, who did a lot with a little in Tennessee, and ultimately led to his removal.
As a result, head coaching candidates may be wary of Strunk’s tendency to impose her will on the team. They may use their interviews to gauge compatibility not just with Borgonzi and Brinker, but Strunk as well.
Titans GM Mike Borgonzi Takes Over Control Of 53-Man Roster
Chad Brinker had managed a promotion despite being part of two sub-.500 Titans teams, but the current Tennessee football ops president will now see his role reduced.
The Titans are increasing GM Mike Borgonzi‘s responsibilities. Ahead of his second year as GM, Borgonzi will now control the Titans’ 53-man roster, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. Both Borgonzi and Brinker will report to owner Amy Adams Strunk, while Rapoport adds the next Titans HC will report to Borgonzi. Strunk has since confirmed in a statement both execs will report to her.
The timing here reminds of 2024, when Strunk gave Ran Carthon full roster control. She fired Carthon a year later. Brinker was originally hired as Carthon’s assistant GM, but he stayed on following the GM’s January 2025 ouster. Strunk gave Brinker roster control upon firing Carthon. Now, Borgonzi will lead the way as the team searches for another HC.
Borgonzi previously reported to Brinker, but after another woeful Tennessee season, another shakeup is coming. The Titans hired Borgonzi as GM, and while he ran the draft last year, the former Chiefs exec still did not report directly to ownership — as most GMs do. That will change, perhaps complicating Tennessee’s power structure. While changes of this sort have become commonplace under Strunk, shaking up the front office after a three- or four-win season certainly makes sense.
“Over the past few years, several job descriptions in our football organization were established to address specific situations and challenges that existed at the time,” Strunk said in a letter to fans (via TennesseeTitans.com’s Jim Wyatt). “After working together for the past year, they believe – and I agree – there is a long-term benefit to clarifying and honing the focus areas of our football leadership.
“For that reason, we’re returning to a front office that feels more straightforward to them and me. Going forward, Mike will serve as general manager in the most traditional sense – pick and support the players, oversee the coaching staff – while Chad will continue to lead everything else about the football team.”
Strunk said Borgonzi will lead the HC search, while Brinker will over see cap management, analytics and other departments. Some teams have football ops presidents or VPs in addition to GMs, though many simply go with an owner-GM-HC workflow. The Titans technically have an additional exec in the mix, but with the next full-time coach to report to Borgonzi, an owner-GM-HC flow will be in place for the struggling AFC South franchise.
The Titans had a fairly stable setup in place for more than six years, with Mike Vrabel and Jon Robinson aligned from 2016 through Robinson’s December 2022 firing. Strunk had extended both Vrabel and Robinson earlier that year. Instability has defined the Titans since.
Vrabel received more control post-Robinson and wanted interim GM Ryan Cowden to be given the full-time job. Strunk disagreed and eventually butted heads with her successful HC, who later desired full roster control. Strunk then fired him (rather than trading his rights) and elevating Carthon — hired over Vrabel’s objections — within the organization. A year after the Carthon-over-Vrabel decision, Strunk replaced her GM with Borgonzi.
Brinker was elevated during this time, with the team’s other assistant GM — Anthony Robinson — being fired last year. The Titans then fired Carthon HC hire Brian Callahan. They went 1-5 under Callahan this season and are now 2-8 under interim leader Mike McCoy.
The Tians have sunk to the NFL’s basement over the past four years, with Vrabel’s final two beginning the descent. That said, Tennessee has gone 6-27 since firing Vrabel, who is among the Coach of the Year frontrunners after immediately revitalizing the Patriots. The Titans, meanwhile, hold a minus-160 point differential. That is the second-worst number (behind only 2014) since the franchise relocated from Houston in 1997. Set to hold another high pick, Tennessee will hope its latest change can steer an improvement.
Titans’ Trade Deadline Approach Centered Around Cam Ward, Jeffery Simmons
The Titans had a couple different paths they could have followed in the runup to the trade deadline. Tied with the Saints for the worst record in the NFL, a fire sale of any desirable assets could have taken place. While they let teams know that every player on the roster but two was open for business, they ended up playing a bit of hardball, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. 
The two players off the table, of course, were rookie No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward and star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons. Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi faces an uphill battle in his efforts to turn around a team that has gone 4-22 over the past two seasons. In making his plan for how he’ll accomplish this feat, Bongonzi pointed to the team that has won three of the last six Super Bowls and their reliance on cornerstone pieces.
“So, you try to identify, at least I think Cam is one,” Borgonzi told reporters, per Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com. “You know, I think some of these rookies can be. I think Jeff is one. And I’m not going to go through every player on the roster, but you would try to identify maybe like three, four, five guys.”
He continued, “And you saw that in the past with Kansas City. It’s like the same four guys that have been there for that whole run there, right? And so, yeah, I do think there’s some cornerstone players here that can be part of this. Some of them are younger now, and they have to develop, and we need to continue to add to that.”
Specifically, he knows Ward needs to develop and improve, and his belief is that the rookie passer is doing so amidst struggles largely attributed to the quality of his supporting cast. The other rookies that may have a chance to establish themselves as cornerstone players with Ward are a trio of fourth-round pass-catchers. Receivers Chimere Dike and Elic Ayomanor and tight end Gunnar Helm have all established a strong connection with Ward early. They have a chance to continue to develop chemistry and provide some roster continuity for their fledgling quarterback.
Ward’s other top targets this year, wide receiver Calvin Ridley and tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo, were mentioned as trade candidates who might find homes with contenders for the right price. When no deals took place to move either player, it became apparent that, just because every player was available for a trade, it didn’t mean that they’d be cheap. Tennessee had shipped off cornerback Roger McCreary and pass rusher Dre’Mont Jones, netting a pair of fifth-round picks in exchange, but it was a different situation with the offensive pieces.
Because the team was prioritizing Ward’s growth and development, they couldn’t afford to let go of experienced offensive playmakers like Ridley and Okonkwo for nominal compensation. The Titans sought draft picks to assist in the continuation of their rebuild, but late-Day 3 pick swaps were not going to be enough to persuade them to relinquish those assets.
So, the deadline came and went with little noise on players deemed open for business. Borgonzi held on to the players he deemed valuable to the development of what he hopes will become a franchise QB, and he began his work of identifying potential cornerstone Titans.
Brian Callahan Fallout: Titans, Adams Strunk, Holz, Carthon, Brinker, Quinn
The Titans made the first major coaching change of the 2025 season this week by firing head coach Brian Callahan.
President of football operations Chad Brinker said (via Main Street Media’s Terry McCormick) the team wanted to give the first-time head coach some time to grow into his role, but the current power structure did not see enough progress with only four wins in his first 23 games.
In fact, the Titans appeared to be regressing in Callahan’s second season in charge. They went 3-14 in 2024 with Will Levis under center, and despite adding No. 1 pick Cam Ward this offseason, they were 1-5 to start this year. That one win was the result of multiple late fumbles by the Cardinals, too.
Desperate to turn things around, Callahan surrendered play-calling duties ahead of Week 4 and gave them to quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree. In doing so, Callahan passed over offensive coordinator Nick Holz, a longtime friend dating back to their high school playing days, believing he was not ready, per CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones. Hardegree will retain play-calling duties under interim HC Mike McCoy.
At that point, the “writing was on the wall” in Tennessee, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, with other coaches preparing for what seemed to be an inevitable firing. In fact, Callahan seemed to be on the hot seat when the Titans fired general manager Ron Carthon during the offseason. Callahan himself “never felt like he was on solid footing after that,” per Jones.
The rapid removal of Callahan less than two years into his tenure begs the question: why did the Titans hire him in the first place? He began his NFL coaching career in 2010 for the Broncos, and after stints in Detroit and Oakland coaching quarterbacks, he was hired to be Zac Taylor‘s first offensive coordinator in Cincinnati.
The Bengals emerged as one of the league’s top passing offenses after adding Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins in 2020 and 2021 with a Super Bowl appearance in the latter year. The unit continued to produce in 2022 before stalling in 2023, largely due to Burrow’s injury.
The Titans, meanwhile, appeared to be searching for an offensive coach after parting ways with the defensive-minded Mike Vrabel. Then-Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald offered a strong interview, but the Titans wanted to move in another direction.
Former Falcons head coach and then-Cowboys DC Dan Quinn also interviewed, but owner Amy Adams Strunk was put off by past defensive collapses in the playoffs, including the 28-3 Super Bowl loss to the Patriots and, more recently, a 48-point performance by the Packers offense in Dallas, Jones adds. Quinn’s lack of a vision for his offensive coaching staff – which, at the time, did not include Kliff Kingsbury – further pushed him out of consideration.
So, largely due to the Bengals’ success on offense, the Titans added Callahan to their shortlist, and his resume and experience impressed the team’s decision-makers enough for him to win the job. It is not hard to imagine Tennessee looking for a young, offensive-minded disciple of a successful head coach to help find the long-term quarterback stability that eluded the club for the last decade.
It is worth noting, however, that Taylor called the offensive plays throughout Callahan’s Cincinnati tenure, an early sign the five-year OC may not have been ready for the big job. In Tennessee, he was learning to call plays as he took on the complex, all-encompassing duties of a head coach, and it showed.
Adams Strunk’s influence cannot be understated, either. She has not been in the team’s facility this week and rarely presents herself as the face of the franchise, per Jones, but her fingerprints are over their recent decisions. Adams Strunk restructured the front office last year, moving Brinker from assistant GM under Carthon to his current role over him. Hired by Carthon in 2023, Brinker now controls the Titans’ 53-man roster.
This offseason, Adams Strunk fired Carthon and replaced him with Mike Borgonzi, who brought in his own personnel team. Brinker and Borgonzi said they would lead the search for the next head coach, with Callahan’s firing described as the “last cleanup” before the duo can establish their own era of Titans football, per Fowler.
However, Adams Strunk and her desire to avoid negative media coverage will still play a role. The Titans just drafted a new franchise quarterback with the No. 1 pick and are opening up a new stadium in 2027, but their on-field woes have drained the excitement out of Nashville, according to ESPN’s Dan Graziano. Their new coach will be expected to get the best out of Ward and start winning games quickly, but would-be hires may not want to operate under such expectations, especially given the Titans’ short leash for their leadership.
Furthermore, McCoy does not seem the kind of high-profile, energizing hire that Tennessee is looking for, but the franchise’s last three interims (Mike Mularkey, Jeff Fisher, Jerry Glanville) have taken over the full-time gig, per veteran Titans reporter Paul Kuharsky. Though, teams have gravitated away from elevating interims to full-time status. It has only happened once (Antonio Pierce) in the past eight offseasons.
The Titans have months to organize and conduct their head coaching search, likely with the intention for a more thorough process than last time and potentially with the desire for more experience and stability in the top job.
Top Two Teams In Draft Split On Colorado’s Travis Hunter
While the quarterbacks have garnered plenty of attention at the projected top of the 2025 NFL Draft, many recent prospect rankings have Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter as the No. 1 overall prospect, usually joined at the top by two-way Colorado athlete Travis Hunter. If Hunter does end up contending for one of the top two picks in the draft, it could mean two drastically different possibilities for his future in the NFL. 
Hunter was a unicorn at the collegiate level of football. While we’ve seen players in the past like Charles Woodson, Champ Bailey, and Chris Gamble play through college on both sides of the ball full-time, Hunter did so while being a top-four player on his team in snaps played on both offense and defense and while grading out on Pro Football Focus (subscription required) as the best defensive player for the Buffaloes and the second-best offensive player. In the entire nation, Hunter’s 86.3 offensive grade slotted him as the seventh-best receiver in the FBS, while his defensive grade of 88.2 slotted him as the seventh-best cornerback in the country, as well.
His elite, dual-threat athleticism helped Hunter to become the first non-quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy since 2020 (DeVonta Smith) and the first player who played significant snaps on defense to win the award since 1997 (Woodson). In addition, he became the first player in college football history to win both the Chuck Bednarik Award for the nation’s best defensive player and the Fred Biletnikoff Award for the nation’s best wide receiver.
The NFL will be a different story for Hunter, though. In Boulder, coaches knew that, because of the heightened load of playing on both offense and defense on Saturdays, Hunter would need a lightened load in practice during the week. It was also impossible for Hunter to attend both offensive and defensive meetings (as well as broken-down meetings with individual position groups) simultaneously, so he had to budget his time between meetings. Due to the giant learning curve that often accompanies rookies making the jump from college to professional football, that likely won’t fly in the NFL.
So far, the reports we’ve seen coming out of scouting circles have favored Hunter as a cornerback in the NFL who can play in certain packages on offense. This would follow in the footsteps of Woodson, Bailey, and Gamble, who all became defensive backs as pros. Despite the majority seeing this as the probable outcome, there have certainly been a number of teams who are reported to view him as a wide receiver first. It just so happens that one of those teams has the No. 2 overall pick in the draft. Per NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe, Titans head coach Brian Callahan and general manager Mike Borgonzi view Hunter primarily as a cornerback, while Andrew Berry, general manager in Cleveland, says Hunter is “a unicorn” that they view primarily as a wide receiver.
That means that, if both teams decide to pass up on quarterbacks and Hunter pushes Carter for the honor of top prospect, Hunter’s NFL future could be decided on if he’s selected No. 1 by the Titans as a corner or No. 2 by the Browns as a receiver. After Tennessee spent a third-round pick and a four-year, $76.4MM extension to watch L’Jarius Sneed be one of the worst cornerbacks in football last year, per PFF, the Titans could use a boost in the secondary. Hunter would also be a solid addition to their wide receiving corps, but with Calvin Ridley, Tyler Boyd, and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, he’s not necessarily needed for every possession.
In Cleveland, while Denzel Ward continues to play at a high level, the Browns could certainly use improved performances around him from young guys like Martin Emerson, Greg Newsome, and Cameron Mitchell. On offense, though, Hunter would immediately step in as WR2 behind Jerry Jeudy. With Elijah Moore entering free agency, the Browns next two returning receivers would be Cedric Tillman (339 yards, three touchdowns) and Michael Woods (65 yards, no touchdowns).
On both teams, it’s clear Hunter could provide a massive improvement to either side of the ball, and perhaps on both sides of the ball, if either team is willing to work him there. The difference between Tennessee’s and Berry’s assessments seems to do less with roster needs and more with personal analysis. While the quarterbacks are sure to keep things interesting atop the first few picks of the draft, if Carter and Hunter end up trending around Nos. 1 and 2, it will be interesting to see exactly how the chips fall and what it will mean for Hunter’s professional career.
Chad Brinker Confirms Personnel Control With Titans; Mike Borgonzi To Run Draft
Chad Brinker has made an interesting climb in Tennessee. He is the last man standing from a triumvirate that included GM Ran Carthon and assistant GM Anthony Robinson, being given authority to hire a GM of his own.
Mike Borgonzi is now in that chair, being hired from the Chiefs last week, but Brinker confirmed Wednesday (via TitanInsider.com’s Terry McCormick) he has final say over the Titans’ 53-man roster. Elevated to president of Titans football operations last year, Brinker said (via veteran Titans reporter Paul Kuharsky) he did not have full control in 2024.
Regardless of Brinker’s responsibilities last year, his Nashville rise has been interesting. The Titans had Brinker and Robinson as co-assistant GMs in 2023, but Brinker rose above the ex-Falcons exec last year. That climb eventually included Carthon being fired after two years on the GM. Hours after that news broke, the Titans fired Robinson as well. Brinker is still standing, however, and is leading the Titans in a pivotal offseason.
Tumbling to 3-14 in Brian Callahan‘s first season, the Titans hold the No. 1 overall pick. It will be expected Brinker plays a significant role in the Titans’ draft, but the team’s current personnel boss said Borgonzi will run that process. That undoubtedly provided appeal for Borgonzi, who follows Brandt Tilis as Kansas City execs to leave despite not being given final-say authority elsewhere. Tilis joined the Panthers as Dan Morgan‘s top lieutenant last year.
Brinker added (via SI.com’s Albert Breer) that Borgonzi will lead Tennessee’s free agency effort as well. Borgonzi confirmed this, via ESPN.com’s Turron Davenport, classifying Brinker as having the tiebreaker. This is a similar setup to the Seahawks’ long-running Pete Carroll–John Schneider arrangement, where the HC held the tiebreaker while the GM made the acquisitions.
Although Brinker classified Carthon as a friend, the team president said the Titans’ free agency strategy last year lacked some discipline. Carthon’s second offseason as GM involved a number of big-ticket contracts handed out. The team signed the likes of Calvin Ridley, Lloyd Cushenberry, Chidobe Awuzie and Tony Pollard before trading for L’Jarius Sneed and giving him $44MM at signing. Awuzie, Sneed and Cushenberry missed much of the season due to injuries, with Ridley and Pollard’s 1,000-yard showings unable to do much for Will Levis‘ development.
Carthon’s leadership notwithstanding, Brinker was certainly a key player in Tennessee’s 2024 strategy. He will be given another chance. The draft will be the centerpiece area for the Titans, who have seen Levis’ struggles create a quarterback need. Although Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders will be closely linked to the Titans at No. 1, in all likelihood, Brinker added (via Titans.com’s Jim Wyatt) the team will not force a quarterback over “a generational talent” at 1.
That path is a bit more interesting this year, as neither Sanders nor Ward are viewed as players who would have been candidates to infiltrate the Caleb Williams–Jayden Daniels–Drake Maye top three of 2024. But two-way phenom Travis Hunter will be available. The Colorado product is a mortal lock to go in the top five, with cornerback being viewed early as his most likely NFL position (though, that is not yet set). Still, Hunter being deemed a far superior prospect to Sanders and Ward would put the Titans to a fascinating decision — one that would please the QB-needy Browns and Giants (at Nos. 2 and 3).
Amy Adams Strunk‘s fingerprints are the clearest on the Titans’ mid-2020s decline. The owner fired GM Jon Robinson months after giving him an extension. Disagreements with Mike Vrabel led Adams Strunk to fire the former Coach of the Year following the 2023 season. The Titans are now in rebuild mode, only with a number of Carthon-approved contracts on their books for the 2025 campaign.
Brinker acknowledged the Titans’ front office hierarchy is “unique,” though he indicated Borgonzi will still carry considerable authority. Adams Strunk, however, does not want too much say on football matters, Kuharsky adds, further cementing Brinker as the organization’s current cornerstone decision-maker.
Borgonzi’s presence notwithstanding, it will be on the former Packers exec to make the final calls on a Hunter-or-QB decision at No. 1. With Adams Strunk firing two GMs and a head coach between December 2022 and January 2025, Brinker may well be moving toward a hot seat. Thus far, though, he has survived during the team’s decline.
Jets Planning Second Round Of GM Interviews
The Jets are set to kick off the next step of their wide-ranging GM search. According to ESPN’s Rich Cimini, the Jets are currently planning a second round of interviews for their general manager job.
Barring a late addition, the Jets’ first round of GM interviews included 15 individuals. One of those initial candidates is now off the market, as the Titans hired Chiefs assistant GM Mike Borgonzi for their top job. Cimini notes that Borgonzi was a strong candidate for New York’s gig.
Still, that would leave 14 potential candidates for the Jets job, and the organization shouldn’t be worried about another executive getting away. Per Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports, the team’s GM candidates view the organization’s outlook “more positively than the public.” Of course, with only the Jets and Raiders jobs currently open, these candidates can’t be overly picky about their landing spot. Still, it’s at least encouraging that any recent chaos in New York hasn’t dissuaded future GMs.
Schultz reaffirms that the Jets’ next general manager (along with the team’s future HC addition) will ultimately determine Aaron Rodgers‘ fate in New York. The quarterback also hinted that his future with the organization will be dependent on the Jets’ new regime.
“I think everybody understands that it’s going to come down to a GM and a coach and myself and whether we all want to do a dance together or if it’s not in the cards,” Rodgers said during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” (via Cimini).
As our GM tracker shows, the Jets’ current list of GM candidates includes:
- Mike Borgonzi, assistant general manager (Chiefs): Interviewed 1/8; hired by Titans
- Trey Brown, senior personnel executive (Bengals): Interviewed 1/11
- Thomas Dimitroff, former general manager (Falcons): Interviewed 12/16
- Ray Farmer, senior personnel executive (Rams): Interviewed 1/9
- Brian Gaine, assistant general manager (Bills): Interviewed 1/14
- Mike Greenberg, assistant general manager (Buccaneers): Interviewed 1/10
- Ryan Grigson, senior vice president of player personnel (Vikings): Interviewed 1/11
- Alec Halaby, assistant general manager (Eagles): Interviewed 1/8
- Darren Mougey, assistant general manager (Broncos): Interviewed 1/11
- Jim Nagy, Senior Bowl director: Interviewed 12/19
- Lance Newmark, assistant general manager (Commanders): Interviewed 1/11
- Louis Riddick, former director of pro personnel (Eagles): Interviewed 1/2
- Jon Robinson, former general manager (Titans): Interviewed 12/17
- Chris Spielman, special assistant to president/CEO (Lions): Interviewed 1/11
- Jon-Eric Sullivan, director of player personnel (Packers): Interviewed 1/14
Titans Hire Mike Borgonzi As GM
The Titans moved quickly after narrowing their list of general manager candidates to a group of finalists. With second interviews complete, a decision appears to have been made.
Chiefs assistant GM Mike Borgonzi is set to take over the Titans’ front office, as first reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. A formal agreement had not originally been worked out, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter notes a five-year contract is now in place. Tennessee’s GM vacancy has been filled with plenty of time left in the offseason.
Six candidates took part in second interviews over the past few days. Borgonzi was among them, which came as little surprise given his experience and how close he came to landing a GM gig last year with the Commanders. After 16 seasons in Kansas City – including the past four in his role as assistant general manager – Borgonzi will depart the two-time defending champions to oversee the Titans’ rebuild.
Tennessee moved on from Jon Robinson late in the 2022 campaign, ending his seven-year run span at the helm of the franchise. Ran Carthon was brought in as his replacement, and the decision by owner Amy Adams Strunk dismiss head coach Mike Vrabel after the 2023 season seemed to set Carthon up for a long runway in his position. The Titans bottomed out this year, though, and while Brian Callahan was retained after one year as head coach, Carthon was let go.
Borgonzi was one of the top candidates in this year’s GM hiring cycle, interviewing as well for the Jets’ position. New York’s search continues, but one name has now been removed from the list of remaining options. Without a head coaching hire to make (which is still the case for both the Jets and Raiders), meanwhile, the Titans can move forward with a new power structure once the Borgonzi hire becomes official.
Kansas City and Tennessee have been connected on the trade front recently, with the swaps which saw cornerback L’Jarius Sneed head to Tennessee in the offseason and which sent wideout DeAndre Hopkins to Kansas City ahead of the deadline this year representing recent examples. Borgonzi will aim to make immediate progress with respect to roster-building in his first GM opportunity, something which will include the No. 1 pick in April’s draft.
Chad Brinker joined the Titans’ staff along with Carthon, and he was promoted to president of football operations last year. He ran Tennessee’s GM search, and his connections to Borgonzi made this development one to watch for. Given the team’s announcement (during the statement confirming Carthon’s firing) that Brinker would “break ties” when it comes to key decisions, it will be interesting to see how much authority Borgonzi ends up wielding especially in the early portion of his tenure.
For now, though, attention will turn to building out the rest of the front office staff. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated notes the scouting department is an area which could see additions made in the near future, with former Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler being an option on that front. In any case, the Titans have found the executive who will be tasked with finding a franchise quarterback and returning the team to postseason contention.
Here is the final breakdown of how Tennessee’s search broke down:
- Matt Berry, senior director of player personnel (Seahawks): Interviewed 1/11
- Mike Borgonzi, assistant general manager (Chiefs): Hired
- Ian Cunningham, assistant general manager (Bears): Conducted second interview 1/15
- Thomas Dimitroff, former general manager (Falcons): Interviewed 1/10
- Ed Dodds, assistant general manager (Colts): Conducted second interview 1/14
- Terrance Gray, vice president of player personnel (Bills): Conducted second interview 1/14
- Catherine Hickman, assistant general manager (Browns): Interviewed 1/11
- Reggie McKenzie, senior personnel executive (Dolphins): Interviewed 1/10
- John Spytek, assistant general manager (Buccaneers): Conducted second interview 1/16
- Jon-Eric Sullivan, director of player personnel (Packers): Conducted second interview 1/16