49ers Block Titans From DeMeco Ryans Interview
Early in his coaching career, DeMeco Ryans resides as a 49ers defensive quality control coach. But the team thinks highly of the former linebacker and did not want another franchise poaching him from the staff just yet.
The 49ers blocked the Titans from speaking with Ryans in an interview setting, Jason Wolf of The Tennesseean reports (on Twitter). Ryans and Mike Vrabel‘s time with the Texans did not overlap, with the linebacker having moved on to the Eagles by the time Vrabel got to Houston, but the new Titans coach wanted to meet with him nonetheless.
The 33-year-old assistant played in the NFL from 2006-15 and caught on with Robert Saleh‘s defensive staff. Despite Ryans being set for a low-level assistant job, Saleh gave a glowing assessment of the newcomer last year, helping to explain why San Francisco blocked his possible defection to Tennessee.
“DeMeco is probably going to be a head coach one day,” Saleh said in April 2017, via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. “So, I’ll be asking him for a job I’m sure not long from now. He’s got that type of football I.Q. — that type of presence — and is as knowledgeable as it gets.”
Branch notes one of Ryans’ main responsibilities this season was working with first-rounder Reuben Foster, who made a strong impression as a rookie when healthy. It’s clear he’ll have a chance to learn more from Ryans in 2018.
Titans Hire Matt LaFleur As OC
The Titans announced that they have hired Matt LaFleur as their new offensive coordinator. LaFleur previously served as the Rams’ offensive coordinator. 
Technically, this represents a lateral move for LaFleur, though he did not call plays in Los Angeles when he worked under head coach Sean McVay. Serving under a defensive-minded coach in Mike Vrabel, LaFleur should have flexibility to do things his way.
LaFleur is inexperienced as an OC, having served just one season in the role. In his favor, LaFleur did guide Matt Ryan to an MVP campaign just a year ago as quarterbacks coach in Atlanta. Then, last year, Jared Goff excelled under LaFleur’s tutelage. Given the 38-year-old’s QB acumen, the Titans are hopeful that he can get the most out of Marcus Mariota.
On Tuesday morning, the Titans also made the hiring of Dean Pees as defensive coordinator official.
Titans Hire Rob Moore For WR Coach
- The Titans have hired Raiders wide receivers coach Rob Moore for the same position, ESPN’s Adam Caplan tweets. He also notes the team interviewed former Raiders running backs coach Bernie Parmalee last week.
Titans To Hire Dean Pees As Defensive Coordinator
Dean Pees‘ retirement didn’t last long. After calling it quits on January 1 following a six-year run in Baltimore, the veteran coach is set to join the Titans as the team’s defensive coordinator, Josh Wolf of The Tennessean writes. 
New head coach Mike Vrabel has previously played under Pees when he served as linebackers coach and defensive coordinator with the Patriots from 2004-09. Pees replaces Dick LeBeau, who served as defensive coordinator for the last three seasons.
In 2017, Pees’ Ravens recorded the most turnovers in the league but suffered several late-game collapses toward the end of the season that ultimately kept them out of the playoffs. Pees served as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator from 2012-2017, and he earned a Super Bowl ring in that position in 2012.
Pees entered coaching in 1979, serving as the University of Findlay’s defensive coordinator. After stints at several colleges over the next two decades, Pees made the jump to the NFL when he joined the Patriots in 2004. After a long run in New England, he took over as defensive coordinator in Baltimore. Pees’ son Matt will join his father on the Tennessee coaching staff, where he’ll work as a quality control coach.
Before naming Pees defensive coordinator, Wolf reports the Titans offered the job to former Cardinals defensive coordinator James Bettcher. He instead took the same job with the Giants.
The Titans defense finished middle of the pack in 2017, while also allowing the eighth most passing yards. Pees’ opportunistic schemes could improve a unit that registered the 16th most turnovers.
Titans Hire Rob Moore As WRs Coach
- Mike Vrabel‘s Titans staff continues to fill out. Former Raiders wide receivers coach Rob Moore will trek east to coach Tennessee’s wideouts, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets. Since the former All-Pro wideout’s career concluded, he’s coached at the high school, JUCO, Division I college and NFL levels — the previous five being with the Bills (2013-14) and Raiders (’15-’17). His main task will certainly involve Corey Davis‘ development. Moore helped bring Amari Cooper‘s career forward, but the top Raiders target struggled this season.
Dean Pees To Join Titans’ Staff?
It may be a brief retirement for Dean Pees. The former Ravens and Patriots defensive coordinator announced his retirement on New Years Day, but according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun, momentum continues to build for Pees to join the staff of new Titans head coach Mike Vrabel (Twitter link). Zrebiec cautions that nothing is close to being finalized and that discussions are ongoing.
Pees could join Tennessee as defensive coordinator, or he could take another position on Vrabel’s defensive staff. The two men know each other well from their time in New England, as Pees was on the Patriots’ staff from 2004-09, and Vrabel was a starting linebacker for the Pats from 2001-08. Pees was Vrabel’s position coach for two seasons and then his defensive coordinator for three more years after that. If Zrebiec’s report is any indication, Vrabel and Pees developed a healthy respect for each other during that time.
Pees served as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator from 2012-2017, and he earned a Super Bowl ring in that position in 2012. Although his defenses suffered several late-game collapses that doomed Baltimore’s playoff hopes in the past several seasons, his unit did generate the most turnovers in the league last year (though many of those turnovers came against offenses featuring second-string and/or rookie quarterbacks).
In total, the 68-year-old Pees has 10 years of NFL experience as a defensive coordinator, which could be useful for a rookie head coach like Vrabel, who is taking over a playoff team that will have high expectations heading into 2018.
Titans Hire Kerry Coombs As DBs Coach
- The Titans also have a new quarterbacks coach: former Texans offensive assistant Pat O’Hara, tweets John McClain of the Houston Chronicle, who adds ex-Texans defensive assistant Shane Bowen is now Tennessee’s outside linebackers coach. O’Hara interviewed for the Bears’ quarterbacks coach job earlier this year, but Chicago ended up retaining Dave Ragone for the role. Meanwhile, new Titans assistant coach Kerry Coombs will indeed lead defensive backs in Tennessee, meaning he’ll coach the same position group that he did at Ohio State, tweets Paul Kuharsky of PaulKuharsky.com. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel offered incumbent secondary coach Deshea Townsend a job as Coombs’ assistant (read: a demotion), but Townsend will instead leave the club.
Titans Interviewed Callahan For OC
- Brian Callahan‘s received interest from the Titans and Jets since he and the Lions parted ways, with the former scheduling an OC interview that took place Wednesday. However, the Raiders are in the mix for Callahan now too. Callahan will interview for Oakland’s quarterbacks coach position, Jason Wolf of The Tennesseean reports. The Jets view him as a fit for their QBs job as well and are interviewing him for that role. So, the former Broncos and Lions assistant has options.
Titans Notes: Moore, McKenzie, Coombs
New Titans head coach Mike Vrabel swung and missed on each of his first two tries at hiring a coordinator, as Ohio State’s Ryan Day opted to stay in the collegiate ranks rather than become Tennessee’s offensive play-caller, while former Cardinals defensive coordinator James Bettcher chose the Giants over the Titans. Vrabel still needs to fill out a staff, however, and he’s been busy making potential additions today.
Here’s the latest from Tennessee:
- Former Raiders wide receivers coach Rob Moore interviewed for the same position with the Titans, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link). Moore, who got his start in NFL coaching with the Bills in 2013, had been with Oakland since 2015 but wasn’t retained by new head coach Jon Gruden. 2016 was a banner year for Moore, as both Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree topped 1,000 yards, but both wideouts took a large step backwards in 2017.
- Rams assistant special teams coach Tyrone McKenzie interviewed for an unidentified role on the Titans’ staff, per Pelissero. Like Vrabel, McKenzie is a former Patriots linebacker, although the two never overlapped in New England, as Vrabel was traded prior to 2009, the season McKenzie joined the club. McKenzie, also a former Buccaneer and Viking, has only one season of coaching experience.
- Vrabel is dipping into his Ohio State ties — he played in Columbus before coaching there from 2011-13 — as he formulates his Titans coaching staff, and OSU defensive backs/special teams coach Kerry Coombs will be joining Tennessee, tweets Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports. There’s no word yet as to what Coombs’ role will be, but given that he’s never coached in the NFL before, he’s likely to keep leading the Titans’ secondary. Coombs began his collegiate coaching career with Cincinnati in 2006, and joined Ohio State in 2011.
- Texans defensive assistant Shane Bowen is another candidate to join Vrabel with the Titans, reports Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com. Bowen not only worked under Vrabel in Houston during the past two seasons, but also spent the 2012 campaign coaching alongside the new Tennessee head coach at Ohio State. A Georgia Tech alum, Bowen coached linebackers at Kennesaw State University from 2013-15.
Titans Next DC Will Call Plays
- New head coach Mike Vrabel cleared up some confusion by explaining that the Titans‘ next defensive coordinator will in fact be calling plays. “The DC will make the play calls – he will call the game,” Vrabel said (Twitter link via Paul Kuharsky of PaulKuharsky.com). “And if I tell him to run something, he is going to run it. … The defensive coordinator is going to call 100 percent of the game, except for when I tell him the one time I want to pressure the quarterback.”