It’s a glorious day in Music City, U.S.A. as the Tennessee Titans and head coach Mike Mularkey have consciously uncoupled. The coach and team have agreed to “part ways.”
“I want to thank Mike Mularkey for his contributions to our franchise over his tenure with our organization,” Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement. “He took over our team during a low moment and together with (general manager) Jon (Robinson) built a solid foundation for our franchise.”
Titans part ways with head coach Mike Mularkey. Read: https://t.co/9R7Q0DKjBP pic.twitter.com/vu5Z6bD6Kr
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) January 15, 2018
Did he, though? Mularkey coached the Titans for two and a half seasons. The team did post back-to-back winning campaigns at 9-7, but there was an obvious problem with Tennessee ever getting over that hump; Mularkey.
Make no mistake, scientifically Mike Mularkey is one of the worst head coaches in the history of the NFL. He just now, this season, pushed his winning percentage out of the .300s (it’s .404 and there it will stay). This year only interim New York Giants head coach Steve Spagnuolo had a worse career record (.212) and he just now recorded enough games to even qualify on the list.
For Mularkey, it took two consecutive winning seasons just to get clear of Jim Schwartz (.363), Leslie Frazier (.398) and, of course, the guy he replaced, Ken Whisenhunt (.403).
#Titans GM Jon Robinson and CEO Steve Underwood told coach Mike Mularkey before the game and told him they were extended him and he was their guy. They said they'd get it done after the game. Now this.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 15, 2018
It was that last guy, Whisenhunt, and the remainder of his contract that got Adams Strunk to stick with Mularkey in the first place. They had to eat the rest of Whisenhunt’s deal and the prospect of hiring an actually qualified (and expensive) coach was just too much for the cheap-ass Titans to deal with. So, they spun their wheels a couple of seasons with Mularkey.
Robinson has put together a championship caliber roster in Tennessee over the last couple of seasons and this was, absolutely, the right move. It’s just a shame the Titans beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the Wild Card game and they couldn’t have gotten ahead of this by a week. Because they guy they really wanted to be the next head coach, New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, is about to take another job in the AFC South with the Indianapolis Colts.
That’s the mess the Titans were looking at in the 2018-19 season; an Indianapolis Colts team with a healthy Andrew Luck and McDaniels calling the plays, Deshaun Watson returning to the Houston Texans (his injury is the only reason the Titans made the playoffs this year) and a Jacksonville Jaguars team bringing back, at worst, an AFC Championship level roster. You were going to let Mike Mularkey take you into battle against those odds? Good God.
One potential landing spot for former #Titans coach Mike Mularkey: The offensive coordinator to #Browns coach Hue Jackson. There was interest if Mularkey ever became available.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 15, 2018
Here’s what should really scare Titans fans. It nearly happened. Not only was Mularkey set to return in 2018, there was an “extension” put on the table. Nightmare averted.
“We did discuss extending (Mularkey’s) future with our team over the past week, but in those discussions about the direction of the team, it became evident that we saw different paths to achieve greater success,” Adams Strunk said. “…I generally believe that continuity is the best path for success, but I also view this as an important moment for our football team as we try to make that next step to sustained success on the field. Jon will begin the search immediately to identify that person.”
Who is that person going to be? Well, you’ve got two options already tossed out into the ether and only one of them makes any sense at all. Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks has been on plenty of teams’ short list this off-season and should be ready to make the jump to HC. According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Titans are also looking at Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel, to which I make a huge, honking fart sound by pressing my palm to my mouth and blowing. Am I the only person who saw the Houston defense play this year?
“I felt like we needed to go in a different direction and maximize the skill sets of the players on the field,” Robinson said. “This is an attractive job …We’ll talk to candidates who we believe will move this team forward.”
Mike Mularkey is out?! It’s Christmas for @titans fans! Credit to ownership. Mularkey saying no staff changes had to be deal breaker.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 15, 2018
Robinson is right about that. Tennessee is loaded with talent on both sides of the ball, with the most important piece, a franchise quarterback (Marcus Mariota), already in place. They have their full compliment of draft picks (picking No. 25 in the first round) and $52.961 million in available cap space next season. That jumps up to $60 million if they cut running back DeMarco Murray. And they will.
OTHER COACHING NEWS
As I mentioned earlier, the Colts are set to announce Josh McDaniels as their new head coach the minute the Patriots are eliminated from the playoffs or, more likely, win their sixth Super Bowl. This is the perfect job for McDaniels and, honestly, it was the one I thought Jon Gruden would come back for before he took over the Oakland Raiders. According to Tom Pelissero, McDaniels has already tabbed former Dallas Cowboys assistant Matt Eberflus as his defensive coordinator.
The #Titans planned to fire Mike Mularkey after Week 17. Then after the playoff loss that never came. It was all about Josh McDaniels. Now, the #Colts and the #Titans may battle it out for him.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 15, 2018
The idea that Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur would roll into the Arizona Cardinals with Case Keenum as his quarterback was just so perfect, something had to screw it up. That “something” was the New York Giants who, according to the NFL Network, will hire Shurmer as their new head coach the minute the Vikings lose, be it next week or in the Super Bowl to the Patriots. That’s probably good news for teams looking at adding Keenum to their roster next year and even better news for Eli Manning who will have someone running the offense who actually knows what the hell he’s doing.
Source: The #Giants are targeting #Vikings OC Pat Shurmur as the top choice for their new head coach and he's expected to accept, if offered.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 15, 2018
The Detroit Lions appear to have keyed in on Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia as their next head coach. This would be a spectacular hire. Patricia will likely keep the offensive staff in place including offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter.
If Bill O’Brien is ever going to turn into a decent NFL head coach, the Texans are giving him his chance. After being handed a franchise quarterback in Watson in a Draft Day trade with the Buffalo Bills last season, Houston flipped the script on what would have, most definitely, been O’Brien’s last year at the helm. With the excitement Watson produced before going down with a knee injury, the Texans decided to go all in with O’Brien. Over the weekend he signed a five-year extension and got a new general manager in Brain Gaine.
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