With one win in six games, Tennessee is looking for a new head coach after firing Brian Callahan on Monday.
Callahan was hired to replace Mike Vrabel and went 3-14 last season before the Titans chose to fire general manager Ran Carthon.
Under a new power structure led by team president Chad Brinker and general manager Mike Borgonzi, the Titans used the first 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 14 years of experience in recruiting for the Chiefs may help connect some of the dots in the coaching search, but this front office is anything but usual — or predictable.
Before Vrabel’s shot, the Titans punted to general manager Jon Robinson.
Will the next coach-general manager duo bring harmony to Nashville?
Here are five names to know as the Titans begin their search:
–DC Chiefs Steve Spagnuolo
Age was a concern Spagnuolo talked about as a perceived obstacle to his return to a prominent NFL coaching job before last year’s Super Bowl, a lopsided loss to the Eagles.
But “Spags” is one of the coaches on the roster 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 could become their asset.
The defensive coordinator of six Super Bowl appearances and coach of seven Super Bowls during his career, Spagnuolo owns four rings.
But he was 10-38 as head coach of the Rams from 2009-2011 and 1-3 as interim coach of the Giants in 2017.
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Nagy has experience as a head coach and is from the Andy Reid coaching tree. At 47, he is 18 years younger than Spags and has head coaching experience.
Nagy coached the Bears from 2018-2021 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, Kafka’s job was to help Patrick Mahomes prepare each week. Like everyone else on the list, Kafka knows Borgonzi. As a college quarterback at Northwestern – Brinker earned his MBA at Evanston – he sees the game through the quarterback’s eyes.
Kafka, 38, is now first-round pick Jaxson Dart’s primary guardian as the Giants’ offensive coordinator.
–Commanders OC Cliff Kingsbury
Kingsbury, 46, played a pivotal role in the development of 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels and was previously 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 helping the Chiefs scout and scout Mahomes, he was in regular contact with Texas Tech head coach and broadcaster Kingsbury.
-Mike McCarthy
The former Cowboys head coach has significant ties to Brinker from their years 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 arrived.
McCarthy, 61, has coached some of the best quarterbacks — Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, Dak Prescott — and is currently unemployed and without a contract commitment.
–Field level media
