NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Four scenarios for the Tennessee Titans, whose search for a general manager and a coach is ongoing.
1. Hire the GM, look for the coach with him: This is the most sensible scenario, but we don’t know if it’s the most likely. The Titans have interviewed six candidates from the outside, and they have not shared what has gone on inside, where they have three guys who are worthy of a look who already work for them.
Of the outside interviews, three are well-regarded around the league as guys who have a chance to successfully build an organization’s roster: Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard, Buccaneers director of player personnel Jon Robinson and Jaguars director of pro scouting Chris Polian.
I can’t imagine any of those three would take the job -- knowing GMs rarely get a second chance -- without having a say in who the head coach will be. And I doubt any of the three would sign up for interim coach Mike Mularkey, who ownership likes.
This is what they should do. Hire a GM and give him a say in the choice of the coach.
2. Complete the coaching search, decide which guy demands to be hired first among all the coach and GM candidates, and move forward from there: This seems awfully awkward, cumbersome and slow, but it’s the second-best scenario here and leaves open the possibility that it pans out as described in Scenario 1 above.
3. File away all the GM work they just did, and conduct the coaching search in a similar fashion: There are no other GM jobs open, so they can be patient there. President and CEO Steve Underwood and controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk are in Houston on Tuesday and Wednesday for owners meetings, and we don’t know if they will continue working there or if they will pause.
Considering reports that Mularkey and Jaguars assistant head coach/offensive line Doug Marrone will interview Thursday, it seems like they are pausing interviews. Detroit defensive coordinator Teryl Austin is also scheduled to talk to the Titans.
In this scenario, they then hire the coach first and slot a GM they like who is on board with the coach.
Coaches who are hired first in these circumstances are usually pretty powerful and coveted guys (see Pete Carroll) and I don’t know that anyone the Titans will talk to will warrant such status. Mularkey certainly doesn’t.
It would be the team’s method of forcing him into the job and hiring a GM willing to accept him, which means the new GM would start off as a weak executive.
4. They could complete the coaching search, then seek to offer jobs semi-simultaneously while telling the potential hires who the other guy will be: Both would have to be fine with the other guy, or fine with any guy, in the other role.
Considering the relationship the two need to have, that seems like a recipe for disaster, attempting to thrust a partner on each. The smartest GM candidates would be wary, and if they didn’t like the pairing, they’d probably pass.