The Tennessee Titans are in the midst of searching for a new head coach after firing Mike Vrabel on Jan. 9, with the team conducting several interviews already and having more on the way.
The Titans have completed a total of five interviews thus far, and one more is set to be completed on Thursday. Tennessee has also put in requests with four other candidates, which shows the team is casting a wide net, as owner Amy Adams Strunk said she would.
Who the Titans ultimately land remains to be seen, of course, but one thing we can say for sure is that whoever the new head coach is will be walking into a positive situation for several reasons.
Here’s a look at six of them:
A mostly blank slate
When Mike Vrabel took over in 2018, the Titans were coming off a playoff season and had a roster that needed to be fined tuned rather than rebuilt.
For the next head coach, he’ll be walking into a rebuild, which gives general manager Ran Carthon a mostly blank slate on both sides of the ball to build the team to fit Vrabel’s replacement.
I say “mostly blank” because there’s already a quarterback in place, but that’s not a bad thing as long as the incoming head coach believes in him, which will almost certainly be necessary for any candidate to land the job.
A promising young quarterback
The hardest position in the NFL to secure is quarterback, but thankfully the Titans look to be good there.
Levis still has work to do in terms of development, but he showed more than enough positives despite a terrible situation around him for a new head coach to be confident they are walking into a situation in which they have a long-term solution under center.
Cap space
The Titans have a lot of work to do when it comes to improving their roster, but thankfully the team has a ton of resources to help its cause.
On top of draft picks (more on that shortly), the Titans will have $74.2 million in cap space ($68.1 million in effective cap space) to operate with before making any cuts, per Over the Cap.
Of the teams with head-coach vacancies, only the Washington Commanders have more total cap space, but no team has more effective cap space (the cap space a team will have after signing at least 51 players and its projected rookie class to its roster) than Tennessee.
Two top-40 draft picks
The Titans hold the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, which will put them in position to land a blue-chip prospect either at left tackle or wide receiver, which are the team’s two biggest needs.
But having that pick also means the Titans have a pair of selections in the top 40, something that will help kickstart the impending rebuild.
Adding to all that, the new head coach walks into Tennessee knowing he has a general manager who, as it stands now, had a successful first draft class.
An owner who cares
A new stadium in and of itself is hardly going to sway a head coach to come to the Titans, but it’s more about what the new venue symbolizes that’s important.
The new stadium shows the Titans aren’t just sitting around twiddling their thumbs and are instead trying to upgrade their organization as a whole.
We know owner Amy Adams Strunk isn’t perfect, especially after what went down with Vrabel. She clearly has to get better when it comes to process and communication, two things that can definitely be viewed as negatives.
However, there’s no debate about how hard she has worked to upgrade everything from the team’s facility to the new stadium coming in 2027.
Also, she clearly cares about winning and has proven she will spend to make that happen, as evidenced by Tennessee’s poor cap situation that was a result of the team kicking the can down the road to go for it the past few years.
A great place to live
At the risk of sounding like a real estate agent, it’s worth noting that there are some great places to live in and around Nashville, and it’s a great place to raise a family. Broadway is also one of the more iconic spots in the country.
And, the new head coach will enjoy a little extra money in his pocket than he otherwise would at most other destinations thanks to Tennessee’s low cost of living and no state income tax.
