NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Take a swing and go for it.
That should be the Titans’ approach with John Harbaugh, whom they could talk to this week about their head coach opening.
He’s the best guy out there, the CEO type who will be a magnet for staff. His ceiling issues with the Ravens are something the Titans would love to be worrying about as he creates the floor he had in Baltimore, where they went to the playoffs two out of every three years when he was the coach.
And I think Harbaugh is great. But we have not seen him outside of the Ravens’ spectacular infrastructure, with one of the top owners in all of professional sports in Steve Bisciotti, and with remarkable personnel leadership in Ozzie Newsome and then Eric DeCosta.
His reported desires are, to be frank, outrageous.
Tony Grossi said a league insider speculated on what he heard about Harbaugh’s prerequisites:
- A $20 million annual salary
- A $10 million annual pool for his assistants
- Total authority on the roster
- Would like to select his own personnel guy
Harbaugh is in position to start out asking for everything with a willingness to negotiate down. (Jonathan Jones says that "just not real.")
Who can offer him something close to that right now?
DOLPHINS
They just hired Jon-Eric Sullivan as their new GM, and he’s got no Harbaugh connection. Sullivan is a Packers lifer.
BROWNS
Andrew Berry, general manager and executive vice president of football operations since 2020, has personnel power.
RAIDERS
John Spytek was hired last year as GM and has personnel power. Minority owner Tom Brady also chimes in to an unknown degree.
GIANTS
Much to the chagrin of the fan base, Joe Schoen survived after Brian Daboll was hired and is running the coaching search. He had the day-to-day power, with ownership perhaps more active than most.
Here is a situation where John Mara could conceivably demote or fire Schoen if that’s what it took to land Harbaugh. Liam Coen hardly had the cache of Harbaugh, and he initially passed on the Jaguars job last year until Shad Khan fired GM Trent Baalke.
FALCONS
Atlanta just hired Matt Ryan as president of football. He is overseeing searches for a new general manager and coach.
So, depending on how he and Harbaugh see each other, this could be a strong possibility.
CARDINALS
The Cardinals fired Jonathan Gannon but retained GM Monti Ossenfort.
Whatever Arizona might do to try to lure Harbaugh, and as much as things change in the NFL year to year, it’s not a very attractive job right now. The three other teams in the AFC West are strong organizations, and the Seahawks, 49ers and Rams are all in the divisional round of the playoffs.
So, total authority on the roster means a demotion for someone, and Atlanta is the only place where a top personnel guy is not already in place.
In Nashville, that would mean, at the very least, demoting Mike Borgonzi, who would be hiring Harbaugh. Borgonzi has done good work so far and is the hope that the Titans are changing course.
I’m just not in favor of plans that prompt a team to drop everything and alter direction again, even if the new plan yields a great coach.
Harbaugh should want to pair with a personnel man whom he trusts and who will give him 
plenty of influence.
If he and Borgonzi hit it off, I would think Borgonzi would certainly do that.
As for the money, Mike Vrabel’s first contract in 2018 paid him $4–6 million annually, but Amy Adams Strunk jumped it in 2022 to a reported $9.5 million. She was only paying Brian Callahan $3 million annually.
Sportico says Harbaugh was already at $17 million with the Ravens, so $20 million isn’t an outrageous ask, though I feel certain a new employer would want to keep him under Andy Reid, who is at $20 million.
