NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With news that the Titans will interview Brian Daboll for their open head coach position, their list is up to 18, with John Harbaugh still pending.
It’s an extensive list, and with Daboll and Jonathan Gannon, it appears designed to serve multiple purposes at once — evaluating head coach candidates while also gathering information that will inform the eventual hire and his staff-building decisions.
The four previous times the job has been open during the Tennessee era, the team has officially interviewed 15 people total, including the coaches they hired — Mike Munchak, Ken Whisenhunt, Mike Mularkey and Mike Vrabel.
This search alone now exceeds the combined total of candidates interviewed across those four previous searches.
I don’t see any downside to the thoroughness, though it certainly doesn’t guarantee success.
Last year, the Jets reportedly interviewed around 16 candidates before hiring Aaron Glenn, while the Bears interviewed roughly 15 before securing Ben Johnson. The year before, the Falcons talked to 14 before hiring Raheem Morris.
The list:
- Mike McCoy
- Matt Nagy
- Vance Joseph
- Steve Spagnuolo
- Lou Anarumo
- Raheem Morris
- Kevin Stefanski
- Jason Garrett
- Jeff Hafley
- Arthur Smith
- Robert Saleh
- Kliff Kingsbury
- Jesse Minter
- Chris Shula
- Mike McCarthy
- Mike McDaniel
- Jonathan Gannon
- Brian Daboll
It’s a free opportunity to stockpile information from candidates about how they would utilize or defend Cam Ward and Jeffery Simmons, how the team should build around Ward, the kinds of schemes it should run, and the type of staff it should assemble.
That information has value regardless of who is ultimately hired.
Al Davis was known for holding extensive, wide-ranging interviews with coaching candidates, using those conversations to probe philosophy, personnel and structure across the league.
This process shouldn’t only help Mike Borgonzi and the Titans’ football leadership identify the right head coach.
It gives them a broader understanding of how their roster is viewed around the league, familiarizes them with potential coordinator options for the eventual hire, and provides insight into coaches they will be competing against for years.
Anyone critical of the Titans for casting too wide a net needs to make a clear argument for what, exactly, is lost by knowing more, particularly at a stage when no head coach has been hired and in-person interviews with currently employed candidates can’t begin until next week
