NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Ken Whisenhunt couldn’t identify an identity.

Mike Mularkey couldn’t stray from his.

Among the many good answers we heard from Mike Vrabel at his introductory press conference were short snippets that told us where his offense and defense will start.

Defense: “I have a philosophy defensively that we’re going to have coverage consistency and we’re going to have front multiplicity. We have great players. We’re going to introduce our coverage concepts to them, that’s going to remain consistent throughout what we do. And then we’re going to have guys up front that may be geared toward to an under-defense, an over-defense, three-down, five-down – multiplicity in our front. So it’s coverage consistently, front multiplicity.”

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Eighty-year old Pro Football Hall of Famer Dick LeBeau is out as defensive coordinator for the Titans, sources tell me.

LeBeau joined the Titans in 2015. He allowed protégée Ray Horton, who was already in position, to call the defense that year.

But he took over the following year when Mike Mularkey became the head coach.

The Titans were 20^th in yardage defense in 2016 and improved to 13^th in 2017.

The storied LeBeau played at Ohio State and was a Detroit cornerback from 1959-1972.

He coached with the Eagles, Packers, Bengals, Steelers and Bills as well as the Titans. He was head coach in Cincinnati 2000-02.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Patriots found a way, again, to get to the Super Bowl.

Around the NFL everyone else dreams of establishing a New England-caliber program, that consistently plays in and wins Super Bowls, that has an all-time great coach and quarterback under steady ownership, that can regularly find quality players who fill roles and then find their replacements when they get hurt, or old, or expensive.

But no one has come close to matching the model, primarily because no one has found a Bill Belichick to pair with a Tom Brady.

Romeo Crennel, Charlie Weis, Eric Mangini, Josh McDaniels and Bill O’Brien have failed to reach a Super Bowl much less win one. Neither has Jim Schwartz, who may or may not qualify as a branch on Belichick’s coaching tree. He scouted for Belichick in Cleveland, but then started coaching in Baltimore and then Tennessee.

O’Brien is a good coach. I believe Schwartz is worthy of another shot.

The failures of the others have not kept the league away from Belichick assistants.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The first nuggets about who Mike Vrabel could hire to run his offense are out, and it’s right along the lines we’re been talking about.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports Ryan Day, Ohio State’s co-offensive coordinator, is considering the job.

I’ve heard Vrabel also likes Detroit quarterback coach Brian Callahan, but that he is unlikely to be let go by the Lions, who are expected to keep much of their offensive staff in place when Matt Patricia takes over.

Hearing that Mike Vrabel also likes #Lions QB coach Brian Callahan, but that Detroit is probably unlikely to let him leave. https://t.co/Nda7suosV0

— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) January 21, 2018

Day, 38, coached quarterbacks for Chip Kelly in both Philadelphia and San Francisco but his relationship with Marcus Mariota’s former first coach at Oregon goes deeper than that.

Day was a three-year starter at quarterback for New Hampshire when Kelly was offensive coordinator and then head coach for the school.

He’s coached at New Hampshire Boston College, Florida and Temple.

He would certainly bring some major spread offense elements to the Titans and Mariota.

Callahan, 33, played quarterback at UCLA where he also had his first coaching job, He’s since worked for the Broncos and he joined the Lions in 2016.

These are the type of new, but unproven, coordinator candidates we've talked about that could bring some fresh ideas. I like that route over a retread. But as with the inexperienced new head coach, there will be a lot to prove. Until one of these guys shows he is ready, such hires are exciting but also rife with risk.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Mike Vrabel was an NFL linebacker for the Steelers, Patriots and Chiefs during a 14-year career.

In 2007 he was a first-team All-Pro and a Pro Bowler.

He coached for three years at his alma mater, Ohio State. And he’s been on Bill O'Brien's staff with the Houston Texans since 2014.

That’s a meteoric rise and if the Titans landed the next big thing, it’ll be giant.

How connected is he when it comes to assembling a staff?

That’s the big question.

The most important hire is the offensive coordinator who will design and call plays for Marcus Mariota.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Mike Vrabel is the new coach of the Tennessee Titans and I hope he’s great.

I hope he brings the franchise success and energy, I hope he and Jon Robinson are a long-time successful pairing. I want that because it’ll be fun to cover and because I know it’s what readers here most want.

“This is an incredible opportunity & one I have been preparing for my entire football life. I am excited to get to work & that work starts now. Everything we do is going to be geared towards winning & being physical." - @CoachVrabel50

Leader of Men ???? » https://t.co/mE5I53cZs8 pic.twitter.com/FoAIRZjLge

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) January 20, 2018

But my initial reaction?

What was the hurry?

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Welcome to the first offseason mailbag. It's a shame things got so quiet so quickly.

Kidding, of course.

The reaction to Mike Mularkey's firing from you lends to my theory that we are leaning toward being more interested in offseasons than seasons in sports.

Onto your questions.

All things considered, was the Mularkey hire a mistake two years ago?

— Mark Smith (@DaIdesOfMark) January 19, 2018

PK: Many of us who questioned the watered-down “search” that produced the hiring of Mike Mularkey thought it was not a great move. I wrote that it was “spectacularly uninspired” and talked of how the push for continuity was wise, but that it was better to make a change then for the long-term then rather than to be left to do it a few years later.

Even so, I do think getting to a place where the franchise posted consecutive winning records and got to the second round of the playoff is significant.

The next coach will have to start from zero in many ways. But if he’s smart, he will find a way to plug into the cultural rebuild that

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans are slated to talk to their third head coaching candidate Friday, and Matt LaFleur is the first from the offensive side of the ball.

I’ve written about the biggest reason it’d be good for the new guy to be an offensive guy.

Still, I am fine with him coming from either side.

Albert Breer of MMQB has discussed the dwindling pipeline of quality candidates based on all the hiring done in recent years.

In 2015, six of seven hires were defensive coaches. In 2016 things went the other way and all seven hires had offensive backgrounds.

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