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The Tennessee Titans are in flux. They\u2019ve been that way for some time now, with a rotating cast of leaders, and players, and identities (or lack thereof), but you can really feel the winds of change right now.<\/p>\n
Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk is atop both the organizational power structure as well as the person all of this change ultimately leads back to. But the man under her, above everybody else in the football operation, is Chad Brinker. This is his third season in Tennessee. And through most all of this tumult he\u2019s not only survived, but has somehow risen up the ranks.<\/p>\n
I want to talk about why his public perception is the way that it is, what he actually does around here, and how he should be judged going forward.<\/p>\n
The Titans are a team that has a\u00a0different GM and head coach today than they had 11 months ago. And the GM and head coach they had 11 months ago were different from the GM and head coach they had almost exactly two years before that. Throw in the fact that all four of these people were hired and fired individually, all on different timelines, and you begin to see the mess this franchise has made of itself.<\/p>\n
Jump back to the present, and we\u2019ve just seen two talented young players at a premium position traded for Day 3 pick swaps: CB Jarvis Brownlee Jr. and CB Roger McCreary,\u00a0who each have their own story. We\u2019ve heard\u00a0whispers about other players\u00a0on the roster who might have less of a future with the team than previously thought. We heard from national sources that the Titans were one of the biggest sellers heading into the deadline, yet they weren\u2019t a fire-sale team at all.<\/p>\n
Now, those of us who are local and actually have our finger on the pulse of the team can explain some of these things away. I was reporting why this team\u00a0would not be a fire-sale\u00a0for weeks before the deadline. I also wrote\u00a0here about how regime change always victimizes some good players, and that\u2019s why the carousel must stop.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, confusion persists. Or maybe it isn\u2019t confusion, maybe it\u2019s discontent in the face of uncertainty. Either way, fans are understandably frustrated and questioning of this team\u2019s leadership over\u2026 well, everything. \u201cI can\u2019t believe Chad Brinker is doing these things to the roster\u201d is the sentiment I see frequently. And then when I (or others who cover the team) respond by pointing out that GM Mike Borgonzi handles the roster, wondering why Borgonzi gets a pass that Brinker doesn\u2019t, this is the response:<\/p>\n
First of all,\u00a0extending the coaching staff\u00a0isn\u2019t something unique to the Titans; it\u2019s standard practice in the industry. It\u2019s fair to be mad they didn\u2019t fire the staff after Year 1, but not that they extended their contracts once the decision was made to keep them. With that detail out of the way, let\u2019s now talk about what Chad Brinker actually does around here.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how I would describe Chad Brinker right now: I think he\u2019s the most misunderstood man in the Titans organization. I also think it\u2019s possible he\u2019s just not any good at this. Only time can tell at this point. His stated processes and fundamental beliefs are sound, at least in my estimation. But his team also hasn\u2019t produced any meaningful success yet, even though he\u2019s taken over a complete mess. So I just don\u2019t know for sure yet. How could I?<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what I do know, or at least feel pretty good about: if he is no good at this, I don\u2019t think that it\u2019s in the ways that the general public seems to already hate him for.<\/p>\n
First of all, a lot of the \u201cstink\u201d on Brinker\u2019s reputation amongst fans seems to do with the fact that he\u2019s been in the building through a lot of this chaos. How does somebody ascend to become the boss of the man who hired him, and then be a part of the leadership that dismisses him and the head coach they hired together? How does somebody like that get to survive while nobody else does? How does his station only improve through it all? He must be a power-hungry, cold-blooded snake!<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t find that to be the case at all. Of course Brinker is ambitious, nobody gets to the top of a billion dollar operation without ambition. But I don\u2019t think his ambition drives him in the way many seem to think. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s some disloyal fraud. So what is he?<\/p>\n
I think Chad Brinker\u2019s ascent is a result of his usefulness. When Ran Carthon hired him to be an Assistant GM in 2023, he was brought in primarily to be the cap management and analytics guy. he\u2019s good at those things. But cutting his teeth in Green Bay\u2019s front office for so long, he\u2019d diversified his skillset to the point that he\u2019s really a front office jack of all trades. Quibble with how good he actually is at all of these things, that\u2019s fine. That\u2019s not the point; the point is that he knows how to actually do them.<\/p>\n
He has functional experience with the logistics of this job. He has experience grinding tape and evaluating talent. He has experience managing the cap. He has experience making trades, and in analytics, and in operational management. Ran Carthon\u2019s skillset was different, and wasn\u2019t nearly this broad. Amy Adams Strunk identified this, and for whatever reason that I think only Amy herself could tell you, she latched onto Brinker as her trusted ownership liaison. She finds him useful as a jack of all trades, and she trusts him to be her messenger; a position that is too often deeply unenviable.<\/p>\n
When Brinker was here as AGM in 2023, there was no question he was under Ran Carthon. He did the GM\u2019s bidding. In 2024 when the power structure was adjusted in a way that made Brinker technically in charge of the full football operation, there was plenty of confusion and suspicion publicly over who exactly was calling the shots. My understanding based on talking to many people inside the building is that Ran Carthon\u2019s vision was still driving the construction of the roster. Brinker was doing what he felt was right: continuing to do the roster bidding of the GM.<\/p>\n
Make of that what you will. A heavy dose of skepticism makes plenty of sense to me. But based on the way that the current regime has both talked about and acted on the actions and philosophy of the Carthon years makes it pretty easy for me to believe. Their consistent emphasis on drafting and developing\u2014being patient through the process and insisting that a free agency sugar rush never works\u2014runs counter to how things went when Carthon was here.<\/p>\n
When Carthon was fired at the end of the 2024 season, Brinker remained as \u201cin-charge\u201d on paper as he already was. What changed was that the process leading to the hiring of Mike Borgonzi was his design. This was, in my estimation, the first of three puzzle pieces put in place by Brinker himself, building the Tennessee Titans football operation according to his own vision.<\/p>\n
Chad Brinker is fully responsible for the GM position today. Not because he makes the roster decisions, which I feel comfortable saying he does not. He\u2019s responsible because Mike Borgonzi is his guy, who he hired, and who he empowers to control the roster.<\/p>\n
Chad Brinker is responsible for the football operations of this team. Not just because it\u2019s literally in his title, but because he has molded (and is still working on molding) a lot of it in his image. The video team, security team, and PR team are just a couple of places he\u2019s left his fingerprints lately.<\/p>\n
And now Chad Brinker will be responsible for the next coaching staff, because that will be his pick too. It\u2019s been reported and is my understanding that this next hire will be led by Brinker and Borgonzi. Meaning once the hiring of the next coach happens in the new year, the Tennessee Titans will officially be the Chad Brinker Show. The football operations\u2014front office staff, coaching staff, and ops staff\u2014will more or less be finally built in his vision.<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t mean he should be crushed the moment something doesn\u2019t work perfectly in 2026; this entire franchise still has a long ways to go if they\u2019re going to be a high-level ball club. But it does mean that his remodel of this team will be complete\u2014or at least fully set in motion\u2014in each sector he oversees.<\/p>\n
So yes, judge Brinker on this upcoming coaching hire. Judge him for the way that this team carries themselves, both internally and in the public eye. And judge him for the decisions his front office makes; not because he\u2019s the iron first actually making all the moves in the shadows, but because they\u2019re his people. And for crying out loud, pray Amy Adams Strunk has the courage of her convictions to give his vision for her franchise a chance to steady itself and mature. We\u2019re too far down this road to pull another ripcord.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Cleveland Browns\u00a0admitted making a mistake with Dillon Gabriel during a 27-20 loss to the New York Jets that put their rookie quarterback in a bad position.<\/p>\n
Down just one score, the Browns faced a\u00a0critical fourth-and-one in the second half. But instead of running the ball with\u00a0Quinshon Judkins, new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees called a pass. Gabriel had some options but was ultimately sacked for a seven-yard loss that ended the important possession.<\/p>\n
2 guys are open in the flat and Dillon Gabriel takes a sack on 4th down.<\/p>\n
The Dillon Gabriel era is over.\u00a0#Browns<\/p>\n
\u201cLook as a play caller, there\u2019s always things you want back,\u201d\u00a0Rees said on Thursday. \u201cFelt like we put our guys in position to have success throughout the game and then, when you do that and you don\u2019t have success, you always look to why and what you can do during the week to help your players have that success. There\u2019s going to be a handful of calls that you make that the defense won the rep, and that happens in football throughout a game.\u201d<\/p>\n
A reporter pointed out that Gabriel had an open option on the play, and Rees conceded again that they shouldn\u2019t have put their rookie quarterback in that situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I should have run the ball,\u201d Rees said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to get into the specifics of the play itself. You can freeze almost any play and say, \u2018Hey, this guy\u2019s open, this guy\u2019s open.\u2019 I want to make sure I\u2019m putting our players in the right spot. I made a call, an aggressive one, it didn\u2019t work and we got to move on to the next.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Browns\u2019 offense showed some brief flashes of competency against the Jets. But overall, it was still a sloppy, inconsistent showing from the unit that is\u00a0averaging just 16.2 points per game\u00a0this season.<\/p>\n
The results haven\u2019t been there with Gabriel, who had a few costly misses against the Jets. Still, Rees said the issues haven\u2019t stemmed from his decision-making or where his eyes are supposed to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always grade that part of them and he grades out pretty high,\u201d Rees said. \u201cLook, nobody\u2019s going to bat a thousand. I don\u2019t bat a thousand calling it. Nobody\u2019s going to bat a thousand in really anything they do. But I would say he grades out where we want him. Dillon\u2019s prep and where he is mentally for a rookie is really well beyond. He\u2019s mature in that way and we want to make sure that those things that are happening during the week, we go ahead and execute them on Sundays.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the Browns\u2019 objectives has been to\u00a0get the ball to Jerry Jeudy more often. Jeudy was a Pro Bowler last season but entered Sunday\u2019s matchup with just 22 catches in eight games.<\/p>\n
While the Browns lost, they were able to get Jeudy more involved. He snagged a season-high six catches for 78 yards and his first touchdowns of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cJerry does a lot of things well, and I\u2019ll just say we\u2019re trying to put him in a position to do those things in the right spots, in the right moments,\u201d Rees said. \u201cAnd, you know, we talked last week, when you get your good players going early, usually helps them throughout the game. So, Jerry\u2019s a very talented guy who\u2019s worked extremely hard, and, you know, he put himself in that position to have success.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeudy and the Browns face the\u00a0Baltimore Ravens\u00a0on Sunday. Cleveland is a\u00a09.5-point underdog for the matchup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Tennessee Titans are in flux. They\u2019ve been that way for some time now, with a rotating cast of leaders, and players, and identities (or lack thereof), but you can really feel…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t