NASHVILLE – Draft, develop, retain.
Those three words sum up Titans President of Football Operations Chad Brinker's vision, and philosophy, to get the franchise back on track.
Brinker, who will lead the search for Ran Carthon's replacement at general manager, on Tuesday shared his thoughts on what the Titans need to do moving forward to have long-term success.
"The consistent winning organizations in this league, they have a vision, they have a process that they believe in," said Brinker, who spent 13 seasons with the Green Bay Packers before initially joining the Titans as assistant general manager, strategy, in 2023. "And, they have the discipline to execute it.
"So, if the question is: What is our vision? We're going to be a draft and develop organization. What does that mean? No. 1, it means we're going to build the core of our roster through the draft, and we're going to be selective in free agency. No.2, it means we're going to emphasize player development, particularly our young players. And, No.3, once those players are developed, we're going to be looking to retain our core performers, our very best. I grew up in this system. It's what I know, it's what I believe in. But it requires patience over panic. It requires being disciplined, disciplined people with disciplined thought and disciplined action. But it's also a system that's been proven for over 30 years."
The Titans parted ways with Carthon earlier Tuesday. Since Carthon was hired in 2023, the Titans have posted a 9-25 record, including a 3-14 mark this past season.
Carthon took over a team that ended the 2022 season with seven straight losses to finish at 6-11.
In the years prior, the Titans were contenders, winning the AFC South in 2020 and 2021, and making it to the AFC Championship Game at the end of the 2019 season. The Titans posted six straight winning seasons from 2016 to 2021, when the franchise made the postseason four times in six years. The Titans were the top-seeded team in the AFC heading into the playoffs in 2021.
Along the way there have been changes, at head coach, and at general manager.
Titans President and CEO Burke Nihill said on Tuesday that Brinker, the newly hired general manager, and head coach Brian Callahan, will work together to make decisions, and improve the results.
Nihill said Brinker will "break ties" with respect to the 53-man roster.
Brinker described an approach where the group will ultimately build the roster together.
"I look at this partnership as one heartbeat," Brinker said. "At the end of the day, we're all going to work together collectively, and work through: What is the best decision for the Tennessee Titans?"
Brinker acknowledges it may require some more patience, however.
"This organization, it's had success," Brinker said. "Obviously we just haven't been good enough the last couple of years. I think it's important that we're disciplined in how we make our decisions moving forward. Like, we don't stray from our core principles and what we believe in. We say "yes" to these things, and we say "no" to these things. And that's sometimes hard to do.
"There's a lot of pressure to win now. But if we truly want to be one of those elite franchises in the National Football League, I firmly believe this is the path that we need to follow. And, over time, we have to have a focused, methodical approach, where we are measuring our success by first downs, and not touchdowns. Touchdowns are going to come. Let's get on base. You don't have to swing for the fences, but the home runs will happen, they are going to happen. This philosophy, this vision, it works."
Brinker, promoted to President of Football Operations last offseason, provided executive leadership and support for the entire football side of the organization in 2024. His day-to-day responsibilities have included direct oversight of the football departments that addresses salary cap management; analytics and strategy; communications and information systems, among other responsibilities. Brinker also provided scouting evaluations of top talent in both college and the NFL.
Brinker on Tuesday spelled out what he'll be looking for in a new GM.
"I think the general manager position is unique to their respective organizations," Brinker said. "This particular job, what we'll be looking for is someone who has spent their career as a scout, is a top-flight, top-level evaluator who has spent the majority of their career projecting college players to the National Football League, they've had a major hand in setting the draft board in preferably a consistent, winning organization, and you can see their fingerprints all over the roster.
"It is someone who wakes up every single day and the only thing they think about is building a roster, evaluating players, watching tape, working with the coaching staff. And, not just someone who knows how to collect talent, but someone who really understands how to build a team and how all the pieces fit together that I can work with not only in the short term, but building for the future, the long term, and understanding how all those pieces fit together. If you make a decision here, how it impacts a decision down the road, and really understand the full puzzle.
"At the end of the day, this person is going to be all ball, all day. They are going to focus on the roster and the coaching staff, and I'll continue in my role with handling all the other areas that surround the center of our program, scouting and coaches. So, I will support that person. But we are looking for a general manager who wakes up every day and is focused on building the team."
Brinker has already started the process of identifying the team's next general manager.
Since joining the team, Brinker has been involved in a variety of projects, including crafting the foundation of an analytics department from scratch and aiding in the search for a new head coach last offseason, resulting in the hiring of Brian Callahan.
Brinker said he believes in Callahan, who is being retained.
"He was a first-time head coach, and a first-time play caller," Brinker said of Callahan. "There are some challenges as a first-time head coach, like building a culture, assessing current and future talent, establishing trust and communication, building a high-level staff, creating an alignment from the coaching to the front office to ownership. On top of that, he was a first-time play caller and first-time head coach. Brian was one of the hottest candidates last year on the market, and we believe in Brian, and we want to give him the opportunity to grow into the head coach that we think he can be. He knows, and we've talked about it, that it wasn't good enough this year. And I think Brian is really self-reflective in that regard, and he understands that he has to be better, and his staff has to be better. And, quite frankly, we all have to be better, including me. We want to give Brian that opportunity to continue to grow. It just takes time to build a program."
Nihill said Amy Adams Strunk has complete confidence in Brinker, who said the franchise will be "aggressive" in its approach to making a hire at GM.
"I know Amy believes in Chad, and she believes in the philosophy that he is describing," Nihill said. "And, I know she is committed to staying the course, and committed to the discipline he is describing. Amy is frustrated. I don't know of a more passionate fan of the Tennessee Titans than Amy Adams Strunk, and this has been a frustrating stretch.
"But she is committed to doing the things that we need to do, and getting behind the vision that you are hearing (from Chad), and she believes completely that there are brighter days ahead."
