Mike Mularkey took a pretty big risk over the weekend by publicly saying he hadn’t received support as head coach of the Tennessee Titans going into Saturday’s game against the Chiefs. But, Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk came out afterwards and said that Mularkey will be the head coach moving forward, so maybe the risk was worth it. There’s definitely a newfound sense of confidence in Mularkey after the Titans went on the road as a nine-point underdog and beat the Chiefs 22-21.
I thought Cameron Wolfe wrote a phenomenal piece about how the Titans should make up their minds about Mularkey yesterday. I think he’s largely right – “lukewarm ain’t cutting it.”
Mularkey deserves a lot of credit for changing the culture in Nashville and getting his players to buy in. The Titans love the guy. Before Mularkey, this franchise was in an abyss. But now, it’s back to back years with two or three wins.
He came in, stabilized the locker room, and as a result, the Titans have had consecutive winning seasons and are playing in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. I do think Mularkey is a lot like Jack Del Rio in that regard. He’s not a guy you can expect to come in and take you to a Super Bowl. But, he’s going to steady the ship. You’re not going 2-14 with Mularkey at the helm, and maybe every once in a while, you’ll overachieve and find yourselves on a deep playoff run. Whether that’s accurate at all remains to be seen, but oh well – just one man’s opinion.
Brian Orakpo’s words were also pretty telling:
“We’ve had back-to-back winning seasons. We made the playoffs. We won a playoff game,” said linebacker Brian Orakpo, who played in and won the first playoff game of his nine-year NFL career Saturday. “What more do people want? It’s f—ing ridiculous.”
If you do move on from a coach who the players view in that regard, do you risk losing the locker room? You certainly have to start from scratch in terms of philosophy and culture. The question is, “is it bad enough to warrant such a change?” And, I don’t really think so.
Sure, this coaching staff deserves a lot of criticism for being so rigid in offensive play-calling. The regression of Marcus Mariota is concerning as well. But, these are things that Mularkey can change with a few tweaks of his coaching staff. Terry Robiskie probably shouldn’t be calling plays, and they need someone who can help get Mariota to the next level. Saw someone on Reddit mention Mike McCoy’s name, and I don’t think he’s a bad place to start.
So, maybe I am starting to sing a different tune. I’m just as guilty as anyone saying Mularkey should go. But, if the end results are all that matters, then he’s doing a damn good job by that measure – maybe this revived confidence is warranted.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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