The Tennessee Titans have Marcus Mariota, who had a very good rookie season and projects to be a star at quarterback. They play in a bad division and don't have crazy expectations after seven straight seasons without a playoff berth.
Some thought this was the best of the seven available head coaching jobs for all of the reasons above. Even if it was second or third, it was assumed the Titans would have had a great selection of candidates.
Instead they ended up promoting the interim coach who went 2-7 last season after Ken Whisenhunt was fired. Mike Mularkey will be the Titans' new head coach, ESPN's Adam Schefter said.
Please, Nashville, contain your excitement.
Mularkey is a good offensive mind and a respected coordinator, but the Titans didn't light it up on offense this season and the team didn't do a ton down the stretch to make everyone believe Mularkey was a great choice as permanent head coach. The Titans finished 30th in total offense. The Titans lost their last four games and only one was closer than 17 points. But Mularkey seemed to have the inside track at the job from the moment the season ended.
The Titans were the last vacancy, and it would have made some sense to wait and see if the assistants still in the playoffs would want to work with Mariota and that first overall pick. Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels had ties to new general manager Jon Robinson and seemed like a possible fit. Instead it will be Mularkey and his 18-39 overall record as an NFL head coach.
It seemed the Titans could have done better with all the positives to sell to a new coach. But they apparently wanted Mularkey all along, and presumably they figure better results are on the way with him.
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