HEADLINES

Deshea Townsend

Titans Fire OC Terry Robiskie

January 23rd, 2018 at 5:19pm CST by Dallas Robinson

In a move that should come as no surprise, the Titans have parted ways with offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie, according to Paul Kuharsky of PaulKuharsky.com (Twitter link).Terry Robiskie (Vertical)

New Titans head coach Mike Vrabel is currently formulating a staff, and there was never any expectation that Robiskie would be retained for the 2018 campaign. Indeed, Tennessee has already been linked to potential OC candidates — including Ohio State’s Ryan Day (who will not accept the position) and ex-Lions quarterbacks coach Brian Callahan — so Robiskie’s dismissal was a mere formality.

Under Robiskie, the 2017 Titans offense ranked 13th in yards, 17th in points, and 18th in DVOA. But the club’s play-calling and handling of mobile quarterback Marcus Mariota was often questioned, as Robiskie & Co. seemingly failed to put the former No. 2 overall pick in the best situations. Tennessee finished just 28th in situation neutral offensive pace, a notably slow speed given Mariota’s collegiate success in Chip Kelly’s quick-game offense.

Tennessee has also fired special teams coordinator Steve Hoffman and linebackers coach Lou Spanos, per Kuharsky, and in fact plans to part ways with nearly every one of former head coach Mike Mularkey‘s assistants, reports Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The only coach who might stick around is defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend, who played with Vrabel in Pittsburgh. Vrabel will interview Townsend for the role at the Senior Bowl, per Wolfe.

AFC South Notes: Colts, Jaguars, Titans

January 25th, 2016 at 3:23pm CST by Luke Adams

On the heels of a disastrous 2015 season, Mike Wells of ESPN.com isn’t so sure that Colts general manager Ryan Grigson will be his usual aggressive self when it comes to signing veteran free agents this winter. As Wells observes, Andre Johnson, Trent Cole, and Todd Herremans were among last year’s additions who didn’t live up to expectations for Indianapolis in ’15.

Let’s round up a few more items from out of the AFC South…

  • Based on a comment made today by Falcons head coach Dan Quinn, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that it sounds like Atlanta kept defensive backs coach Marquand Manuel from the Jaguars. Jacksonville interviewed Manuel for their defensive coordinator position and if the team had been prepared to offer him that job, I find it hard to believe the Falcons would have stood in his way — if the Jags wanted to hire him in a lesser role though, it makes sense that Atlanta would have pushed to hang onto him.
  • Armed with a ton of cap space this winter, the Jaguars should enter the free agent period ready to spend on players to complement their young core, with the goal of competing right away, writes Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap. Fitzgerald points to the offensive line and the secondary as a couple key areas for Jacksonville to focus on as the team considers possible upgrades.
  • The Titans formally announced their latest coaching staff hires today, confirming the previously-reported addition of Russ Grimm as the club’s new offensive line coach. In addition to Grimm, Tennessee hired Deshea Townsend as its secondary coach and Steve Jackson as an assistant secondary coach.
  • After spending the 2015 campaign on the Colts‘ practice squad, wide receiver Duron Carter is officially headed back to the CFL for 2016, the Montreal Alouettes announced today in a press release.