Reinhard Schiendorfer from Fosdinovo, Italy
Question: What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp.
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears
And water’d heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made to pick Brownlee

Jim: Very creative, Reinhard.
Grazie!

Cliff Cushman from Magnolia, Texas
Question: Hello, J.W.! I have a question that must be asked but I’m not actually expecting an answer. Not anytime soon, anyway. Who do we blame for the poor draft picks, failing to retain talented players, signing mediocre free agents and expecting wins from a rookie HC with a roster with more holes in it than grandpa’s tightie whiteys? Coaches have come and gone along with GMs yet the outcome and the culture itself has not benefitted from this game of musical chairs. I hear Amy Adams is nice and blah blah blah and is committed to winning but does she know how? Believe your eyes folks. You don’t need to be the second coming of John Madden to understand this organization top to bottom is in trouble. I hope we are a few drafts away from winning games and raising expectations. Or maybe we keep firing this person or that one as scapegoats without addressing the fact the problem goes deeper than that.

Jim: The people you should blame for the poor draft picks/and mediocre free agents are the guys who drafted, and signed them. And some of those guys aren’t here any longer. The new regime’s job is to fix it, but it’s going to take more than three games.

Lamont Davis from Chattanooga, Tennessee
Question: Hello, Jim How are you doing, I hope fine. My question is I thought in the offseason, we (Titans) fixed the problem with the offensive line? Cam Ward is out there getting sacked like crazy!! He maybe holding the ball a little too long, however this young man has been sacked 15 times in 3 games! What is your opinion on this issue?

Jim: I agree the o-line isn’t “fixed” yet. Dan Moore needs to play better, Lloyd Cushenberry needs more time to return to the level of play he played at before his injury, and JC Latham needs to get healthy. And, the team needs better depth.

Josh Stankiewicz from West Palm Beach, Florida
Question: When an organization is making operational changes during the season, what should fans reasonably expect moving forward?

Gary Corley from Nashville, Tennessee
Question: Hey How are you?? I hope all is well with you and yours. I had to take a couple days before I wrote in didn’t want to let my emotions dictate how the letter went. But For the first time this year I was really disgusted in MY TEAM I say this because not being a good team has nothing to do with effort and what I believe I saw was players not giving a 100 percent you can be bad team but still give your all and when you do that we can lose with respect and dignity I still believe that we can turn this year around we still have plenty of time to at least become respectable and not let teams see us a easy W Brian Callahan has given up play calling and I’m interested in seeing the difference if any that can bring
But my question is more to the fans
Are you guys really fans of the Titans?
Are you really in for the long run ?
I know I am so good or bad they’re still MY TEAM and I’m still riding with my boys TITAN UP!!!

Jim: Thanks for weighing in, Gary.

Brett Heard from Nashville, Tennessee
Question: How To Ensure Your NFL Franchise Stays At The Bottom Of The League
1. Draft a player in the 5th round
2. Make him a solid contributor in year 1
3. Make him a starter year 2
4. Trade him and a 7th round pick for a 6th early his 2nd season
The End

Jim: A pretty simplified statement, Brett.
For the record, I’ve always liked Jarvis Brownlee. I like his feistiness, and I always enjoyed my interaction with him. I even went to his grandmother’s house when I was in south Florida for Miami’s Pro Day. Yes, he was regular contributor in the defense last year, and had some good moments. But let’s not ignore the fact it was on a bad team. And, he had penalty problems he was still having trouble correcting here.
A simple answer: I think the Titans traded him away because the team’s decision-makers didn’t view him as the elite player that perhaps some fans did. This on top of the fact he wasn’t deemed a great culture fit. Again, I like Jarvis, and think he has potential as a player. But he is definitely a work in progress. Time will tell if this proved to be the right or wrong decision.

Ken Kennett from Fairview, Pennsylvania
Question: What is going on, is the Head Coach not liked? If so do the owners not have a clue? I really hate to see this new stadium go empty. Sure 0-3 is not a deal breaker as we did go 0-4 and went to the Super Bowl, but I’m not sure this Team can win the consecutive games need that are needed to get a playoff spot? With the generation of fans these days you have to at least go 500 at best to maintain a small fan base.
Also why in Gods name do they continue to run the Zone defense? imho it is the worst defense to run in any sport other than baseball, which zone is self explained by positions and Soccer again as it is by position. This is why I firmly believe you should pay the players and coaching staff by getting to the playoffs and beyond, everyone else would receive base pay accross the board. That will definitely give you players and coaches that will do anything to get the W.
I have been a fan since Campbell and will also be one, hands down, but again fans like my generation were fans for a very different reason..
Die hard fan and thank you for letting me ask the questions via this platform..

Jim: Good to hear from you, Ken.

Carter Cheeseman from Signal Mountain, Tennessee
Question: Hey Jim, been awhile since I’ve written in. I’m not here to bash on Callahan as I’m sure there will be plenty of people doing so already. He’s certainly made some interesting decisions at the end of halves and the “elbow does not equal two feet was kind of tough.” That being said, I’m sure he is doing his best and no one wants to win more than him.
My question is more about the vibe from other coaches and the players. Do you get the sense in the locker room that the team is still on board and believe in Callahan? After 2 wins in 20 games it is probably difficult to be incredibly positive, but I did see a quote from Michael Pittman Jr about how he didn’t see much energy from the Titans in pregame and thought they weren’t really ready to play. In your opinion, is there any truth to that? Do you get a sense from this team relative to others in the past that there is a lack of belief or confidence going into games?

Jim: It has been a while, Carter. The vibes aren’t great, not when you’re 0-3. You always hear stories about players tuning out their coaches, or “a coach losing the locker room’ when things are going poorly. Someone wrote in here recently saying they could see it in the face of the players that they’d lost faith in the head coach. This is a lot of nonsense to me. A lot of the players need to step up and play better, too. As for the Pittman comment, if the players weren’t “ready to play,” it’s on them. These guys are professionals and shouldn’t need a Knute Rockne speech before every game. But I don’t think teams regularly win or lose because they were more jacked up in pregame warmups.

Anthony Wilmore from Greenbrier, Tennessee
Question: First time entry here. I try and read all these messages and its kills me how many ppl comment about this team and dont make no sense. Anyways, most everyone want cally fired. But why dont we switch it up with him.( i know it just happened) give him different opportunities and then if he cant do any then yes demote or fire him. Now he’s too nice of a guy i think to be getting threw to his players sometimes, need to be more harsher sometimes. And lastly to the person said our 2025 draft sucked, does he even watch the games. We nailed last years draft. Just wish the titans the best and you too jim.

Jim: Thanks for chiming in, Anthony.

Luis Macouzet from Victoria, Mexico
Question: Hi Jim.
I thought I’d write to you this week. I truly understand and appreciate your work, and right now it must be difficult to be in your shoes.
I thought I’d vent all my frustration for believing in this team for over 40 years, most of which have brought me great satisfaction.
But what I’ve seen in recent years saddens me greatly.
Most people thought many of the signings were bad, starting with their coach, who was relegated from other teams. And that wasn’t just talk; today we see they were right.
We hear the same excuses as always.
I had the opportunity to attend the game; this team hurts its fans… it hurts us.
God bless you greatly, Jimm.

Jim: Hang in there, Luis.

Asa Fitzpatrick from Columbus, Ohio
Question: Hey Jim! Hope you’re doing well. I used to go to Titans games with my dad and we’d run into you and say hello to you and Amy! It’s been a while since I’ve written, but I’ve been reading all of em, so I thought I’d give you a question and a shout!
I don’t really ever agree with fans calling for the head coach’s job. And I am not super agreeing with them now either, but if there ever was a time where I felt it was warranted, it’s about now. I really hope we are all wrong, but there have been some pretty blatantly bad decisions from Coach Cally. So my question for you: can you tell me a few of the things you like about Coach Cally? What does he do well that fans aren’t seeing? How does the locker room respond to him? Tell me a fun story of him demonstrating top tier football knowledge or something, please!
The quote “One elbow does not equal two feet.” really bothered me. But, I believe in this team and in Cally!! Till the day he’s gone, which I hope will be many many years down the road!!

Jim: I appreciate it, Asa. It’s been a tough start to the season for Callahan, there’s no way around it. And, with a 3-17 record to date, it’s hard to say anything that is going to change opinions. He needs to win some games. I do think he’s smart. He’s a great guy. I think players respect him. I think he’s built a good staff. He’s been dealt a tough hand, there’s no doubt about it. He hasn’t been working with a great 53-man roster since he’s been here, and QB play was bad last year. I also know the only way he’s going to change the opinions of him is by winning games.

EM McFarland from San Diego, California
Question: Does team management and coaching staff believe they are dysfunctional, inexperienced, unlucky or do we simply lack the talent at all levels?
My submission (unpublished) on Monday after game 2 foreshadowed the inevitable. Brian Callahan is no longer the offensive play caller and will be able to focus on the big picture. This is not an indictment, as few can do both effectively at the NFL level. Hopefully he will be able to grow his game.
We all know that occasionally you have to let a really good player go (occasionally is not always). We have seen far too much of that last few years. Henry, Brown, Nick Westbrook, Landry, etc…
We traded Brownlee for a pick swap. Seems like settling for a lowball offer. Mental note… Titans should never take calls from Philadelphia going forward.
What do we do as a team to regain that winning culture we once possessed?
Ayomanor and Ward have certainly been fun to watch at times this year. When we played with pace we seemed to do better and were able to exploit what was available, as opposed to forcing things that were not open.
How can the Team fix the penalties?
Let’s get back to Fun, Winning Titan Football

Jim: I know a lot of this is just you venting, EM.
I’ll answer this question from you: What do we do as a team to regain that winning culture we once possessed?
The answer: Win.

Richard Robles from Springfield, Tennessee
Question: Hi, Jim. Here are my questions.
1. I think it’s safe to say that JC Latham has to be traded because he has too many questions as a Offensive Tackle.
2. Tennessee Titans need a win against the Houston Texans.
3. The Titans fans have got to calm down and talk about some positivity only.
4. There’s still hope to get a win in a game for the Tennessee Titans.

Jim: I see no questions, Richard, only statements.

Michael Miles from LaVergne, Tennessee
Question: Jim, hope things a good for, and I mean away from the game. I know that a lot of our fans are ready for a change in our coaching staff. I think some improvement can be made as well but I have faith. In our next six games only two of the teams we are playing have a 3-0 record. The other four team are catchable. The Texans are play ing like us, the raiders are up and down. We can turn this season around within the next six games but we have to improve on all sides of the ball, well special teams play isn’t really that bad. I just hope that we don’t go the remainder of the season with our house filled with visitors fans. I know it is hard to sit and watch the team you pay to watch get beat every game but give them time. I think good times are coming.

Jim: Way to close us out with some optimism, Michael!

Have a great weekend everyone!