Mike Borgonzi knows what he is looking for in the next Tennessee Titans coach.
He just does not know exactly when he will find it.
Mike Borgonzi
Photo: Tennessee Titans
“There is no timetable,” Borgonzi, the Titans’ general manager, said Tuesday (read more here). “I think we have to make the best decision for this team. So it’ll take as long as we have to do it to find the best person.”
Borgonzi noted that he is not particularly concerned with whether a candidate has been an NFL head coach.
Likewise, he is not focused only on those with whom he has worked directly, although it should be noted that initial interviews will be held with Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Borgonzi came to Tennessee last January after 15 years in Kansas City’s scouting and personnel departments.
“It’s a lot to do with leadership,” Borgonzi said. “It’s having a clear vision, having standards for what you do. And then, having that person not be afraid of conflict in a negative way, but being able to hold people accountable is the biggest thing, throughout the whole building. Staff, players, and how do you do that? And that person ultimately has to connect everybody in the building, too.
“So you have to have that balance there of being demanding, connecting people in the building and just bringing people together. Those are the big things that really we’re looking for. Obviously, they have to have a strategic vision in terms of philosophy and X’s and O’s as well.”
A little staying power would be nice too.
Since Jeff Fisher’s run of 16-plus years ended after the 2010 season, the Titans have gone through five different head coaches. Two, Ken Whisenhunt and Brian Callahan, were fired before the end of their second seasons. Mike Mularkey got two full seasons after a nine-game stint as interim head coach, and Mike Munchak lasted three seasons. The exception was Mike Vrabel, who coached six seasons before he was surprisingly fired two years ago.
“We’ve done a lot of work here on these candidates and we intend to bring in the right coach for this team long-term that’s going to work with us to grow this team, to get it better, to really instill a culture here,” Borgonzi said.
“That’s what we need. We need a leader that’s going to show up here every day to work and really just instill that belief and instill the attention to detail, the accountability piece that we need here and the unity piece — to bring everything together here in this organization.
“… That’s the goal. That’s the intention. To get a head coach in here that’s going to be here for the long term and to win a lot of games.”