One of the narratives that might have been a bit overlooked in the hiring of Ran Carthon as the new Tennessee Titans general manager is the power that head coach Mike Vrabel will hold in the Titans hierarchy.
The word “collaborate,” in some form or fashion, was mentioned no less than 13 times in Carthon’s introductory press conference Jan. 20, as he, controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk and Vrabel all spoke about being on the same page and the coaching staff and personnel being in lock step going forward in terms of the players they want and the system those players will run.
That means, as Carthon mentioned a few times, while he might or might not have final say in terms of personnel – no one answered that question definitively despite being questioned several times – his job is putting Vrabel and the on-field product in the best position to succeed going forward.
It was evident from the first question lobbed at Carthon, when he was asked his thoughts on the Titans quarterback situation (Ryan Tannehill is scheduled to count $36 million against the salary cap next season) and the Titans’ overall cap issues. The team is now $23 million over the projected ceiling.
Carthon instead says that job one for him is working with Vrabel.
“Mike Vrabel is at the top of my to-do list. Us working together, forging a relationship and coming up with our plan on how to build this roster,” Carthon says. “There are a multitude of things that we need to do and we need to fix in order to make this organization better, but my No. 1 priority is spending more time with Mike Vrabel and learning the systems that are here in place, how I can help and improve upon them so that I can help us build a championship team.”
Carthon reiterated that stance several times throughout the 50-minute media availability.
“I have been with multiple organizations, and I have seen it done different ways, but the best way I have seen it done is when the head coach and the GM are in lockstep. It is my job, and it is our job as scouts to execute Mike (Vrabel) and his coaching staff’s vision,” Carthon says. “I am not calling plays on Sunday. I am not designing plays throughout the week. It is our job to bring the right players in here to execute his vision.
“In our conversation that we had the other day, our grassroots foundation of football comes from a similar place. We see the game the same way,” Carthon continues. “I am just excited to learn those systems: the offensive system, defensive system and special team system that he has put in place. Having a better knowledge of that is going to help me work with him to build a championship football team.”
Carthon has seen from afar what a Mike Vrabel team resembles and pledged to bring in players to complement that model.
“The team has been made in the image of our head coach. Mike is a tough guy, he works hard,” Carthon says. “But the team is built on his image and in what Mike believes in. Our core foundation of football comes from the same tree, and I believe in those.”
So, does that mean that Vrabel is running the show now in Tennessee? That is a matter of perspective.
The repeated use of “collaboration” shows the Titans clearly are moving toward fulfilling the vision that Vrabel has in mind for the team. That has been the case in his early conversations already with Carthon, discussing how to get the scouts and the coaches in sync with each other.
“We have tried to talk about our staffs, where we see that going, how they can help us evaluate the right type of players for this organization and what we believe is important with the players that we have in place who have been our foundation for the last five years that I have been here. The ones that have helped us get through the difficult times,” Vrabel says.
The goal seems to be to take Carthon’s knack for helping unearth lots of mid- to late-round gems in the NFL draft and apply that to a Titans roster that has plenty of holes to fill and has eroded badly due to injuries and a host of failed draft picks.
Even the team owner sees that, no matter who is calling the shots, the end result is all that matters.
“As a talent evaluator, Ran brings a tremendous skill set to the process. He is a natural leader and collaborator. I’m excited for Ran and his staff to work closely with Coach Vrabel and the coaches to align on a vision for the team and to build a roster of players who best fit that vision,” Strunk says. “Together they will identify talented players and ultimately the right players to build a championship roster. Despite how last season ended, I still have high expectations for our team.”
Terry McCormick covers the Titans for TitanInsider.com, a part of Main Street Media.