Mike McCoy has been the opposite of everything the Titans needed in an interim HC, and there's only one option going forward
Tennessee Titans interim head coach Mike McCoy has been in charge for nearly a month and a half now, and things have gone about as poorly for him as they could possibly go.
It was painfully obvious early on that he is no good at this. The decision-making behind his appointment when Brian Callahan was fired made sense on paper: he would be the least disruptive option who has the requisite experience to handle the rest of the year. He’s not a coordinator in charge of a unit, and he’s been a head coach before. He can be a high-floor stopgap.
That was the rationale everybody, myself included, rolled with. And on paper, it made sense. But we’d never spoken to McCoy a single time since coming to Tennessee, despite asking to multiple times. In hindsight, it’s very clear why that was never allowed to happen.
With seven games left to play, every Sunday is already a groan fest that he finds a way to invoke from fans. Calls for him to become the first fired interim head coach anybody can recall are rampant. But can you even do that, fire an interim? And would the Titans ever consider it?
Why firing Mike McCoy would be justified
I cannot push back on anybody already done with McCoy this year. He is not good at this. It’s not personal at all, I just have not ever been out on a guy faster in my time covering the league. Making him the interim has quickly proven to be a big fat mistake.
He is the opposite of everything that an interim is supposed to be. Interims typically come in and loosen things up, but McCoy has tightened it all. Interims typically work to endear themselves to the team, the media, and the fanbase. McCoy has done nothing but distance and alienate himself. Interims typically come in and change some things, they try some different things on Sundays. McCoy hasn’t done any of that, at least nothing of substance or note. Interims typically have an ascendant future in the NFL, McCoy does not. Interims typically take chances, operating with nothing to lose. McCoy has been defiantly conservative, safe, and stale.
That conservatism has robbed Cam Ward and the other young pieces that make up the nucleus of this team of valuable opportunities. It’s kept them from gaining experience in big moments. It’s demonstrated a complete lack of faith in them to rise to the occasion. And I’d argue it’s robbed them of the chance to do some winning, which is something they cannot learn to do without actually doing it!
This football team stinks right now. The harsh reality is that they cannot out-efficient their opponents on Sunday. A lot of football teams take the approach that “if we just play our brand of football today, we will win this game”. And for many teams, that’s true. For these Titans, it is not. They’re going to have to take some risks to win more games this season. And McCoy simply is not willing to do that.
As far as I’m aware, no interim has ever been fired before in the NFL. I’m not sure it’s ever happened in any sport, for that matter. It would be a bold, unforeseen move for Amy Adams Strunk to make. But is there one person in this fanbase or in the local media who wouldn’t understand it? There is not. So I don’t blame people who want to see it.
Why the Titans won’t move off McCoy until January
That being said, it’s never going to happen. At the very top of the list of reasons why is that it would be a national embarrassment. Amy Adams Strunk and her football leadership have already garnered for themselves a reputation of incompetence. Fair or not, the big talk they talked this offseason about stabilizing the franchise and embracing patience was completely torched by their shortsighted decision to fire Brian Callahan after six weeks with a rookie QB. It seemed clear to me at the time, and is certainly crystal clear today, that they should have stuck with the plan. They should have kept Callahan as the play calling head coach until the end of the season or until he lost the locker room, whichever came first, and then fired the whole staff after the season. Yanking play-calling from him after Week 3 and firing him after Week 6 were both foolish, reactionary moves. And that falls squarely at Amy Adams Strunk’s feet. She wanted to beat the allegations of being a rotating door of incompetence in Tennessee, and she failed.
She’s aware of this reputation, though. The entire building is. So the last thing they want to do is go making history by firing their head coach after 6 weeks, and then their interim after 6, and then moving on from the second interim after 6. What a horrendous mess that is when you say it out loud, no matter how justified you may feel in each individual case.
The other big reason they wouldn’t do it is because you would have to replace him with somebody. And this was really the driving factor behind making him the choice in the first place. Special Teams Coordinator John Fassel is somebody they want to keep around on the next coaching staff. Elevating him to interim and then trying to demote him back to coordinator is just messy, for both Fassel and the next head coach. That’s a legitimate reason to stay away from doing that. As for Defensive Coordinator Dennard Wilson and Offensive Coordinator Nick Holz, it’s pretty clear that this front office doesn’t want them leaving their units to try to be a head coach for two months. And promoting anybody from the position coaching ranks at this point is a gamble on inexperience.
So McCoy will go on serving out his final seven weeks of football, and then his time in Tennessee will be over without a second guess. I do not expect him to be considered for the full time job, not even interviewed as a formality. It's a shame he's embracing this reputation for himself at what could be his final stop anywhere in the NFL, it's a shame Cam Ward and the other future pieces of this team have to operate like this in their remaining games of valuable experience, and it's a shame Titans fans have to put up with it all. The Giants just promoted an interim with a bright future in this league; the Titans should take a page out of that playbook the next time they're in a position to make this choice.
BOMBSHELL: Packers' Luke Musgrave era just ended in real time with one ruthless decision
Tucker Kraft is truly irreplaceable, and that statement has been reinforced in both games without him.
The Green Bay Packers knew Luke Musgrave couldn’t replace Kraft’s production. He’s a different player. Kraft wins with his physicality after the catch, whereas Musgrave is more of a vertical threat with his speed and athleticism. But we’ve seen precious little of that in the two games since Kraft’s injury, and it sure looks like the Packers have already given up.
After a disastrous start to the game, Matt LaFleur effectively benched his former second-round pick at halftime. Musgrave played just 19 snaps, fewer than Josh Whyle (20) and John FitzPatrick (35).
Packers gave up on Luke Musgrave midway through the win over Giants
Musgrave contributed fewer yards than you or me in the Packers’ win over the New York Giants, catching one pass for minus one yard. He also fumbled once and dropped another pass, which had also initially been ruled a fumble.
LaFleur can’t rely on him to block, and if he’s failing to make an impact as a pass-catcher, he becomes unplayable. According to Justis Mosqueda of Acme Packing Company, Musgrave played only two snaps in the second half.
It’s concerning when Musgrave, a 2023 second-round pick, is getting out-snapped by a tight end the Packers signed to the active roster from their practice squad on November 4. Whyle was a fifth-round pick in the same draft class as Musgrave, but signed with Green Bay’s practice squad after failing to make the Tennessee Titans’ final roster this summer.
It’s a significant shift at tight end. Musgrave played 30 snaps in Week 9, coming off the bench to replace Kraft, and then 52 in a full-time role against the Philadelphia Eagles last week. But his 18 snaps this week were his fourth-fewest
Musgrave does offer some pass-catching talent, but he isn’t making enough of an impact there. And the Packers can’t trust him to consistently make plays as a blocker. Defenses know that, too.
The Packers have paper-thin depth at tight end following Kraft’s injury. How quickly they sent Musgrave to the bench is a massive statement, but not surprising. LaFleur had no choice.
