On Sunday morning, we suggested that the Titans would use the cover of a pair of postseason games to announce that the clock had moved a minute past “moving forward.” They ultimately waited until Monday morning to announce that Mike Mularkey is out, despite taking the team to the divisional round.
So what’s next? Given that the Titans apparently have been waiting to have a mutual parting with Mularkey until the season ended, they surely know where they’re going next. The question is whether they already know that they’ll be able to get there.
Josh McDaniels is believed to be a leading candidate, given his connection to G.M. Jon Robinson, a former Patriots executive. The real question is whether agent Bob LaMonte did with the Titans what he did last month with the Raiders: Negotiate a deal for the new head coach with a team that hasn’t fired its current head coach.
If the Titans dumped Mularkey without knowing that they can get McDaniels, Tennessee had better have a Plan B, especially with the Colts pursuing the Patriots’ offensive coordinator. They should be able to find a backup plan quickly, given the lure of working with budding franchise quarterback Marcus Mariota.