How is this for some good ol’ fashioned team dysfunction? The Tennessee Titans will quickly become an annual laughing stock around the NFL if this type of management and decision making continues. The Cleveland Browns and New York Jets are officially on notice as the top dogs in this category.
A source tells Terry McCormick of Titans Insider that team owner Amy Adams Strunk was actually the person behind relieving former head coach Brian Callahan of his play-calling duties.
“A league source indicated Tuesday to TitanInsider.com that Tennessee Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk was likely the impetus behind stripping the play-calling duties away from head coach Brian Callahan three weeks before he was fired,” McCormick writes.
McCormick, it should be noted, is a long-time observer of the Titans, having been a beat writer since 1997. So, when you read his recent report, just know that this isn’t coming from some high schooler with a blog.
Amy Adams Strunk making football decisions
You’ve heard the term “meddling owner” in sports forever. It’s never a good thing when an owner thinks he/she knows more about the day-to-day operations of a football team than the people he/she hired. Strunk hired a president of football operations and a general manager – in theory – with the hopes that they would make coaching and roster decisions.
Well, maybe they weren’t making them fast enough for her liking.
“It is believed from many within the staff that the decision to remove the play calls from Callahan came from above president of football operations Chad Brinker and general manager Mike Borgonzi, but was passed on to them to relay to Callahan about the decision,” McCormick continues.
Apparently, Strunk had seen enough after the 41-20 home throttling at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts back on September 21st.
“Callahan was asked about the play-call duties on Monday after the loss to the Colts and told reporters that “everything is on the table,” McCormick continues. “The next day Callahan met with reporters to tell them that quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree would be taking the reins on play calls.
“Adams Strunk’s fingerprints were also all over the way Callahan was fired on Monday, as in a conference call with Brinker and Borgonzi, she apparently indicated her desire to move on from Callahan to them, and dispatched them to break the news to the coach that he was being fired six weeks into the season.”
Amy Adams Strunk is sending a message to NFL coaches whether she knows it or not
Don’t think that potential head-coaching candidates around the NFL aren’t paying attention to situations like this. If you are a hot name on the market, wouldn’t you look at a team like the Titans with a meddling owner and think…maybe not?
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk breaks down exactly that line of thinking.
“On one hand, Strunk (like all owners) has the ability to make any decisions she wants,” Florio writes. “On the other hand, the best owners trust their football people to make the football decisions. The not-best owners meddle where they arguably shouldn’t.”
This is exactly how some franchises end up with retreads or coaches that no one else really wants.
“The situation serves as a renewed reminder to head-coaching candidates who consider taking employment with franchises that have a history of curious decisions,” Florio concludes. “Look at how ownership has behaved. Consider how past coaches have been treated. Set aside your ambitions and ask yourself the hard question of whether you’ll simply be the next one, sooner or later, to be on the wrong end of dysfunctional decision-making.”
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