The Carthon Connection: Coaching Candidates

I got some more Ran Carthon talk for you today. Yesterday, I wrote about roughly 16 free agents that Carthon would have connections to that you could find in two-tone blue in 2023. Today, I am going to look at some of the possible coaching candidates that Carthon could present to Mike Vrabel for the openings on his staff. Here’s a quick rundown of where the Titans are at.

The Titans have already reportedly requested interviews with the offensive coordinators of the Chiefs, Eric Bienemy, and their QB coach, Matt Nagy. These are two coaches, if hired for OC, would present a shift in offensive philosophy.

Everyone assumes that Tim Kelly is going to get an interview, but it hasn’t been reported yet, but it remains a logical assumption. Charles London has an interview on the docket. London is the current QB coach for the Atlanta Falcons and was interviewed by both the Rams and Dolphins in 2021 for their offensive coordinator positions.

We haven’t received confirmation on when the interview will take place, and it may already have. London is also going to be the play caller for the American Team at the Senior Bowl, which kicks off January 30th.

On Wednesday evening, it was reported that the Titans requested to interview Denver Broncos offensive coordinator, Justin Outten, for a job on their new offensive staff. The report comes from Tom Pelissero. Outten is a relative unknown to most NFL fans, but he took over play calling for the last two weeks of the Broncos and got rave reviews from fans and media alike that follow the Broncos.

He was credited for improving the run game and using more play action and getting Wilson on the move. There is a very good chance that he is being interviewed for the OL coach position. He was an offensive assistant in Atlanta from 2016-2018, with an emphasis on the offensive line. He then went on to Green Bay as Tight Ends coach from 2019-2021. I did some digging on efficiency metrics about the Broncos offense:

Football & Other F Words @FWordsPod

Broncos Offense Before Outten: - Overall: 30th EPA/play | 31st Success Rate - Pass: 26th EPA | 30th SR - Rush: 29th EPA | 28th SR Broncos Offense with Outten: - Overall: 10th EPA | 16th SR - Pass: 18th EPA | 21st SR - Rush: 6th EPA | 12th SR

Tom Pelissero @TomPelissero

The #Titans put in a request to interview #Broncos OC Justin Outten for a job on their new offensive staff, per source. Outten called plays for Denver the last two games of the season and previously coached tight ends in Green Bay.

Hires like London and Outten would signal that the offense will largely remain the same, just with a better play caller that knows what he is doing. However, what role can Carthon play in all of this?

Carthon comes from San Francisco that has seen success from multiple position groups since Shanahan has taken over. While the decision ultimately lies with Vrabel, there is that buzzword of 2023: collaboration. In the spirit of collaboration, and being a smart football coach, it would be prudent of Vrabel to grab as many different candidates from Carthon’s rolodex as he could, to bring in for an interview.

Especially, if the plan is to keep a similar system in place. This system, when run correctly, has shown promise here in Tennessee, specifically 2019.5-2020. The roster is currently built with players with that offensive system in mind, and the GM that is responsible for building out the rest of the roster has experience scouting and evaluating players in the system. So, it only makes sense.

So, let’s take a look at some of the candidates that Carthon could present to Vrabel for consideration.

Offensive Coordinators (9)