Who Is New Titans Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains?

The Titans fired offensive coordinator Chris Palmer tonight and replaced him with QB coach Dowell Loggains. That you already know, but you may not know much about Loggains. He has been with the Titans since 2006. He started as a coaching administrative assistant, moved to offensive quality control coach in 2008 and was promoted to QB coach in 2010.

Jeff Fisher had announced in 2010 that Dowell Loggains would take over the play calling while Mike Heimerdinger was undergoing chemotherapy, but of course Dinger didn't miss a game. Man, I miss that guy. That showed the trust that Fisher had in Loggains, and Fisher wasn't one to trust people who hadn't done it before.

Last offseason Jay Cutler pushed the Bears to hire Loggains as an assistant to newly hired OC Mike Tice according to ESPN Chicago. Mike Munchak blocked the move and a source in Tennessee told ESPN Chicago that Munchak loves Loggains. From the linked article:

According to a source in Tennessee, Loggains is highly regarded among the Titans coaching staff for his intelligence and ability to get along with players.

The source called Loggains a "great guy, very smart, an up-and-coming guy."

But he added that, "Munchak loves [Loggains]. I don't see him letting him out of his contract unless [it's] a play calling coordinator's job. No chance they will get Loggains as just the QB coach."

Don't underrate the part of the story where it says that Loggains knows how to get along with the players. In my opinion, one of the problems of this coaching staff, and particularly Palmer, has been the inability to get through to today's players. Munchak, Palmer and Jerry Gray are all "old-school" guys, and some of the "old-school" stuff doesn't translate to today's players. Things will be different with the 32-year old Loggains at the helm.