The Titans Need to Let Jon Robinson Lead the Head Coach Search

The Tennessee Titans officially announced Jon Robinson as their new general manager Thursday night. In my opinion this was a really strong hire. Robinson's scouting ability has been praised. His character and work ethic have drawn compliments. It's yet to be determined if all that will pay off, but this much is clear: its time to let him go to work.

Amy Adams Strunk and Steve Underwood were obviously important in the general manager search and result. They couldn't afford to make a hasty decision. They were hiring someone to serve as the top football decision maker for this franchise. With that decision maker is in place, Jon Robinson is now the one who should have the most power in the head coach search.  Strunk and Underwood can be involved, but the general manager should hire the coach.

Everyone has seen the rumours about Mike Mularkey being the "front-runner," "favourite," or whatever term anonymous sources provide. The Titans can't afford to force a coach on a manager. There can be no Whisenhunt-like hire, where the owner makes the decision and runs with it.

Its always been my opinion that the owner needs to put the football experts in place and let them make the decisions. If things go wrong, then the owner has to step in and replace them. So far Strunk has done just that.

What is crucial now is that Jon Robinson needs to be allowed to conduct a thorough and extensive search. The Titans are operating from a position of power. They have a talented quarterback, the first overall pick, and (what we hope is) a good general manager. They are also the last team looking for a head coach this year unless the Lions make a change. With no other competition, the team can wait for some playoff coaches to become free. Will they interview Josh McDaniels? Mike Shula? Sean McDermott? There are still plenty of good coaches available.

The Titans clearly trust Robinson with the fate of their franchise. It is time to let him lead them in a new direction.