The Mike Mularkey vote of confidence doesn’t mean there won’t be changes

Being a Titans fan is crazy. Here we are three days after their first playoff win in 14 years, and so much of the talk is about the coaching situation. It’s been a wild few weeks. I am ready to move on to the Patriots after this post.

Here is what I think we have learned about next year over these last couple of weeks:

The fact that Mike Mularkey said after the game on Saturday that he had gotten no reassurance on his job status in the building leads me to believe the reports were true- Mularkey would have been fired if the Titans lost either week 17 against the Jaguars or the Wild Card game against the Chiefs.

The fact that the reports were out there leads me to believe that Jon Robinson is absolutely calling the shots. He has Amy Adams Strunk’s ear on these things because we know how she feels about Mularkey. Remember, she hired Mularkey without really conducting a coaching search.

Josh McDaniels would have absolutely been the next coach of the Tennessee Titans. We know that Robinson has ties to McDaniels from his time in New England. If he is calling the shots, which I stated above that I think he is, McDaniels would have been his guy.

The fact that they were willing to move on from Mularkey even after making the playoffs means there will be changes to this coaching staff next year even with Mularkey still in control. I think they go to Mularkey at the end of the season and tell him Terry Robiskie is out. They will also force him to give up some control of the offense, because as we have talked about numerous times, this offense is ultimately Mularkey’s.

Now, what we don’t know is how Mularkey will take that. Will he be willing to give up some control of the offense, or will he pull a Mike Munchak and refuse to do that and get fired? Only time will tell.

On to the Patriots.