Despite ending the 2025 season without a permanent head coach and a 3-14 record, the Tennessee Titans have one thing that worked out for them, and that’s their quarterback, Cam Ward, taking the role as the locker room leader once again. Now, as the Titans’ management is in search of a new head coach, Ward makes his intentions clear about what he expects from his HC.

At the January 5 press conference, Cam Ward opened up about the management lining up interviews to hire a new Head Coach.

“We just want someone who’s going to lead us, who’s going to hold every player accountable. Whether it’s offensive (or) defensive coach, they going to always put us in the right situation. So, we’re not worried about that,” Ward said. “We want a players’ coach who’s going to listen to us, care about our bodies, and just do what he thinks is best for the team and the organization.”

Clearly, Ward has just reiterated his earlier demand to get more involved with the head coach search. He even talked to the president of football operations, Chad Brinker, and general manager Mike Borgonzi. His mindset behind this is to know the head coach candidates’ mindsets instead of schemes and designs.

While it’s great that the locker room leader wants to go all-in, he has to understand that the Titans have experimented with both ends of the spectrum.

Callahan was an offensive specialist, but he struggled to provide results. In his first year as the HC of the Titans, he had just 3 wins and a whomping 14 losses. The start of his second year wasn’t any better, as his team had a 1-5 record, following which he was fired. Unfortunately, the interim Head Coach Mike McCoy didn’t fare well either. Under McCoy, the Titans secured two wins and nine losses.

Before Callahan, the Titans had Mike Vrabel, who played 14 seasons in the NFL as a linebacker and knew defenses well. In his first four years, he took them into the playoffs three times, but after a series of mistakes involving players, they failed to advance into the playoffs in his last two seasons. They traded receiver AJB Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles, who won Super Bowl LIX in 2024.

Still, Cam Ward wants to assess the coaching candidates with the little NFL experience he has. The next few days are going to be busier for him as the franchise has already shortlisted four candidates.

Titans eye big-time coordinators for head coach position

The team has been looking for someone who can change the culture. Out of the four people, three have prior head coaching experience, which could help them in Tennessee.

Matt Nagy – He has been the Kansas City Chiefs‘ offensive coordinator for the last four years and has won two Super Bowls. During his earlier stint as the Chicago Bears‘ head coach, he took them twice into the playoffs and finished with a 34-31 record.

Steve Spagnuolo – He has won three Super Bowls as the Chiefs’ defensive coordinator since 2019. He served as the St. Louis Rams head coach from 2009 to 2011, but finished miserably with no playoff appearance and a 10-38 record. In the 2017 season as the New York Giants‘ interim head coach, he won only one of four games.

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Vance Joseph – Under his second stint at the Denver Broncos as defensive coordinator, they improved considerably this year, finishing second in defense (278.2) and third in scoring defense (18.3). As their head coach for two seasons in 2017 and 2018, they had an 11-21 record.

Lou Anarumo – The Indianapolis Colts signed him as their defensive coordinator in 2025 after six seasons at the Cincinnati Bengals in the same coaching position. His biggest career highlight came in 2021, when the Bengals defeated the Chiefs in the AFC Championship by allowing only a field goal in the second half and an interception in overtime.

The choices reflect an interesting point. After back-to-back 3-14 seasons with an offensive specialist at the helm, they are inclined more towards the defensive coaches. Will Cam Ward approve? We’ll find out soon.