The Tennessee Titans might have had at least one name in mind to take over for now-retired defensive coordinator, Dean Pees.
According to ESPN’s Sarah Barshop, the Titans may have plucked current Houston Texans defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver off head coach Bill O’Brien’s staff had he not been promoted.
Weaver was promoted to defensive coordinator after the Tennessee Titans showed interest in him to replace the retired Dean Pees as coordinator there.
Weaver, who was the Texans’ defensive line coach from 2016 through 2019, replaced the team’s former defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, who decided to not return to his position for 2020.
Titans head coach Mike Vrabel has made it clear time and time again that he wants coaches around him who he is familiar with, and Weaver would have qualified as one of those coaches. Both he and Vrabel were on O’Brien’s staff together in 2016 and 2017.
Tennessee ended up not hiring a defensive coordinator at all, and the thought is that Vrabel might end up calling plays on that side of the ball. Whether he calls plays or not, Vrabel is expected to take a larger role in the defense.
When asked about it during his NFL Combine presser, Vrabel said that the team is still “working through the process” of who will call plays.