TITANS Igniting the Fire Ep. 4 recap: “Fury of the Secondary”

Buck Reising, Tennessee Titans reporter and host of Tackling Music City, recaps the fourth installment of the team’s online documentary series, Igniting the Fire.

New coach @DB_CoachCoombs brings the heat and looks to start a new culture in the #Titans secondary.

Episode 4: Fury of the Secondary is now available on Facebook Watch

Igniting the Fire : https://t.co/7y9Z3jrvKu pic.twitter.com/jyuAjCaQVI

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) July 11, 2018

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It is the moment you have all been waiting for: the debut of Tennessee Titans defensive backs coach Kerry Coombs on the team’s in-house mini-documentary series, Igniting the Fire.

With three weeks to go in the NFL’s summer break, only two episodes remain of ITF (Tuesdays at 7 p.m. CT). Here are the takeaways from Episode 4:

QUICK HITS

1. Best/What We Learned
   • It is becoming increasingly difficult to pick a “Best” from each ITF episode because of how much of the content is fluff as opposed to anything actually insightful. But, seeing as I have already backed myself into this corner, safety Kevin Byard’s comments on Coomb’s footwork emphasis stuck out to me in Episode 4.
   • 

     Nashville, TN – October 16, 2017 – LP Field: T.Y. Hilton (13) of the Indianapolis Colts and Logan Ryan (26) of the Tennessee Titans during a regular season Monday Night Football game
     (Photo by Scott Clarke / ESPN Images)

     “(Coombs) is so big on footwork and being a technician, it’s ridiculous,” said Byard. “My whole life I’ve been doing DB drills and things like that but never really paid attention to ‘Maybe, if this foot is six inches or a half inch to the right, it can turn from a pass break-up to an interception.’ Just looking at, like, those small things on film that I really didn’t pay attention to in the past that he’s brought to light. It’s definitely been helping out.”

   • While small, this tidbit speaks to Coombs’s reputation as a teacher and developer of secondary fundamentals that comes from years in the high school and college ranks. During his time at Ohio State, Coombs helped defensive backs Marshon Lattimore, Gareon Conley, Malik Hooker and Eli Apple, among others, secure their status as first-round draft picks heading into the pros. That attention to detail will only emphasize an already talented Titans secondary.
2. Worst
   • There was not anything particularly egregious about Episode 4 that struck me, in terms of the content. But what did catch my attention was the title.
   • “Fury of the Secondary” is what the team’s social/digital/production staff opted for and it is thoroughly soaked in cheesiness.
   • You’re a professional football franchise. Do better.
3. Star of the Show
   • My initial reaction was to go with Coombs here, but it really was a showcase of the Tennessee secondary. Other that strong safety Johnathan Cyprien, we heard from every other (presumptive) starting defensive back. Logan Ryan, Malcolm Butler, Adoree’ Jackson and Byard were all featured, with the All-Pro free safety getting the most run.
   • The belief is that the defensive backfield will be the biggest strength of the 2018 team and it would seem that they have just as much confidence in that unit as the pundits or at least they would like to market it as such.