TITANS: Potential Replacements for OC Matt LaFleur

Buck Reising, Tennessee Titans reporter and host of Tackling Music City, provides a list of names to know in the upcoming search for the team’s next offensive coordinator.

Nashville, TN – February, 7 2018 – St. Thomas Sports Park: Titans offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur addresses the Nashville media for the first time (Photo by Buck Reising / ESPN Nashville).

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As first reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Green Bay Packers (6-9-1) will hire Matt LaFleur as the franchise’s next head coach.

In his one season as offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans (9-7), LaFleur’s unit ranked 29th in passing yards per game (185.9) and 27th in points per game (19.4). But the 39-year-old is regarded as one of the best young minds in football, dealt with wide-spread injury to key personnel in 2018 and is in keeping with the current NFL hiring trend.

Who should take the reins as quarterback Marcus Mariota’s fifth play-caller in five years? Here are a few of the names in this offseason’s hiring cycle who fit the mold of what coach Mike Vrabel and general manager Jon Robinson are attempting to build:

1. Proven Commodities
   • Adam Gase
     • The Miami Dolphins finished their season 7-9 before firing Gase after a 23-25 record over three seasons as the head coach. At 40 years old, Gase’s offensive prowess jettisoned him into the league in 2003 and would be a welcome addition to the Titans staff. Gase has already begun interviewing for other head coaching vacancies, though, and would be a long shot to take a demotion for a coordinator position.
   • Jim Bob Cooter
     • At 34, Cooter represents the ideal coaching hire in 2018. The former University of Tennessee quarterback’s contract as the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions (6-10) was not renewed after three-and-a-half seasons in the position. Detroit’s offense suffered statistically under Cooter in 2018, mustering only 223.5 passing yards per game, 5.1 yards per play and a third-down conversion rate of only 36% but most of the Lions offensive weaponry landed on IR (Marvin Jones Jr., Kerryon Johnson, T.J. Lang) or were traded away (Golden Tate) over the course of the season.
   • John DeFilippo
     • DeFilippo was relieved of his duties in Week 15 of his first year as offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings (8-7-1) after having philosophical differences with head coach Mike Zimmer. The Vikings offense totaled only 17 points in the two weeks leading up to DeFilippo’s firing and had not surpassed 300 yards of offense in four of their last five games under him. Schefter reported that “DeFilippo now will have to get another assistant’s job and work his way back up to the level he was viewed at after being the quarterbacks coach for the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.”
   • Kevin Stefanski
     • A member of the Minnesota staff for 13 years, Stefanski took over as the interim offensive coordinator in Week 15 of 2018 after DeFilippo was relieved of the position. Stefanski’s small sample size calling plays for the Vikings saw them score 30.6 points per game and go 2-1 in the final three-game stretch of the season. Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reported that Stefanski is unlikely to return to Minnesota in 2019 and the 36-year-old is receiving head coaching interest.
2. First-Timers
   • Mike Kafka
     • The six-year journeyman quarterback jumped from the pros to his alma mater Northwestern as a graduate assistant before joining the Kansas City Chiefs as an offensive quality control coach in 2017. Under Kafka’s tutelage as quarterbacks coach this season, Patrick Mahomes far outperformed expectations en route to 12-4 2018 record and a first-round playoff bye. Kafka, 31, is also being mentioned as the heir to Kansas City’s offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, should he accept a head coaching position.
   • Dave Ragone
     • Chicago’s season ended in playoff disappointment but the success of the 12-4 Bears under first-year coach Matt Nagy is breeding opportunities for members of his staff. Ragone, Chicago’s quarterbacks coach, was named as a “dark horse for the Titans offensive coordinator position” for his work in helping progress Bears signal-caller Mitch Trubisky and his time spent working under Chicago offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich. Helfrich, of course, coached Mariota at Oregon during his Heisman Trophy season.
   • Pat O’Hara
     • 2018 was O’Hara’s first season with Tennessee as the quarterbacks coach after spending the previous three seasons with Vrabel and the Houston Texans. With Mariota facing a fifth play-caller in five years and young offensive skill players Corey Davis, Taywan Taylor and Jonnu Smith on their third offensive coordinator in their first three years in the league, it is not a reach to look for consistency in-house if O’Hara shows interest in the position. O’Hara played quarterback professionally for 16 years in the NFL, World League and the Arena Football League and spent an additional ten years coaching in the AFL.
3. From the College Ranks
   • Kliff Kingsbury
     • Another offensive wunderkind as the head coach at Texas Tech from 2013 until his firing last November, Kingsbury is destined for much loftier aspirations, it seems, rather than to become the Titans next offensive coordinator. Schefter reported Monday that Kingsbury is among the top candidates to be the next head coach of Josh Rosen and the Arizona Cardinals (3-13). Kingsbury, 39, went 35-40 at Texas Tech and accepted the offensive coordinator position at USC two weeks after his firing.
   • Mike Bobo
     • Another dark horse, SEC football fans know Bobo’s name well. The long-time University of Georgia offensive coordinator and current Colorado State head coach is one of the most underrated minds in football but his Rams finished 2018 at a woeful 3-9. Bobo recently informed CSU AD Joe Parker that he would be declining his $100,000 raise for the 2019 season to set an example for the program in a move that probably means he’s staying put. But the allure of an NFL coaching gig with an unhappy college fan base already on his case may be enough to make Bobo consider Nashville.