Questions about legitimacy of Titans’ coaching…

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Although more recent comments from former Titans coach Mike Mularkey make clear his belief that he had been selected for the job in 2016 before an official, Rooney Rule-compliant search occurred, there were reasons to believe at the time the job was filled that something was amiss.

For example, former Fritz Pollard Alliance executive director John Wooten said in January 2016 that former Titans defensive coordinator Ray Horton felt “insulted” and “disrespected” for not being taken seriously by the Titans in their search for a head coach. (Horton separately told PFT by phone that he did not feel “insulted” by the situation.)

Then there’s this. Former Titans president Steve Underwood admitted in January 2016 that Titans owner Adam Adams Strunk had indeed settled on Mularkey before the search ended.

“Somewhere during that process I think it coalesced for Amy and she had made the decision she already knew Mike [Mularkey],” Underwood said at the time. “She had a comfort level with Mike. But she wanted to reach out and look around to make sure there was not any other viable candidates for her, in terms of our club and where we were going.”

Mularkey said during a September 2020 podcast appearance that he was told he’d become the head coach before the Titans complied with the Rooney Rule, and that the team went through a “fake hiring process.”

The Titans now claim that no decision was made or communicated before all interviews were completed. That statement directly contradicts Mularkey’s claim. More importantly, it doesn’t mesh with the explanation given by the team’s president.