Smith Draws Broad Interest in Coach Searches

The Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator reportedly is a target for all six NFL teams currently seeking to make a hire.

It only takes one team to want him, but if overall interest is any indication Arthur Smith won’t be the Tennessee Titans’ offensive coordinator for long.

Smith has been mentioned as a likely head coach candidate for much of the 2020 NFL season, his second in charge of the Titans’ offense.

Monday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that all six NFL teams currently in need of a coach, including two in the AFC South, have either asked for permission to interview Smith or plan to do so. Those teams are Houston, Jacksonville, Detroit, Atlanta, N.Y. Jets and the L.A. Chargers.

All six teams with HC openings - Chargers, Jets, Jaguars, Lions, Falcons, Texans - have either requested permission to interview Titans’ OC Arthur Smith or plan to ask permission, per sources.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 4, 2021

Of course, regardless of what happens, Smith’s work with the Titans is not done. Sunday’s 41-38 victory at Houston clinched first place in the AFC South for Tennessee (11-5) and set up a game against the Baltimore Ravens in the wild card round of the playoffs (noon CST, Sunday, Nissan Stadium).

The NFL mandated this season that interviews with candidates whose teams are still in the playoffs must be done virtually, which means Smith won’t have to travel this week in pursuit of a job. Candidates whose teams have been eliminated are allowed to interview in person as of this week, subject to several COVID-19 protocols.

“I have full confidence that Arthur will do everything that’s needed to prepare our offense and our coaches for this game,” coach Mike Vrabel said Monday.

The Titans tied for second in the regular season behind only Kansas City with an average of 396.4 yards per game. They were fourth in scoring at 30.7 points per game and finished in the top five in total first downs, third-down conversion rate and red zone success.

Smith, 38, has been with the Titans since 2011 and has worked under four different head coaches.

He became offensive coordinator in 2019 after three seasons as tight ends coach, the first two under former coach Mike Mularkey and the third under Vrabel. He was assistant tight ends coach in 2014-15 under Ken Whisenhunt (he actually finished the 2015 season as tight ends coach after Whisenhunt was fired and Mularkey was named interim head coach).

Smith came to Tennessee as a defensive assistant/quality control in Mike Munchak’s first season. The next year he was an offensive assistant/quality control and in 2013 he was an offensive line/tight end assistant.

“Arthur has been in this organization for a lot of years,” Vrabel said. “… He’s given everything that he was asked to and then some in whatever role he was in. When I got here, he was highly recommended by people in this organization. He was highly recommended by Mike Mularkey as a coach that you could trust, was loyal, that was diligent, that hard-working.”

Now, he looks like someone a franchise owner is willing to trust to run the entire football operation.