Titans GM Ran Carthon Details DeAndre Hopkins Recruitment, Gives Major 'Thank You' to Nashville

The Tennessee Titans were able to land wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and some key members of the Titans front office, including general manager Ran Carthon, outlined all the aspects that went into Hopkins recruitment.

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans new leadership, comprised of Ran Carthon at general manager, Anthony Robinson and Chad Brinker as assistant general managers, has had a fantastic offseason capped by the signing of free agent DeAndre Hopkins. Recently, they revealed exactly what went into their pursuit of Hopkins.

The Titans needed multiple pieces of information to make them confident in pursuing Hopkins in the first place, but there were also multiple influences that ultimately got Hopkins to choose the Titans. Let's take a look at all the things mentioned by the Titans' brass.

Gathering Intel

The Tennessee Titans first had to feel comfortable with the idea of pursuing Hopkins. Yes, it seemed like a no-brainer decision, but there is some concern about Hopkins and the player he is now. Carthon and Brinker both talked about what went into their confidence with Hopkins' level of play. The process started with the oldest trick in the book, some word-of-mouth intel.

"It all comes down to the player and their wiring," Carthon noted. I think Hop is made of all the right stuff. I know a couple guys that trained with him. That's part of it, using your contacts. Each and every one of those guys was like 'dude still has it' and now we hope to see that. I believe that we will."

Analytical Research

The Tennessee Titans revamped their entire front office structure this offseason while also replacing a ton of the people who played those roles. One of the biggest changes for the Titans was the introduction of the use of analytics and the presence of a true analytics department. That new muscle is already being flexed by the Titans.

"Hop is a proven player in this league, we all know that. Of course, we looked at the analytics," Brinker confirmed. "I had Sarah(Bailey) run analytics on him(Hopkins) and what will it look like. What his win probability is on the field, how productive he is and we looked at the GPS and all the things that go into."

Brinker talked the analytics, but didn't skip on the film study either.

"I think it is important with my background with scouting and also cap and analytics, all of it goes into decision making. I think it is important we all understand it goes back to the tape. That's where it starts, that's where it ends."

Collaboration

The number one buzz word of the Titans offseason has been collaboration, the theme has been working together as an organization from top to bottom to accomplish the team's goals. That cooperation seems to have paid off big time during the Titans pursuit of Hopkins according to Carthon.

"It was a month-long date. I'm pretty sure you guys know we brought him in for a visit, which I felt went really well," Carthon explained. "It was just a long date. While we're on it, it was from top to bottom. It wasn't just the personnel, it wasn't just Mike(Vrabel) with the coaches. We had help throughout the building. Johari Matthews(Vice President, Executive Director of the Titans Foundation), Amy(Adams-Strunk)(Titans Controlling Owner), Tina Tuggle(Vice President, DEI Officer), everybody played a part in getting him here."

Family Matters in Nashville

Family matters to DeAndre Hopkins. The story of his mother's journey has been well documented. Hopkins also has three children. With family being such an important part of Hopkins' life, the Titans wisely made sure they didn't just focus on the needs of DeAndre, but what his family would need to feel comfortable. That meant putting a spotlight on the city of Nashville. Another big advantage for the Titans.

"It wasn't just making sure DeAndre knew this was the best place, we didn't only recruit him, we recruited his family," said Carthon. "He had his family here with him. We made sure they got to see what the city of Nashville had to offer because they're going to be more involved in the city as opposed to him(Hopkins). So, we rolled it out and let them see. Thank you to those people I mentioned and thank you to the city of Nashville for stepping up and showing out for us."

The Titans pulled off one of the biggest moves in recent memory for how late in the summer it is. Hopkins adds desperately needed talent at the receiver position and provides real hope to the team and it's fans that this team can make a deep playoff run. It may have been a month-long date, but Carthon and company pulled out all the stops and lucky for all involved, Hopkins said yes to commitment.

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