Manning’s Decision was Domino That Sent Titans Tumbling

Coaches got fired, the quarterback carousel spun and the team lost a lot of games after the free agent quarterback chose Denver.

It is Peyton Manning week at SI, and AllTitans plans to take part in the festivities. Today, a look at the time Manning nearly signed with the Titans, and the fallout from his decision to play for Denver instead.

It's Day 1 of Peyton Manning week at SI 🙌

Before Tom Brady left New England, Peyton's NFL free agency was one of the most discussed in decades. @Peter_King had the scoop in 2012 and came on 'The Record' to share how Manning to the Broncos came to be: https://t.co/rZ0x9JrXNB pic.twitter.com/NnCMr5bRM7

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) May 18, 2020

Mike Munchak’s three seasons as Tennessee Titans head coach (2011-13) were largely non-descript.

There were no playoff appearances. One winning season (9-7 in 2011). Nothing remarkable about the schemes the team ran or the way the players executed them.

What the Hall of Fame guard did extremely well, though, was talk to players and to impart his vision for them, individually and collectively. There was not a free agent who signed during that time who did not say later it was a conversation with Munchak that convinced them to go to Tennessee.

Of course, there was the one notable free agent who turned down the Titans’ offer, but even he conceded that Munchak made him think long and hard about it. That, of course, was Peyton Manning, who eight years ago embarked on one of the sport’s most watched and discussed free agent tours. It included private workouts for teams at carefully selected locales to avoid to media scrutiny and questions about whether he could even still play the game.

Eventually, he chose to sign with the Denver Broncos over Tennessee and a couple others.

"I wish I hadn't gotten so close to Munch," Manning said months later in a comprehensive SI piece about the process. "That was a tough call.”

It also was a decision that made things hard on the Titans for years to come.

The quarterback issue

Despite the disappointment, Tennessee did not need to go to Plan B because it already had Plan A. Jake Locker was drafted eighth overall a year earlier to be the quarterback of the future, the quarterback on who Munchak built his career as a head coach. Locker spent his rookie season as the backup to veteran free agent Matt Hasselbeck. Had Manning signed with Tennessee, Locker would have remained the backup.

Instead, the Titans went full speed ahead into what they thought was their future and that preseason named the second-year player their starting quarterback. Locker started just 23 games and won nine before he retired at 25 years old. He could not stay healthy. He didn’t believe in himself. He lacked a genuine passion for the game.

The franchise tried again in 2015 with Marcus Mariota, the second overall pick in the draft. Mariota worked out better than Locker but lost the job last fall to Ryan Tannehill and is now with the Las Vegas Raiders. Tannehill got a hefty contract extension this offseason and the Titans plan to go forward with him.

Crushed coaching careers

Munchak was fired following the 2013 season because he declined to follow an edict from ownership that that he needed to fire some of his assistants.

Who knows how long he would have lasted had Manning been his quarterback instead of Locker in 2012 and 2013? And who knows how different things would have been for those assistants?

The Broncos’ coordinators in 2012, Mike McCoy (offense) and Jack Del Rio (defense), later became head coaches. McCoy, in fact, got his chance with the San Diego Chargers after just one season with Manning as his quarterback. Del Rio took over the Raiders two years later.

Munchak actually fired one offensive coordinator, Chris Palmer, during the 2012 season and replaced him with Dowell Loggains. Cut loose in the wake of Munchak’s dismissal, it took three years before Loggains got another chance as a coordinator. Defensive coordinator Jerry Gray, likewise, was fired and has spent the past six seasons as defensive backs coach in Minnesota.

From bad to worse

Ken Whisenhunt was hired as Munchak’s replacement and things got even worse for Tennessee. Whisenhunt spent six seasons as Arizona Cardinals head coach (2007-12) and had taken that team to the Super Bowl in his second season but lasted just 23 games and won three with the Titans. Each of the two seasons he was in Tennessee (2014-15), the Titans finished tied for the NFL’s worst record.

That brings us back to Manning. In addition to the Broncos and Titans, Arizona was one of the teams he seriously considered. The quarterback and coach knew each other well and had played golf together often and Manning’s free agent journey took him to Phoenix for a day with Whisenhunt and other Cardinals officials.

Without him, Arizona’s quarterback situation in 2012 was a disaster. Four different players started at least one game at that position. It was a non-descript group of which Brian Hoyer was the biggest name. None had the job for more than six contests. None won more than five games.

The Cardinals finished 5-11 and Whisnehunt was fired, which meant he was available when the Titans looked for a new head coach a year later.

The final word

Manning only faced the Titans once during his four years in Denver. Late in 2013, the Broncos whipped Tennessee 51-28 in Denver. It was the next-to-last road game of Munchak’s tenure as head coach and the most lopsided loss the Titans had that season.

A little more than a month later Denver made the first of two Super Bowl appearances with Manning as its quarterback. It was not until 2017 – after eight straight misses – that the Titans finally got back to the postseason.

It all could have been so different.

“I really enjoyed my time with the Titans' staff, getting to know coach Munchak and [general manager] Ruston Webster," Manning said days before that game. "I had a couple conversations with (franchise founder Bud) Adams. They were first class. I enjoyed my visit. Enjoyed my time.

"It was a very difficult decision for me. There's a part of me that wanted to go to each team that you considered, kind of like when you're choosing a college. I'm not sure there's any one, perfect decision. There's a lot of great things about a lot of NFL teams and I enjoyed the time that I spent with the Titans organization."