New Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Tim Kelly served as the team’s passing-game coordinator in 2022, but we didn’t know exactly what he was responsible for during his first season in Nashville.
But head coach Mike Vrabel shed some light on how the former Houston Texans offensive coordinator helped out the offense last season in a press conference following the announcement of the move.
Well, how he tried to help out the offense.
Vrabel explained that Kelly worked with tight ends in practice, something we saw regularly, but he also helped out with preparation, and in particular when it came to early-down passes.
It’s funny Vrabel mentions early downs, because the Titans’ offense under Todd Downing was criminally run-heavy and predictable in that area.
For what it’s worth (probably not a TON tbh), the #Titans passing game was much better on first and second downs (graphic on the left) — above average even! — than it was on third and fourth down (graphic on the right). https://t.co/P0Az3SeglO pic.twitter.com/ZJXnNLiEhx
— Mike Herndon (@MikeHerndonNFL) February 8, 2023
As Tennessee’s offense seemed to hit a new low every week in 2022, Titans fans were begging for Kelly to get the interim tag to see if he could elevate the unit, which would also give him an audition for the gig.
That never happened and instead Vrabel stuck it out with Downing. He explained his reasoning for that decision on Tuesday, also.
“I don’t know if during the season anything really would’ve mattered,” Vrabel said, per Nick Suss of The Tennessean. “I really don’t. I think that what I’m focused on is where we go from here.”
It’s true Kelly would’ve been up against it with the crap the Titans ran out there last year, but even knowing that, his inevitable struggles in said situation would’ve made this promotion a lot harder to justify.
