The Tennessee Titans made a boring, predictable move on Tuesday when they officially promoted passing-game coordinator Tim Kelly to offensive coordinator after a month’s long search to replace Todd Downing.
It’s hard to like this move. Kelly was part of an offensive staff that oversaw one of the worst units in the NFL last season, and while he had some success as the offensive coordinator in Houston, it’s not anything to fawn over.
We don’t know what Kelly had to do with Tennessee’s offense, but whether you want to place some or none of the blame on him, the situation on that side of the ball last year just screamed “wipe the slate clean” in 2023.
Instead, Vrabes did what he does best and stuck with one of his guys instead of maybe going outside of his comfort level to shake things up. Hey, at least we got the out-of-house general manager, right?
What makes this move more frustrating is the fact the Titans had a chance to give Kelly a look last year but decided to stick with Downing and waste what could have been a multi-month audition.
If Twitter is any indication, it’s safe to say there won’t be many happy Titans fans out there.
Everyone wanted Tim Kelly while Todd Downing was the OC…now none of you do. Y'all crack me up. pic.twitter.com/iqmcTuTrYP
— Buck Reising (@BuckReising) February 7, 2023
I would have been way more excited about Tim Kelly had he not been on the staff this past year. Not sure if that's right or wrong, but that's where I'm at
— Jimmy Morris (@jmorrisMCM) February 7, 2023
Personally I find it really funny how we just spent a year of everybody BEGGING for Tim Kelly to be made the #Titans OC, and now he is and the sky is apparently falling
— Easton Freeze (@eastonfreeze) February 7, 2023
Who else interviewed Tim Kelly? NOBODY
— Diddy Simpson (@Diddy_247) February 7, 2023
Should have fired Todd Downing in December & let Tim Kelly have a 4 game audition for the job.
Now the #Titans are fully committed to Tim Kelly in 2023. https://t.co/mIk7STYvnw
— Austin Stanley (@AustinStanley81) February 7, 2023
Good news is this……..
Tim Kelly knows first hand how NOT to run an offense #Titans
— Sal From Jerrrssseeeyyy (@salmanfredi) February 7, 2023
#Titans promote Tim Kelly to offensive coordinator.
I don't hate it, I don't love it…it simply just is what I expected: Vrabel promoted one of his buddies and stayed within his comfort zone. Not an earth shattering move.
— Caroline Fenton (@carolinefenton1) February 7, 2023
Tim Kelly as OC isn't a shock. It's certainly a less sexy pick than the GM. Titans offense is probably going to be borderline trash again until they rebuild the OL and figure out QB of the future.
— Ran Carthon fan account (@zach_law) February 7, 2023
Having Tim Kelly as the #Titans new offensive coordinator is "fine not sexy".
At least the Texans' offense was fun to watch while he was there. Hopefully he does some things to the scheme to bring them out of the 1990's.
— Titans Therapy (@TitansTherapy) February 7, 2023
We did all this waiting…for Tim Kelly?! 🤔🤔
— Pope Heyward (@G_Titan) February 7, 2023
Well at least the idiots who said Tim Kelly called all the good plays last year should be thrilled.
— Robert Greenlaw (@RobOnBroadway) February 7, 2023
As the Passing Game Coordinator last year, how much influence do you think Tim Kelly actually had on what we saw on the field? Because our passing game was some of the worst i've ever seen, ever#Titans | #TitanUp
— Titans Therapy (@TitansTherapy) February 7, 2023
Yo this Tim Kelly news is tragic. Wow. If that’s the move why not fire Downing and see what you had with Tim during the season. Extremely underwhelming and discouraging
— Joe “Mr Hockey” Leming (@JoeLeming) February 7, 2023
Really hope the Tim Kelly hire works out. I asked for it last year, lol. Had higher aspirations this year, but I still have hope! #TitanUp #Titans til I die regardless. 😂
— Interim Titans GM ⚔️ (@NflGeneral) February 7, 2023
#Titans promote Tim Kelly from Passing Game Coordinator to Offensive Coordinator.
Really disappointed about this because the idea of bring in Matt Nagy I felt could’ve really elevated many aspects of the teams offense. If you were going to elevate within, why wait so late?
— Junnie Riddle (@JunnieRiddle) February 7, 2023
I don’t mind the hiring of Kelly. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
My biggest issue is why not rip the Downing band-aid off during the season if you were clearly this interested in him?At least find out if Kelly could’ve provided a spark for a lifeless offense.#Titans
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) February 7, 2023
