One day after Mike Munchak's job with the Tennessee Titans appeared safe, the organization decided "safe" wasn't good enough.
Multiple media outlets reported Saturday that the Titans have dismissed Munchak, their head coach the past three years. One of the reasons for the apparent reversal was that Titans CEO Tommy Smith and general manager Ruston Webster wanted Munchak to promote assistant coach Gregg Williams to defensive coordinator.
Yes, that Gregg Williams.
The Titans hired Williams as a senior assistant coach for the defense after the NFL reinstated him in August. The league suspended him for a year when it discovered that he was a key figure in the New Orleans Saints "Bountygate" scandal in which Williams rewarded Saints players financially for injuring opposing team's players.
To add insult to injury, ESPN is reporting that Williams is actually a candidate to replace Munchak, who had been with the organization for 31 years - as a player, assistant coach and head coach. He had a 22-26 record in three seasons, including a 7-9 record in 2013.
According to the Tennessean newspaper, Munchak was offered an opportunity to return under certain conditions. Among the conditions was that Munchak had to agree to fire several of his assistant coaches.
Munchak, whose starting quarterback Jake Locker was available for only seven games in 2013 due to injury, declined, which led to the breakup, the Tennesean reported.
After Tennessee's 16-10 win over the Houston Texans, Munchak was optimistic about the team's future.
"I feel real good about this team, how we have grown as a team throughout the year. I see it first-hand every day. I see the tape. I see what we are doing. I think I have a great feel for what we need as we continue to get better,'' Munchak said, according to the Tennessean. "I don't think we are that far off I mean I think you saw that in the way we played this year. I don't think you saw a team that last year we had a hard time hanging in games. This year, we were right there. We just got to find, get a few closures. We just need to find a few more guys to help us close out games and we'll be in great shape."
Which explains why Munchak didn't want to fire his staff.
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