The NFL is a league of parity. Every year, we see teams go from first to last and last to first in their divisions. The last game we all saw was a Super Bowl between two teams who missed the playoffs the year prior. Your rise or fall can happen so quickly. NFL = Not For Long.

But just because we see that happen a couple times each year doesn’t mean it should be the expectation.

For most franchises, the tide turns more gradually. A handful of team-building cycles go wrong, but it takes a while for the momentum of solid roster foundations to crumble. That has largely been the story of the Titans in the 2020’s. These outlier examples of whiplash changes set a bad mental standard for too many, owners included. It’s a big part of the reason why we’re increasingly a “microwave society” league, with coaches and players being given shorter and shorter leashes to prove themselves and maintain success.

The #1 thing the Titans need to do as an organization is get off the hamster wheel of hiring and firing. Everybody understands this. But it’s easier said than done. Luckily, it seems Head Coach Robert Saleh has come in with a staff that understands it very well.

Titans OL coach Carmen Bricillo sets 2026 expectation perfectly

One of the higher-profile hires for this Saleh regime was OL coach Carmen Bricillo, who last worked with OC Brian Daboll in New York. His reputation for getting more from less in the trenches precedes him, and a lot of expectations are being placed upon his shoulders this fall (just as we did with Bill Callahan before him).

But “Carm” doesn’t seem to see his job in that light, at least not right now. Listen to how he summed up the point of 2026:

“It’s about getting better. Across the board,” Bricillo said at OTA’s. “And then also, just all of us understanding what the culture is. Understanding what the playbook is. Developing trust amongst each other, coach-to-player, player-to-coach. And then, you know, player-to-player. That’s truly what this year is about.”

Since the end of the Vrabel Era, no version of the Titans has been afforded such luxuries. That’s not to say that everybody in the past couple years has been a blameless victim; they haven’t been winners, and that’s all that matters in the NFL. But the leash has generally been too short, the expectations have been too high, and the congruity of timelines has felt like an afterthought. That must change.

Setting expectations like Bricillo does here is exactly the way this regime needs to approach their first season. These Titans are very new to one another. They have to get back to team-building basics, and don’t mistake the use of “team” here for “roster”-building. I’m talking about establishing a baseline understanding of one another, that then becomes trust, that then becomes continuity.

Every offseason when I look around the league to decide who is likely to be good and who is likely to fall short, my “when in doubt” rule of thumb is looking for who has the luxury of continuity. Which teams, which units, which position groups are largely building upon what they established together last season?

The Titans haven’t been on the right side of the discussion for too long. These coaches and players need to be given time to do exactly what Bricillo laid out at the podium. I hope Amy Adams Strunk and Mike Borgonzi give it to them.