Jeffery Simmons officially passes Titans’ torch to Cam Ward, a move that’s three years in the making: ‘This is your team’
Jeffery Simmons has the right mindset around how the Tennessee Titans need to be carried as QB Cam Ward enters his second NFL season.
Jeffery Simmons has undergone a massive transformation throughout his NFL career. The Tennessee Titans defensive tackle, the highest-paid player on the roster and the first defensive lineman to ever receive $100 million guaranteed in NFL history, is making a strategic move when it comes to his relationship with quarterback Cam Ward and their respective roles leading this team.
Simmons sat down with Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor, and Channing Crowder on the Pivot Podcast. The crew was at Titans training camp to open the week at the tail end of July. When I asked Clark at practice who they were planning to talk to, he said they were still figuring it out. I knew it was one of two options: Cam Ward or Jeff Simmons. When the episode featuring Simmons dropped on Tuesday, I jumped to listen.
Honestly, this article has been three seasons in the making.
Titans’ 2024 declaration that fell flat
In 2024, when Ran Carthon was the general manager, the Titans were kicking off training camp with a new head coach. Mike Vrabel was out. All the players we had watched during the previous era, Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry among them, were gone. The core that took Tennessee to three straight playoffs, two AFC South titles, and hosted playoff games had been almost entirely gutted. A couple holdovers remained like Harold Landry and some role players, but the leadership group was completely new.
Carthon made a big deal during that training camp about how this was Jeffery Simmons’ team. At the time, I understood the logic. Simmons was by far the best player on the roster. But I didn’t think he was the right leader for the team at that point. I didn’t think he had the right temperament. I didn’t think an NFL team needed to be led by a defensive tackle. That part was nothing against Jeff personally, but I thought he had some growing to do. And if your face of the franchise is your defensive tackle, your franchise probably isn’t going very far.
Simmons passes the torch on the Pivot Podcast
Now we’re heading into 2026, and Simmons had a really good conversation about passing the torch to Ward. His role is still to lead this football team, but he made it clear that this is Cam Ward’s team.
“I mean, we can say ‘Jeff Simmons, you’ve been here eight years, you the face (of the franchise)’. No, I told Cam today, ‘this your team’. Like when you talk and you demand something on that field, off the field, we listen, and that’s that’s the bigger thing. And I could tell that he wants to know that. He wants to grow. He wants to continue to grow. And I’m excited for him.”
I thought this was a significant sign of the different types of growth Simmons has experienced over the last two to three years.
He went from a guy joining the leadership group to the guy running it. The team hasn’t been very good. The talent level was low. A GM change, a head coach change, a lot of turmoil surrounded him, but he stayed consistent with his play. Now we’re seeing the leadership growth, too. Simmons told stories about how Dennard Wilson and Brian Callahan helped him grow as a leader who used to rely on being loud, demanding, cursing at teammates, which is how Jeff himself responds best.
“It took me a minute to really realize… how can I get my message across to certain guys to know that it’s not coming from a bad place? I’m just trying to win,” Simmons said. “I probably would say like two years ago to where when it really hit me when I had that conversation with Dennard and Callahan to where, how can you lead a little better… I mean these guys shut down sometimes during the middle of the game like ‘coach this what I’m used to’. That’s how I try to get this how I would get going. If some guy comes to me and says ‘Jeff get your (expletive), get it going’ like okay next series I’m going.”
But the most important development was Simmons saying it’s now his job to be the No. 1 guy helping Ward become that leader, and that when Cam Ward speaks, everybody needs to listen.
“I told Cam… I don’t give a damn if it’s me, if it’s in front of the whole team, it’s just the offense. Everybody listen.”
“We in this thing together. I’m trying to win on Sunday, and it’s my job, especially as an older guy, to continue to help him develop on that side of his game. And the football stuff gonna take care of itself.”
The Pivot Podcast covered a lot of different topics with Simmons. We’ve all known the story from his draft night coming into the league and how traumatic that event had to be. Learning more about his childhood from this conversation added another layer.
A personal admission about Simmons fatigue
I used to say I had “Jeffery Simmons fatigue” when it came to hearing him talk and hearing him share his message. I do think I’ve personally turned that around as Jeff has grown. We’re starting to see a more full, well-rounded Simmons as he gets closer to 30. He has become less rounded with his body and more action-figure-like, but the maturity and perspective he has gained going through the last few years as the face of the franchise matter more. He has the awareness to pass the torch to Ward, understanding that it is no longer his job to carry that title alone and that he is there to do everything Ward needs him to be.
This was a big-time development for Tennessee. Now it’s Ward’s job to be the best quarterback he can be and let this team follow him. Ward’s leadership has been on display throughout the last 15 months. This franchise is now led by No. 1, and No. 98 is right there to be his right-hand man.
