Why Peyton Manning approves of Ran Carthon as the Titans’ new GM
Few people are more familiar with the Tennessee Titans and GM Ran Carthon than legendary quarterback Peyton Manning. The longtime Indianapolis Colts QB spent 13 seasons in Indy, nine of them in the AFC South. Over the course of his storied NFL career, Manning matched up with Tennessee on 19 different occasions. No quarterback has […]
Few people are more familiar with the Tennessee Titans and GM Ran Carthon than legendary quarterback Peyton Manning.
The longtime Indianapolis Colts QB spent 13 seasons in Indy, nine of them in the AFC South. Over the course of his storied NFL career, Manning matched up with Tennessee on 19 different occasions. No quarterback has played against the franchise more than Manning.
Manning has also found himself on the opposing sideline of the Titans' head coach quite a few times. Mike Vrabel and Peyton Manning squared off as players in 12 different games, with three of those matchups coming in the playoffs.
The Titans have now added another key member that Manning has gotten to know well. New GM Ran Carthon is a former Colts running back who played with Manning during his two-year career from 2005-2006. Manning was the quarterback that handed the ball off to Carthon when he scored his first NFL touchdown back September of 2005.
Given all his personal experience with Vrabel, Carthon, and the Titans' organization, Manning should have a pretty good idea of how each individual works and how well the new hire will mesh in his new environment.
When speaking with Titans team reporter Jim Wyatt at the NFL Pro Bowl Games in Las Vegas this past weekend, Manning expressed his firm approval of Carthon as the Titans' GM calling it a "great hire by the Titans."
"I remember Ran as a player. Smart player, tough player, accountable. You could tell he grew up in a football family. It didn't take him long to figure out our system," Manning said of why Carthon would excel at running a team.
The former Tennessee Volunteer also believes there is legitimate value to having a head coach and GM who are aligned in their vision, and Manning believes Carthon and Vrabel are cut from the same cloth.
"They both want to win," said Manning. "(Winning) is all Mike (Vrabel) cares about and Ran speaks the same language, so I think the two of them can work well together. It's obviously important for GM's and head coaches to be in sync. You don't have to agree on everything, but you better be communicating and talking things out. I think they'll do that and I think it could be a really good combination."
The Titans' new combo of Vrabel and Carthon will be immediately put to the test this offseason. In hiring Carthon with collaboration as the objective, it will be fascinating to watch which direction the Titans go this offseason given the holes on the roster and both men's motivation to win.
Image via Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
