NASHVILLE — Tennessee Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk made the controversial decision to part ways with head coach Mike Vrabel on Tuesday. 

But instead of fielding questions from the media about the move and sharing her vision for the future with the fanbase, Strunk did not step to the podium. Instead, it was GM Ran Carthon who sat in front of the microphone.

Carthon's press conference, to no fault of his own, provided little insight into the direction things are headed in Tennessee and made the Mike Vrabel firing even more concerning.

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Carthon and Vrabel were in "lockstep"

When Carthon was questioned about the Titans' personnel decisions over the past year, the 42-year-old GM shared that he and Vrabel had never had a problem making decisions. From the moment Carthon was hired, the Titans have preached "collaboration." That's a commonly used buzzword around the building, and according to Carthon, is something they did well over the last year.

"I will say that Mike (Vrabel) and I, we've never had any issue whether it's personal or professional. We worked well together, had a good relationship. We were in lockstep," said Carthon during Wednesday's press conference. "I want to finally come out and dispel that. I wish Vrabes nothing but the best. I consider him a friend, and I feel like we'll be that way moving forward. And so with that said, I'll open up for questions."

Along with being in "lockstep" with Vrabel in their decision making this season, Carthon also leaned on the optimistic side when it came to player development and the Titans' future outlook. Carthon said he was "encouraged" by the Titans player development during the 2023 season and cited the growth of players like Peter Skoronski, Will Levis, Josh Whyle, and Colton Dowell as reasons why.

Carthon kept coming back to injuries as a reason for why the Titans didn't compete and why their offensive line performed so poorly.

"There's no secret, we've dealt with a lot of injuries here over the last three seasons or whatever it is and we're having to mix and match pieces on a week-to-week basis. It makes it hard. It makes it hard for any organization to do that," said Carthon when asked how close the franchise is to competing. "It wasn't that we weren't aligned, or it didn't work. But if you look over the last couple of weeks, look how many starters that we've had out due to injuries. It's just hard it's hard to win football games in the National Football League as is with a healthy roster. It becomes even harder when you don't have all your key guys."

So to recap, the GM and head coach were in lockstep and never had conflicts executing their "aligned vision." The GM is also happy with the player development he saw this season, which is often a reflection of the coaching staff. That same GM then cited injuries and bad bounces as the reason the team didn't win, and mentioned how hard it is for any NFL team to win games in those circumstances. So…why exactly was the head coach fired again?

"Well, I think Amy (Adams Strunk) spoke to her decision of—making of the decision she made and why. And that was about her long-term vision of the organization and that's really, I think, what it was," said Carthon, who again, should not have been the person answering questions for this decision.

As you can surmise from Carthon's press conference, this was a decision made by Amy Adams Strunk, not Carthon, because Vrabel did not fit into the vision Strunk has for her organization moving forward. But what might that vision be? That's something that Carthon was unable to answer, Strunk refuses to answer, and everybody else is left wondering about. At this point, I'm not sure the Titans even know what it is.

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Titans blurred vision

Ran Carthon used the word "vision" 13 different times during his press conference at Saint Thomas Sports Park on Tuesday evening. But in all of those references – and all of the questions surrounding it from Titans media – Carthon never laid out exactly what the organization's vision is. In fact, he directly declined to talk about it when pressed by the media.

That could be because that vision is more Amy's than it is his. That could be because that vision is yet to be defined. Perhaps both are true. Either way, pleading the fifth isn't the most reassuring thing for a fanbase when you just fired a proven NFL head coach with high approval ratings in the city.

"We have the vision defined. We have it defined and I've been on the phone ever since the decision was made and it's obviously been a lot going on and it's been hectic. But the vision is defined, it's just it'll be a time for us to roll that out," said Carthon when asked about the organization's grandiose, yet mysterious plans. "It's not the time to share that vision today. I think as we go through this process, we need to make sure that we have the right person aligned with that and why we hired that person will fit that vision."

Oh, and about that new head coach the Titans will now begin an extensive search for…The Titan are also not going to answer any questions about what they're looking for in candidates. Strunk said in a sit down with Titans VP of Broadcasting Mike Keith that "it's important to find someone that brings in a lot of diverse ideas and fresh perspective," but what that actually means is a mystery.

"In all fairness, I don't want to go into that right now, specifically," said Carthon on what characteristics he would be looking for in a new head coach. Carthon is expected to be the person heading up the coaching search. "I promise you at a given time when we're up here introducing the next head coach, I'll go into that. But I think right now it's best for us to keep that tight amongst ourselves as we go through our process."

Is all this to say that the Titans new coaching search is doomed for failure? Absolutely not. With a promising young quarterback on the roster in Will Levis and loads of cap space, there's a real opportunity for Tennessee to land a head coach that modernizes their offense and Titans fans (and media) would quickly get over the decision to fire Vrabel – which I still believe was the wrong course of action.

I can appreciate an owner who wants to win and has high standards. They are a shockingly rare breed in professional sports nowadays and from that standpoint, Titans fans are in incredible hands with Amy Adams Strunk. Make no mistake about it, AAS wants to win and is committed to growing the brand of Titans football with a new stadium coming down the pike.

But still my biggest concern with all of this is the Titans' lack of direction and Strunk's refusal to let things develop. 13 months ago it was a roster problem that cost Jon Robinson his job. Now it's a coaching problem before Mike Vrabel has a fair chance to fix that roster see his long-term plans through. How long before Carthon is the one facing the music if the Titans don't see an immediate turnaround?

When you make a decision to fire your GM in December of 2022 and state publicly that you want the head coach to have more roster control moving forward, it's generally a good idea to give that coach more than one offseason with limited cap space to fix things. I don't know. Maybe just me.

It all feels very reactionary. It feels like something that lacks direction. And dodging questions from the non-team employee media members while sending a GM who had nothing to do with the decision out to deliver non answers doesn't do much to make me believe otherwise.

Amy Adams Strunk just made the cardinal sin of sports ownership

The Titans are going to regret firing Mike Vrabel.