The Tennessee Titans officially announced the promotions of former tight ends coach Todd Downing to offensive coordinator and former outside linebackers coach Shane Bowen to defensive coordinator on Friday.
Downing served as the team’s tight ends coach for each of the past two seasons and has previous offensive coordinator experience after being the Oakland Raiders’ back in 2017.
The 40-year-old’s promotion should maintain continuity, as he’s expected to keep Tennessee’s current offensive system in place, which is certainly good news for an offense that was elite in 2020.
Bowen served as the Titans’ de facto defensive coordinator in 2020 without the title and oversaw a defense that ranked 29th against the pass, 19th against the run, and 24th in points allowed. On top of raw rankings, the Titans’ defense struggled with communication and making adjustments in-game.
While the move to promote Downing didn’t really rock the boat either way, Bowen getting the nod as the official defensive coordinator was met with negative reactions by those who follow the team.
Here’s a look at what Twitter had to say about both moves.
👀 https://t.co/oUChHlgeMR pic.twitter.com/uzvhUeLbqX
— Nate Washington (@nwash85) January 29, 2021
Mike Vrabel listened to his defensive players who regressed at a shocking pace complain constantly about communication deficiencies and said, “yeah, I want more of that.” #Titans
— Luke Worsham (@luke_worsham) January 29, 2021
There’s continuity and there’s stubbornness.
This feels almost like Vrabel being too hard-headed to admit he needed to make a change.
— Braden Gall (@BradenGall) January 29, 2021
Friday news dump… #Titans fans have every right to be extremely disappointed right now.
That doesn't mean Bowen can't succeed as DC, it's just very uninspiring after what happened last season.
— Titans Film Room💎🙌 (@titansfilmroom) January 29, 2021
If Mike Vrabel didn’t think Shane Bowen was worthy of the Defensive Coordinator title last offseason…
What about this last year makes Shane Bowen worthy of the DC title now? #Titans
— Austin Stanley (@AustinStanley81) January 29, 2021
Shane Bowen was bad at his job and got a promotion. Good work if you can get it!
— Jimmy Morris (@jmorrisMCM) January 29, 2021
Don’t let Todd Downing’s previous failures as an OC discourage you too much. The context is important and coaches are capable of learning and adapting from their past mistakes.
— Titans Tape (@TitansTape) January 29, 2021
I’m actually cool with Todd Downing. But Shane Bowen?? What does that change?
— MJ (@TheMJTake) January 29, 2021
Two initial concerns about Todd Downing:
1.) In 2017, there were only two teams that ran the ball LESS than the Raiders.
2.) A big knock on him by Raiders fans was that he never took deep shots even when the team had Amari/Jared Cook.
— League Winners (@league_winner) January 29, 2021
I say this as a Raiders fan that got to experience Todd Downing as a offensive coordinator: RIP Titans offense. https://t.co/j5dqt1Xizy
— David (@AmazinDavey) January 29, 2021
