The Tennessee Titans have secured Dennard Wilson as their new defensive coordinator, a move reportedly confirmed by NFL reporter Jordan Schultz, as well as ESPN’s Dan Graziano and Turron Davenport. According to Friday’s report by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, contractual terms between Wilson and the Titans have been finalized.
The team had previously hired Brian Callahan as the head coach, replacing Mike Vrabel. Additionally, they’ve been in talks with Thad Lewis, the quarterbacks coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Nick Holz, the passing-game coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars, regarding the vacant offensive coordinator position. Furthermore, the Titans have expressed interest in interviewing Eric Studesville, the associate head coach and running backs coach for the Miami Dolphins, for the offensive coordinator role.
The Ravens have experienced significant changes in their coaching staff this offseason, notably losing defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald to the Seattle Seahawks, where he assumed the position of head coach. The team may undergo additional modifications in Baltimore, as their impressive performance in the past season has drawn attention from other teams across the league.
Regarding Wilson, the 41-year-old had a brief stint in the NFL as a player before transitioning into coaching. His coaching career includes roles such as defensive quality control coach (2012-2014) and defensive backs coach (2015-2016) for the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams.
He then served as the defensive backs coach (2017-2018) and took on the roles of both defensive backs coach and passing-game coordinator (2019-2020) for the New York Jets. Wilson served as the defensive backs coach (2021) and took on both defensive backs coach and passing-game coordinator duties for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022. In the most recent season, he was the defensive backs coach for the Baltimore Ravens.
Philadelphia experienced a degree of astonishment before the 2023 season when Nick Sirianni opted for an external choice, Sean Desai, as the defensive coordinator instead of promoting Wilson from the existing coaching staff to succeed Jonathan Gannon. However, Desai later relinquished his play-calling responsibilities to Matt Patricia, and in the current offseason, the Eagles brought in Vic Fangio to assume the role of defensive coordinator.
In Tennessee, Wilson has been given the opportunity to lead a defense, assuming control of a unit that ranked 16th in points allowed (21.6 PPG) and 18th in yardage (335.1 YPG).
The Titans are placing their trust in the promise of Callahan and Wilson, both of whom lack prior experience as a head coach or defensive coordinator. This marks a new chapter for Tennessee as they construct their team around the youthful quarterback Will Levis, with Wilson now having the responsibility of enhancing the defensive aspect of the game.
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