Regardless of what the Tennessee Titans hoped to do over the last two seasons, their expectations were dashed by an offensive line that was understocked and undercoached.
For the last two seasons, the Tennessee Titans had no idea what to do on the offensive line, whether it was replacing Dennis Daley with Andre Dillard, refusing to consider Peter Skoronski at left tackle, failing to deploy Dillon Radunz appropriately, or playing Aaron Brewer over Corey Levin.
Tennessee Titans fans have been praying for all of the offensive line failures to end, and Zach Piller might have just given them the answer to their prayers.
On Thursday, Piller went on the radio in Nashville (104.5) and talked with the crew for an hour. Late into his conversation, he said something that fans have been dreaming of hearing for years. He said that on his weekly group video call with Mike Munchak and Bruce Matthews, Munchak said that he wants to get back into coaching.
There is even more good news because, despite hard feelings between Munchak and past ownership, Piller said that Munchak likes Nashville and wouldn’t have any problems coaching for the Tennessee Titans despite Tommy Smith firing him as head coach.
That is a bombshell because Mike Munchak would walk into the league and compete with Jeff Stoutland to be considered the best offensive line coach in the NFL.
Munchak routinely got the most out of offensive linemen regardless of whether they were future Hall of Famers (like Kevin Mawae) or if they were guys that weren’t drafted until Day 3 of the draft (like David Stewart).
Under Munchak, the Tennessee Titans routinely had one of the best offensive lines in the NFL and they did it without using premium picks on the position every year. After watching half of the league (including the Titans) try and fail to find and develop linemen each year, that quality has never seemed more appealing.
For example, Mike Munchak was the Tennessee Titans OL coach from 1997-2010. Over those 14 seasons, the Tennessee Titans spent ZERO first-round picks on the offensive line. Even crazier, the Titans only spent two top-100 picks on the offensive line during that stretch and that was for Zach Piller and Pro Bowl left tackle Michael Roos.
It has been reported that Munchak quickly gained enough respect in the organization to be involved in draft discussions on offensive linemen. His vote of confidence in an offensive lineman carried a lot of weight, and he is at least partially responsible for some great hits on Day 3:
-Benji Olsen, 5th round pick, 9-year starter
-Kevin Long, 7th round pick, 2-year starter (started in the Super Bowl but retired just four years after being drafted)
-Justin Hartwig, 6th round pick, 6-year starter
-Eugene Amano, 7th round pick, 4-year starter
-Jacob Bell, 5th round pick, 7-year starter
-David Stewart, 4th round pick, 8-year starter
-Leroy Harris, 4th round pick, 3-year starter
It is nearly impossible to hit like that on Day 3 offensive linemen, but Munchak knew what he was looking for and once the Tennessee Titans drafted them, he knew how to coach them up. It was a collaborative effort between Munchak and the GM (see what I did there Amy Adams Strunk/Ran Carthon?).
No matter who the Tennessee Titans hire as the next head coach, they need to show up to Mike Munchak’s doorstep and throw as much money as they can at him. Getting him to come back and work with Peter Skoronski and the influx of talent the Titans are going to be getting on the offensive line this season would speed up this rebuild by at least a year.
Imagine pairing one of the young, hot-shot OCs with the best offensive line coach in the NFL for a decade. That should be the vision that Amy Adams Strunk and Ran Carthon have for the future of this franchise.
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