Titans hire Matt LaFleur to run their offense

9:15 AM ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans hired Matt LaFleur as offensive coordinator, selecting their man to run their offense and lead quarterback Marcus Mariota to the next level.

LaFleur, who spent the 2017 season as the Rams offensive coordinator with Jared Goff, left for Tennessee to take a play-calling position, which amounted a promotion.

Rams head coach Sean McVay could have blocked the move, but decided to let LaFleur progress his career.

The Titans also officially announced the hire of briefly retired Dean Pees, 68, as defensive coordinator. Pees spent the last eight seasons with the Ravens, including six as defensive coordinator before retiring on Jan. 1.

Maximizing Mariota and and a talented Titans roster will be a top priority for LaFleur. Tennessee advances to the divisional round of the playoffs this past season, but Mariota took a big step back throwing a career-low 13 passing touchdowns and a career-high 15 interceptions.

Titans general manager Jon Robinson stressed the importance of the relationship between the offensive coordinator, LaFleur, Mariota, the quarterbacks coach, Pat O'Hara, and head coach Mike Vrabel.

LaFleur's work with Jared Goff in L.A. and Matt Ryan in Atlanta makes him an exciting candidate to help advance Mariota in Tennessee.

LaFleur, 38, also helped ignite the Rams offense that went from last in scoring in 2016 to first in 2017. He was the quarterbacks coach during Ryan's MVP 2016 season.

The Titans finished 23rd in total offense and 19th in scoring offense under Mike Mularkey's often predictable exotic smashmouth offense. Terry Robiskie was the play-calling offensive coordinator last season.

Vrabel went with a mixture of experience and youthful energy in filling his coordinator positions.

The Titans are expected to run more collegiate spread scheme to maximize Mariota in 2018. That's something the Rams had success with last season, too.

Let's block ads! (Why?)