Column: What The Jon Robinson Firing Says About The Future Of Titans Ownership

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Titans controling owner Amy Adams Strunk at the team’s training camp. Photo: Courtesy of the Tennessee Titans

Shocking many in the Titans and NFL world, Tennessee Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk fired general manager Jon Robinson earlier this week after signing him to a four year contract extension in February.

This move came after the Titans suffered back-to-back losses to the Bengals and the Eagles, who beat the Titans 35-10. This loss added insult to injury seeing as the Eagles won with the help of former Titan AJ Brown who Robinson traded in a controversial move during the 2022 NFL Draft.

There’s a lot you can unpack when looking at Robinson’s seven-year tenure with the Titans–good moves, bad moves, sustained success, and sustained mediocrity–but the most surprising part of this move was the timing.

Not many teams would fire their GM in the middle of the season while they still tout a winning record, are ranked first in their division, and are coming off back-to-back division titles.

And let’s not forget that the ink is still wet on his four-year contract extension.

Head coach Mike Vrabel made it clear in a press conference on Wednesday (Dec. 7) that he was not part of the conversation regarding Robinson’s future with the team, and that he learned of his termination the same day the public did.

All of this truly begs the question: Why fire Robinson? Furthermore, why fire him in the middle of a season that’s far from being over?

When you look at what’s been going on with the Titans this past year in regards to their stadium issues, they have been the topic in not only the sports world, but the front page of most news publications.

The city and state are helping fund a brand new $2.8 billion stadium for the Titans after months of speculation and even whispers of relocation if the city wouldn’t help. Under this new lease, the Titans and the NFL will have to pay for any and all upgrades and renovations for the new stadium.

Now, lets look at the team.

The past few seasons, the Titans have found themselves back into relevancy with a few playoff wins, AFC South titles and with the major success of Derrick Henry. However, its hard to celebrate this success without attributing it to Robinson who drafted Henry, hired Vrabel and eventually traded for Ryan Tannehill, who’s been QB1 for the past three seasons.

The Titans were the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC last season but lost in the first round to the Cincinnati Bengals, choking in humiliating fashion behind a poor offensive performance. The team proved it had a championship window and that it needed more to be a team that could beat Kansas City or Buffalo for an AFC Title.

Sadly, Robinson went on to trade their best offensive weapon in Brown to the Eagles, who are currently the best team in all of the NFL.

Along with a few very poor drafts, the Titans window of being a Super Bowl contender is closing rapidly.

With this window of opportunity and the media attention on the new stadium, Strunk is making it clear that just making the playoffs is not good enough.

If Nashville is going to build a brand new stadium and make it the crown jewel of the city, the Titans need to be the best they can possibly be to ensure they’re filling the stadium up and keeping the team competitive.

Was the decision to fire Robinson in the middle of the season a bit impatient? Maybe, but it’s hard to deny that Strunk and the ownership group are making a statement. If they want to be the biggest show in town, they have to start building a team that will make them worthy of that name.

Obviously firing Robinson who’t change much for the Titans this season as Vrabel already has a major task at hand with the amount of player injuries, as well as the poor performing offense, but more changes need to come if Strunk wants to continue pushing Vrabel and the Titans in the right direction.

If they want to win, they need to spend money making smart moves and building a front office that is poised to win.

Simply put: Firing Robinson needs to be the first step in many moves to come.

Steven Boero
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