NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans already had the No. 1 overall draft pick. Now, Mike Borgonzi will help them figure out what to do with that selection in April.
The Titans announced Friday they hired the Kansas City assistant general manager as their 15th general manager.
The franchise moved quickly after starting virtual interviews on Jan. 10 with 10 candidates over four days. The second round began Tuesday with two candidates over three days to replace Ran Carthon, fired last week after the franchise went 9-25 in his two seasons as general manager.
Borgonzi becomes the Titans' third GM since January 2016. This hiring comes two years to the date that Tennessee hired Carthon for a franchise now desperate to end a skid of three straight losing seasons.
Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk said Borgonzi’s experience speaks for itself, pointing to the Chiefs' accomplishments just over the past five seasons.
“It’s the type of standard I want to build here in Tennessee,” Strunk said in a statement. “I know we have a lot of work ahead of us and I’m excited for Mike to get started.”
She was part of the group that met with Borgonzi in person. Others included Chad Brinker, president of football operations; Burke Nihill, the Titans president and CEO; and Brian Callahan, who just finished his first season as head coach in Tennessee. Brinker said he has admired Borgonzi’s work for years and liked the detailed plan Borgonzi had for the Titans.
“Mike should have been a general manager two years ago,” Brinker said. “He is ready for this job. ... And this was the place that he wanted to be. When he came in the building, he said it just felt like a family here, and it reminded him a little bit of Kansas City and what they have been able to build there.”
Borgonzi will be introduced at a news conference next week. He was among two candidates who interviewed virtually Sunday. Borgonzi, who also interviewed with the New York Jets for their GM opening, had his second interview with the Titans on Wednesday.
He joins the Titans after 16 seasons with the Chiefs, who enter Saturday's divisional round as the AFC's No. 1 seed and the two-time defending Super Bowl champs. Kansas City has played in four of the past five Super Bowls with three victories since January 2020.
Borgonzi had been in his last role with Kansas City under Brett Veach since 2021, supervising and directing the Chiefs’ college and professional scouting operations while also helping build the roster. A four-year starter at fullback for Brown, Borgonzi has served in several roles since joining the Chiefs in 2009. He most recently served as Kansas City’s director of football operations for three years before being promoted to his current role.
His brother Dave currently is Chicago’s linebackers coach. The native of Everett, Massachusetts, was assistant recruiting coordinator at Boston College between 2007 and 2008 with the team winning the Atlantic Coast Conference title twice. Before that, Borgonzi worked in business and was tight ends coach at Amherst College in 2002.
The Titans already decided to stick with Callahan after a 3-14 record in his first season. Borgonzi's hiring comes a week before the East-West Shrine Bowl on Jan. 25, followed by the Senior Bowl on Feb. 1, allowing the Titans to be at full strength scouting draft-eligible talent.
Titans offensive assistant Payton McCollum, who helped wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert during the 2024 season, will be the quarterbacks coach at the East-West Shrine Bowl. He'll be coaching quarterbacks on the West team, whose roster includes Shedeur Sanders of Colorado — a contender for the top pick in the April draft.
Will Levis, the 33rd overall pick in 2023, is Tennessee’s only quarterback under contract for the 2025 season. He was benched for too many turnovers in his second season before splitting snaps with backup Mason Rudolph in the season finale.
Spotrac.com also ranks Tennessee 11th in the NFL with approximately $55 million in projected salary cap space. That combined with the top pick among eight current draft selections gives the Titans plenty of flexibility to work on a team that matched the 2014 season for the most losses since this franchise left Texas for Tennessee in 1997.
The Titans strung together six straight winning seasons between 2016 and 2021 with a 68-38 record and a .608 winning percentage that tied for eighth-best in the NFL. During that span, they won two AFC South titles, went to the AFC title game and lost to the Chiefs in January 2020 and were the AFC’s No. 1 seed in 2021.
The Titans are 16-35 since — tied with Arizona for the third-worst winning percentage at .314. ___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press
