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The Tennessee Titans didn’t wait long to replace the fired Mike Munchak at head coach, hiring Ken Whisenhunt who spent last season as the offensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers and previously was the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
Whisenhunt and the Chargers were just knocked out of the playoffs in a loss to the Denver Broncos. He had the Detroit Lions prepared to send a team to further the negotiations with him, but Whisenhunt asked the Lions to put that on hold until he concluded his business with the Chargers. From there he went and closed the deal with the Titans, who were also interviewing Mike Zimmer, the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions.
Whisenhunt spent six seasons as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, posting a 45-51 record. He made the playoffs twice – in the 2008 season, leading the team to the Super Bowl where they lost to the Steelers and once again to the postseason in 2009, losing in the Divisional game. After Kurt Warner retired, he struggled rebuilding his offense, resulting in three seasons with only 18 wins. He was let go after 2012, as the Cardinals lost 11 of their last 12 games.
He spent 2013 as the offensive coordinator for the San Diego Chargers and partially credited for Philip Rivers coming back from two awful seasons to put on his most complete overall performance yet, which included bringing the Chargers back to the playoffs after three consecutive failures.
Whisenhunt seemed to be the leading candidate to the Detroit position, but some raised doubts about his fit because of his love for the 3-4 defense while the Lions have been drafting players to match the 4-3 scheme.
The Titans fired Munchak after he’s been part of the organization as a player and coach for over 30 years, posting a 22-26 record during his time as HC. The Lions will now move on to focus on Jim Caldwell, while Gary Kubiak is also an option. Mike Zimmer is also holding interviews with the Minnesota Vikings.