Tennessee
Here are Tennessee’s connections to Super Bowl 60, including 20 from Titans
Former Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel reaching Super Bowl 60 made big news as soon as Vrabel’s new team, the New England Patriots, earned a berth against the Seattle Seahawks.
Just two years after being fired by the Titans, Vrabel has the Patriots in the 2026 Super Bowl, which will be played on Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Vrabel is not the only person with Tennessee ties who will participate in the Super Bowl. He will be joined by many other former Titans players, coaches, and front-office officials.
Other Tennessee ties in the Super Bowl include college players and coaches from Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee State, and Memphis, as well as other colleges and high schools in the state.
Here’s a detailed list of some of the state’s connections for Super Bowl 60 (5:30 p.m. CT, NBC):
New England Patriots
Julian Ashby, long snapper (Vanderbilt): Ashby has played in every game this season. He had one tackle in the conference championship win over the Broncos, giving him three on the season.
Scott Booker, safeties coach (Titans): After serving as a defensive assistant in his first two years (2018-19) with the Titans, Booker was promoted to safeties coach for his final four years (2020-23).
Thomas Brown, tight ends coach/passing game coordinator (Chattanooga): Brown was the running backs coach at Chattanooga in 2012.
Tony Dews, RBs coach (Titans): Dews was the running backs coach at Tennessee from 2018-22 and then the tight ends coach in 2023.
Joshua Dobbs, quarterback (Tennessee Vols, Titans): Dobbs played for the Tennessee Vols (2013-16) and the Titans (2022). In his ninth NFL season, he has played in four games, completing 7 of 10 passes for 65 yards.
Todd Downing, wide receivers coach (Titans): After spending four seasons as the Titans’ tight ends coach (2019-20), Downing was promoted to offensive coordinator (2021-22).
Jack Gibbens, linebacker (Titans): As the Patriots’ third-leading tackler, Gibbens has 96 total stops, a sack, and eight tackles for loss.
Antonio Gibson, running back (Memphis): Gibson suffered a season-ending injury in October. He rushed for 106 yards and scored a TD prior to the injury.
Justin Hamilton, cornerbacks coach (Titans): Hamilton began his NFL career as a defensive quality control coach with the Titans in 2023.
Darius Harris, linebacker (MTSU): Harris, who has played in three Super Bowls, signed with the practice squad in September. He was placed on injured reserve on Nov. 18 with an undisclosed injury.
Austin Hooper, tight end (Titans): Hooper has played in all but one game and has 22 catches for 277 yards and two TDs.
Jason Houghtaling, assistant OL coach (Titans): Houghtaling landed his first NFL job with the Titans as assistant offensive line coach in 2021 and was promoted to offensive line coach in 2023.
Zak Kuhr, inside linebackers coach (Titans): Kuhr was promoted from defensive quality control coach at Tennessee in 2020 to the inside linebackers coach role.
Harold Landry III, linebacker (Titans): Landry leads the Patriots in sacks with 8.5 and has 49 tackles. He has 10 total tackles for loss.
Riley Larkin, offensive assistant (MTSU): Larkin spent the 2022 season on MTSU coach Rick Stockstill’s staff. He was also on the coaching staff at Ravenwood High (2019-20).
Doug Marrone, offensive line coach (Tennessee Vols): Marrone was the tight ends and offensive line coach at UT in 2001. His wife, Helen, is the daughter of former MTSU coach and athletic director Boots Donnelly.
Clint McMillan, defensive line coach (Titans): After spending four seasons in various defensive roles with the Titans, McMillan joined the Patriots staff in 2025.
Milton Patterson, defensive assistant (Titans): Patterson completed a coaching internship with the Tennessee Titans (2023) as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Fellowship.
Kobee Minor, defensive back (Memphis): Minor has played in four games and recorded one tackle.
Robert Spillane, linebacker (Titans): Spillane is the Patriots’ leading tackler with 111. He has four tackles for loss and two interceptions.
John Streicher, VP of football operations/strategy (Titans): Streicher spent six seasons (2018-23) with the Titans in various roles on Vrabel’s staff.
Darrell Taylor, defensive end (Tennessee Vols): After playing for the Seahawks (2020-23), Chicago Bears (2024), and Houston Texans (2025), Taylor joined the Patriots practice squad earlier this month.
Terrell Williams, defensive coordinator (Titans): Williams spent six seasons with the Titans as a defensive assistant before leaving for a position with the Detroit Lions in 2024. He took a leave as the Patriots DC after being diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this season.
Tom Quinn, assistant special teams coach (Titans): Quinn arrived as the Titans’ assistant special teams coach in 2023 and became the special teams coordinator after Craig Aukerman was fired.
Mike Vrabel, coach (Titans): In his first season as New England’s coach, Vrabel, who spent six seasons with the Titans, has led the Patriots to a 17-3 record, including a 10-7 victory over the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game.
Seattle Seahawks
Rob Caprice, defensive intern (Tennessee Vols): After spending three seasons as a defensive assistant at UT, Caprice joined the Seahawks staff in 2024.
Quandre Diggs, safety (Titans): Diggs spent five seasons with the Seahawks and then two with the Titans before returning to Seattle in November. He is currently on the practice squad.
Devin Fitzsimmons, defensive assistant (Vanderbilt): Fitzsimmons was the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at Vanderbilt (2019-20) on coach Derek Mason’s staff.
Velus Jones Jr., running back (Tennessee Vols): After playing in three regular-season games, Jones was elevated from the practice squad for the divisional round win over San Francisco. He has 42 yards on 10 carries this season.
Frisman Jackson, wide receivers coach (Titans): Jackson spent the 2017 season as the Titans’ wide receivers coach on Mike Mularkey’s staff.
Quinshon Odom, offensive assistant (Vanderbilt): Odom, who also serves as the quality control offensive line coach, was an offensive graduate assistant at Vanderbilt (2016-17) and then offensive quality control coach (2019-20).
Justin Outten, run game specialist/assistant offensive line (Titans): Otten was hired by the Seahawks on Feb. 18, 2025, after spending the last two seasons as the Titans’ running backs coach.
Kenneth Walker III, running back (Arlington High School): A second-round pick by the Seahawks in 2022, Walker is the team’s leading rusher with 1,205 yards and nine TDs.
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Things went sideways quickly at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Friday as the No. 4 Texas Longhorns fell into an early hole and never recovered in a 5-1 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers that included another shoulder injury sustained by junior second baseman Ethan Mendoza.
After spending 15 games last year as the designated hitter following a shoulder injury sustained diving for a ground ball, Mendoza left the game in the first inning on a similar play, leaving head coach Jim Schlossnagle without much optimism that the Arizona State transfer will be able to return to action this weekend.
Without Mendoza in the lineup, Texas struggled at the plate against Tennessee ace Tegan Kuhns, who recorded a career-high 15 strikeouts in seven innings. Throwing 113 pitches, Kuhns allowed just four hits and one walk in his scoreless outing as the Horns ultimately struck out 19 times, leaving the bottom of the order without much production — sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez struck out all four times he came to the plate and junior designated hitter Ashton Larson, junior infielder Casey Borba, and freshman center fielder Maddox Monsour all struck out three times apiece.
Junior right fielder Aiden Robbins did have two hits — a double and a solo home run in the eighth inning — but didn’t receive help from the rest of the lineup.
And sophomore left-hander Dylan Volantis looked human, a rare occurrence in his sterling career in burnt orange and white, allowing RBI doubles in the first and second innings and giving up another second-inning run on a wild pitch. Volantis recovered to throw three scoreless innings before redshirt senior right-hander Cody Howard pitched the final three innings, giving up two runs on two hits.
Texas tries to bounce back on Saturday with first pitch at 5 p.m. Central on SEC Network+.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – State Rep. Antonio Parkinson says Tennessee’s two blue cities, Memphis and Nashville, should break away and form their own state.
“I don’t think the state of Tennessee deserves a Memphis and Shelby County…or a Nashville, Davidson County,” Parkinson said on Action News 5’s A Better Memphis broadcast Friday.
Parkinson proposed creating a new state called West Tennessee, which would span from the eastern border of Nashville’s Davidson County to the Mississippi River.
“I’m not just talking about Memphis, I’m talking about the eastern border of Nashville, Davidson County and everything to the Mississippi River to create a new state called the new state of West Tennessee, the 51st state, West Tennessee,” Parkinson said.
Proposal follows new congressional map
Parkinson’s secession pitch follows the GOP supermajority approving a new congressional map Thursday that splits Shelby County into three districts, dismantling what was the state’s only majority-Black district.
“So this is about accountability. We’re paying all of this money, yet you remove our voice, so that is taxation without self-determination, taxation without actual representation,” Parkinson said.
Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton denies race was a factor when Republicans redrew the map.
“Look, at the end of the day we were able to draw a map based on population and based on politics, we did not use any racial data,” Sexton told Action News 5.
Sexton said Democrats did the same thing in the 1990s when they split Shelby County into three different congressional districts.
Secession requires state, federal approval
For Memphis to secede, it requires approval from the State of Tennessee and the U.S. Congress.
Parkinson said he’s willing to fight that uphill battle.
“Why should we stay in an abusive relationship where they’ve shown us the pattern over and over and over…where they do not see our value, and do not care about us,” Parkinson said.
This is not the first time Parkinson has suggested Memphis secede from Tennessee. He made the same call in 2018 after the Republican-controlled state legislature punished Memphis, cutting the city’s funding by $250,000, in retaliation for removing two Confederate statutes.
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