The Tennessee Titans made a splash on Friday when word broke that the team had reached an agreement to hire former Kansas City Chiefs assistant general manager Mike Borgonzi as their new general manager. 

When they set out on their search, president of football operations Chad Brinker stated that the organization was looking for a dedicated football man. That is exactly what they found in Borgonzi. 

Viewed as one of the top general manager candidates in this hiring cycle, the Titans landing Borgonzi was a home run hire. A longtime member of the Chiefs front office, he has experience in every aspect of football operations and had a loud voice in draft preparations.

Borgonzi has lived a footballing life. He went from All-Conference Ivy League fullback to college coach to NFL scout and now general manager. Hired in 2009 by the Chiefs, his stay crossed multiple regimes in many front office capacities. Now all of those experiences, along with his history with the Chiefs, should help transform the culture in Tennessee. 

His ability as a talent evaluator should also give the Titans a huge boost. During his time as director of player personnel, the Chiefs built their championship roster, including landing cornerstones Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones early in the draft. While those were high draft picks, the Chiefs excelled in the later rounds as well, picking up impactful players such as Isiah Pacheco under his watch. 

Borgonzi is also well-respected in league circles and his addition should give the Titans some added respect across the NFL. Important for a team struggling to find stability and success. 

Tennessee has a lot of work ahead of them to improve from the 3-14 mess that took the field in 2024. Armed with the No. 1 overall selection in the 2025 NFL draft and having roughly $55 million in cap space should give Borgonzi plenty of ammunition to start building the Titans into a contender.  

The Tennessee Titans hired Mike Borgonzi as their General Manager on Friday evening. A former four-time All-Ivy league fullback at Brown, he spent from 2009-2024 with the Kansas City Chiefs. Borgonzi worked under Scott Pioli, John Dorsey, and Brett Veach during his time in Kansas City.

Borgonzi and the Titans agreed to a five-year deal, which will put him in Nashville until 2029, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. He goes from aiming for a three-peat with the Chiefs to now having the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk delivered a statement on Borgonzi. “Mike’s experience speaks for itself: he has been part of the core team that delivered four AFC championships and three Super Bowls over the past five seasons,” she said. “It’s the type of standard I want to build here in Tennessee. I know we have a lot of work ahead of us, and I’m excited for Mike to get started.”

Borgonzi has a very close relationship with Titans President of Football Operations Chad Brinker. “During Mike’s 16 years in the league, he has been a key part of transforming the Chiefs from a two-win team to a three-time Super Bowl champion,” Brinker said. “During our meetings, he articulated a clear plan to build a championship standard in Nashville through consistency, discipline, and hard work. I’ve admired him for many years, and I’m thrilled to add him to the team as our general manager.”

Borgonzi started with the Chiefs in 2009 and worked for several years in their scouting department. He was the director of player personnel in 2015 and their director of football operations in 2018. Over the span of those two promotions, the Chiefs became one of the league’s most consistent contenders. Soon after that, they became the most dominant team in the National Football League, with Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes fueling their ascension to the top.

Brinker and the Titans conducted 10 initial interviews for the position between Jan. 10-13.

The Titans were one of three GM vacancies this offseason, along with the New York Jets and Las Vegas Raiders.

Duke transfer running back Star Thomas has spent the last 24 hours in Knoxville visiting Tennessee. After the trip, Volquest caught up with him to discuss where things stand in his recruitment.

“I enjoyed everything about it,” Thomas said. “Really the coaches and how everything was organized. How they were just honest and true about everything. I really loved it and loved everything about it and Knoxville so we shall see.”

He was able to spend time with running backs coach De’Rail Sims and those two talked about how he would fit into the running back room and the offense.

“He was real and honest about a lot of things,” Thomas said, “He didn’t sugarcoat anything. That’s what I want to be around my last year. Just being around it and seeing there is no faking. It was real from the start.”

So where do things go from here for Thomas? He has no other trips planned after visiting UCF and Tennessee. He loved what he found on Rocky Top.

“Really just relationships and being around the coaches,” Thomas said. “Getting to know coach Heupel, funny guy and being around the running back coach. Just being around the staff and they really showed they liked me and wanted me.”

Watch the full interview below.

Understanding the portal

The winter transfer portal window runs from December 9-28. The spring portal window runs from April 16-25.

Players don’t have to pick a school they are going to during those specific dates but those are the span of dates on when a player can enter the portal.

Those dates don’t apply to graduate transfers who can enter the portal whenever they wish. Also, if there’s a head coaching change, their players are granted an immediate 30-day window during which they can enter the portal. 

Of note, any team playing in a game after Dec 28 (playoffs or regular bowl) gets a five-day window once season ends for those player to enter portal.

So, say a team loses in the CFP first round on Dec 20/21? Their transfer portal window wouldn’t be affected as the regular window ends more than five days after that loss.

Players who enter the portal in the winter window are trying to be somewhere for the spring semester. 

For Tennessee the spring semester starts on January 21which is late compared to many schools around the country. Tennessee a year ago started a winter mini-term class that runs the first three weeks of January. 

Tennessee has benefitted from the portal

The transfer portal can giveth and it can taketh away. For Josh Heupel it’s been much more of a positive than a negative for the Vols when you look at the 2024 season. 

Left tackle Lance Heard has been a fixture on an offense line that has helped the Vols rush for over 2700 yards. Tight end Miles Kitselman has been a terrific portal grab because he is the leader of the tight end room. A room that also includes transfer Holden Staes. 

Defensively, Jermod McCoy has been the best transfer Tennessee has gotten. McCoy is having an All-American season. 

In total, Tennessee added 10 transfers for the current 2024 roster.