Tennessee

Titans conduct head coaching interview with Mike Macdonald, Antonio Pierce

Published

2 years ago

January 14, 2024

Titans conduct head coaching interview with Mike Macdonald, Antonio Pierce

The Tennessee Titans have completed an interview with Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald per a team announcement Saturday night, getting the opportunity to talk to one of the NFL’s youngest and brightest defensive minds.

The interview with Macdonald comes after the Titans have also completed interviews with Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and Las Vegas Raiders interim coach Antonio Pierce. The Titans have reportedly requested the opportunity to speak to as many as nine candidates to fill the vacancy left after firing former coach Mike Vrabel on Jan. 9.

HOT BOARD: 15 Tennessee Titans coaching candidates after Mike Vrabel fired, from Jim Harbaugh to Jim Schwartz

Get to know Mike Macdonald

At just 36 years old, Macdonald has quickly risen through the coaching ranks thanks in large part to his relationships with famous coaching brothers John and Jim Harbaugh. Macdonald’s first NFL coaching gig came in 2014 when he landed with the Ravens as a coaching intern. Over the next six years he rose through the ranks in Baltimore from defensive assistant to defensive backs coach to linebackers coach.

He gained his first experience as a coordinator when he jumped to the college ranks in 2021 and took over as defensive coordinator at Michigan under Jim Harbaugh. Michigan improved from 95th in scoring defense in 2020 to eighth in 2021, with Macdonald’s defense helping lead the Wolverines to a Big Ten title and College Football Playoff berth.

Macdonald returned to Baltimore the next year as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator and has experienced even more success. In 2022, the Ravens ranked top-five in the NFL in points allowed, third down conversion rate allowed, red zone defense and rushing yards allowed per game and per play. The unit was arguably even better in 2023, allowing the fewest points per game and yards per pass attempt in the NFL while leading the league in takeaways and ranked top-five in sack rate.

COLLABORATION TIME: The Tennessee Titans want more collaboration from its new coach. What that approach could look like

One thing that made the Ravens’ defensive success in 2023 so remarkable was the caliber of opponent it came against. Miami, San Francisco and Detroit all had top-five scoring offenses in the NFL this season; Baltimore went 3-0 against them, holding those teams to 19, 19 and 6 points respectively. The Ravens constricted Detroit’s high-flying offense by holding it to its second-fewest number of yards and first downs on the season and turned the normally efficient Dolphins and 49ers offenses into mistake machines, forcing eight turnovers across two games.

Just like at Michigan, Macdonald reinvigorated a Ravens defense that had struggled prior to his taking over at coordinator. The 2021 Ravens ranked 19th in the NFL in points allowed, 25th in yards allowed per game and last in the league in yards allowed per play.

Get to know Antonio Pierce

The Raiders promoted Pierce to interim head coach with nine games left in the 2023 season and Pierce led the team to a 5-4 record, including a win over the Kansas City Chiefs and a dominant 63-21 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.

Before his interim stint, Pierce had been the Raiders’ linebackers coach since 2022. Prior to that Pierce worked at Arizona State for four seasons, serving as linebackers coach, recruiting coordinator, defensive coordinator and associate head coach at various times. He began his coaching career at the high school level, working as the head coach at Long Beach Poly in California, the school famous for churning out future NFL stars such as DeSean Jackson, Willie McGinest, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Titans legend Jurrell Casey.

Pierce played linebacker in the NFL from 2001-09, starting his career in Washington before gaining notoriety playing for the New York Giants from 2005 through the end of his career. Pierce helped lead the Giants to a win over the unbeaten New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII and earned a Pro Bowl berth in 2006. Pierce started 94 games in his nine pro seasons, logging 691 tackles, including four years where he surpassed 100.

The Raiders averaged 7.1 more points and 40.1 more yards per game and allowed an average of 7.4 fewer points per game and 7.7 fewer yards per game after Pierce took over as interim than in the first eight games of the season under previous coach Josh McDaniels.

The Titans are the only team other than the Raiders who have reportedly reached out to interview Pierce.

About the Tennessee Titans coaching search

Per NFL rules, the Titans may only conduct virtual interviews with all coaching candidates employed by another organization until the end of the second round of the NFL playoffs. The Titans are free to interview any candidate not currently employed by an NFL organization at any time and have been able to conduct virtual interviews with employees of teams that missed the postseason since three days after the completion of the regular season. The team will be allowed to conduct virtual interviews with coaches on teams that made the playoffs three days after their first playoff game ends.

TIMELINE: 11 dominoes that led to Mike Vrabel being fired as Tennessee Titans coach

This is the Titans’ first coaching search in six years. Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk dismissed Vrabel citing a want for the franchise to improve its collaboration and alignment between ownership, the front office and the coaching staff.

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nicksuss.

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Tennessee

Deputies perform ‘life-saving measures’ after 5-year-old falls into swimming pool in Tennessee

Published

7 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Deputies perform ‘life-saving measures’ after 5-year-old falls into swimming pool in Tennessee

FAYETTEVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – A Tennessee sheriff’s office is asking the community to pray for a family whose 5-year-old was hospitalized after falling into a swimming pool.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said deputies and family members were “administering life-saving measures” Thursday afternoon after pulling the child out of the water.

The child was then transferred to a hospital, where they are still being treated.

“The child was subsequently transported to the hospital, where they are currently receiving medical care‚” said a Facebook post from the sheriff’s office. “Out of respect for the family’s privacy, no further details will be released at this time.”

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Tennessee

Why first quarter was ‘crucial’ in Mississippi State’s loss to Tennessee

Published

19 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Why first quarter was ‘crucial’ in Mississippi State’s loss to Tennessee

Sam Purcell felt good about the game plan for Mississippi State women’s basketball’s matchup with Tennessee.

But the Bulldogs gave up 26 points in the first quarter and trailed by seven points. It was a deficit they never recovered from in a 90-80 loss to the Lady Vols at Humphrey Coliseum on Jan. 8.

“You look at that that first quarter, I thought it was crucial. We had a great scout, a great game plan, but we didn’t talk on ball screens,” Purcell said. “Their largest quarter was that first quarter, and we’re going to watch back and go, dang it, we need to be more vocal. And you got to give them credit – top to bottom, they’re probably as good as anybody in the country with athleticism. So you can’t let those athletic kids turn the corner for wide open layups, and we did.”

Kharyssa Richardson and Madison Francis led the Bulldogs with 22 points each, but MSU didn’t have enough defense to pull off the upset.

Had Mississippi State been able to slow down Tennessee’s drivers in the first quarter, it may have been a different result. But once the Bulldogs started slowing that down, the Lady Vols were “phenomenal hitting some big-time shots,” Purcell said.

Tennessee only had the edge in points in the paint, 42-40, but it also went 10-for-27 on 3-pointers, which was an area Mississippi State couldn’t match. The Bulldogs shot 2-for-13 from deep.

MSU also couldn’t stop Tennessee freshman point guard Mia Pauldo, who scored a game-high 26 points on 8-for-12 shooting. The Bulldogs sent her to the foul line time and time again, and she went 8-for-9 on free throws.

“I thought (Pauldo) was poised, she was clutch,” Purcell said. “Obviously, that’s what you need in games like this that are gonna come down the to the wire. You need players to step up, and I thought she was the X factor for them.”

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Tennessee

Former Tennessee Football Legend Accepts SEC Coaching Gig

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Former Tennessee Football Legend Accepts SEC Coaching Gig

The Tennessee Volunteers have been one of the main teams when it comes to producing talent and sending talent to the NFL, which is something that has often been discovered as a standard for the football program. This is something that has been going on for quite some time and isn’t anything new to the news cycle, as the Vols have been able to produce plenty of talented prospects.

Tennessee is the home of many stars, including some of the best defensive players in SEC history. Guys like Eric Berry have found their way through the Tennessee program and onto the NFL, where they would have legendary careers. However, the defensive side of the football is the only side that has produced plenty of talent, as Tennessee has produced a lot of offensive talent as well. With the likes of Peyton Manning and company, the Vols have shown a great track record in getting talent drafted.

The Vols have produced someone who could be considered as one of the best players to play the Tide end position, as the Knoxville, Tennessee program is the home to Dallas Cowboys legend, Jason Witten. Witten is someone who made the most of his career and has been viewed as a top player at the Tide in position, and someone who is often referred to as a legend for the Cowboys, along with being a legend in the game of football as a whole.

Jason Witten Accepts TE Coach Position For Oklahoma

Oct 10, 2010; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten (82) on the phone in the bench area in the fourth quarter against the Tennessee Titans at Cowboys Stadium. The Titans beat the Cowboys 34-27. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images | Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images

Witten is now taking a new gig, which has him in a huge role inside the Southeastern Conference. The Vols legend is now the tight end coach for the Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners have had some success out of their tight ends in the past, but the sky is the limit with a guy like Witten coaching up the players. Witten has the opportunity to do really well, as coaching tight ends won’t be an issue, and you have to imagine that he will be able to recruit very well, considering he has a huge name around him, as this is something that we have seen from positional coaches as well as head coaches who have done great work in the league. You have to imagine that the Vols will now have stiff competition for his son, Cooper, who is a five-star recruit for the upcoming 2027 class at the linebacker position.