Speaker 1: And we appreciate bringing in a guy that is widely
regarded by the seven ninety family. Here, Jonathan Hutton hosts
The Hot Mike with Hunting and Winthrow four to six,
which will be three to five our time on I'll
Kick Network, and Jonathan joins us from Nashville, Tennessee.
Speaker 2: Jonathan's Matt, thank you for joining me.
Speaker 1: Depression level one to ten this year on overall Tennessee
Titans football watching him on a week to week basis.
Speaker 2: Go ahead and give us the honest results.
Speaker 3: I'm so depressed here because there's too much optimism about
Will Levis. Let me put it that way. It's hit
the ten. With the path that they're on. Titan spent
a lot of money in free agency. They had plenty
of promise, at least they thought so with their quarterback.
And they're scoring about seventeen points a game. It's been miserable, empathetic.
Speaker 1: All right, here's the reality, Jonathan. We're not close friends.
I actually liked Will Levis coming out of college. I
know I'm thinking I'm on a minority, and I thought
there was a potential Steel taking him early second round.
Speaker 2: Okay, and at the extra year of the guarantee.
Speaker 1: I just thought putting some professional linement around him not
making some of the silly mistakes. And there are times
if you could watch a highlight film of Will Loves
you know this better anybody else. There are some throws
that he makes that are incredibly accurate, and then he
does one or two dumb ass things per game. Why
does he continue to make those kind of all shucks?
Speaker 2: Oh my god, what the hell is he doing? Moments
per game?
Speaker 3: He's pressing, I mean, and you know he's good for
a turnover game. And the interesting part about the turnovers
is the new head coach, Brian Callahan, he doesn't get
upset with the interceptions, but you're right that the dumb
ass plays is where he's asking, you know, WTF, what
are you thinking whenever he's coming out to the sideline.
Now he has reduced those greatly over the last few weeks.
He's been hurt. He was hurt for a handful of games.
He's back and he's not making the just the idiot turnover.
But they have reduced his role. They have really lessened
the deep shots, the risks, and they've tried to lean
more on a run game. But the problem is they
end up having to throw the football quite a bit
because they trail in these games. And look, you're right
about the moments. You know, he had a ninety eight
yard touchdown pass to Nick Westbrookakine last week from his
own two yard line, and he let it loose. I mean,
you can see the NFL arm. But the problem is
he goes six for six in that third quarter and
does nothing else to help this offense move the football
in the first half or the fourth. So you know,
there's a lot of give and take, but there's a
lot more take. And the problem with all of that
is there's time running out on the evaluation of will Levis,
which ultimately could include him coming back on the roster
next year.
Speaker 1: Brian Callahan's first year there obviously did wonderful things in Cincinnati. Uh,
he doesn't have enough parts right now to run what
that offense was in the Natty correct at this at
this juncture of the franchise.
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, first and foremost, he doesn't have Burrow.
You know, he's got a long list of quarterbacks that
he's worked with. I mean, it's impressive he didn't call
plays in Cincinnati. You know, the Zach Taylor regards him
as one of the one of the top coaches that
he's worked with, that that he's friends with. He brings
his dad, Bill Callahan here to run the offensive line,
and the offense has been and closer to what we
than what Texans fans will will know and notice from
the Mike rabel era. Uh. For for Tennessee, it's it's
been bad man and Matt The thing about what this
offense can and can't do everything, and I've never seen
anything like this. The one position that controls how.
Speaker 2: Bad they are is at right tackle.
Speaker 3: That the the walls cave in around Levis more times
than not, and that one position that they overlooked this
past offseason has come back to really just crater and
derail any momentum that they can try to mustard. They're
really good in starting games, you know, the scripted plays,
they're really good. And beyond that, they're among the NFL's worst.
And I haven't seen improvement in that area. For an
offensive minded head coach with an owner who when she
hired him said she wanted more of the new age
NFL offense, it has been. I mean, it's taking football
back a few years. If you want to watch the Titans.
Speaker 1: Jonathan hunting with us from I'll kick with Us from
Nashville here on the Matt Thomas Show with Ross. So, Jonathan,
how much regret is there that Derek Henry's having this
renaissance in Baltimore and he's not doing it wearing Titan gear.
Speaker 3: The most bizarre thing about that is Titans fans are
pulling for Derrick Henry when he's a Raven and the
reason is they want to see him win. Henry, So
I think the perception is had the Titans given him
the money, he would have stayed, like if all things
equal money, see, I think he wanted to go win,
and the Ravens were the team that tried to trade
for him in the middle of last season, and he
knew that he wanted to go play this in an
RPO offense. And if you watched Henry last year, he's
getting hit in the backfield. He was starting to look
like he was thirty years old. And when you see
him run the football, he didn't look like the same
Derrick Henry that was in the Arthur Smith offense that
was paired with Tannehill. It was bad. And the difference
is the old line that the Titans have really messed
up in drafts of recent years, and that starts up front.
And they lost their run game, but now they're trying
to rely on it because their quarterback, the previously mention
is turning football over. So Henry didn't. He went out
the right way. Very few contracts end up playing out
in total, and he did it here. He had a
farewell speech in the stadium on the microphone after his
final game, and yeah, I think I think Titans fans
are pulling for him to to do the best that
he can to win the title, because that's that's the
one thing that he he says that he wants to
go do before he's done, and I believe him. He's
He's a standout dude, very quiet, goes about his business.
He's a true pro and that's why he's so respected here.
And it still has a spot here. I know he
lives in Texas as well, right And I mean he'll
be lived in the minds of Titans fans because that
was their offense. You know, he was the identity and
the Titans don't have that anymore.
Speaker 2: Uh, you held.
Speaker 1: The defense feels like it's getting a pretty good reputation
around the league. Now, obviously the Lions game is exclusion
because of.
Speaker 2: What they did a few weeks ago.
Speaker 1: But how the hell does this defense even wake up
knowing that they if they don't give up, if they
give up more than say thirteen or sixteen points, are
gonna lose the game because this Titans offense just has
not moved the football down the field at all.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's sudden change moments too. During the season.
You mentioned the Lions game. There's a lot of turnovers
in that game. It's fourteen fourteen, and you see some
big plays happen with the turnovers. The lines lead the league,
I believe, or tied for the Lee league in nineteen takeaways,
you know, and Houston, I know, has been able to turn.
Speaker 2: The football over in recent weeks.
Speaker 3: The sudden change moments, Matt are the reason why the
defense gives up the points. They're put in some really
bad spots. But beyond that, the numbers are a bit misleading.
Speaker 2: When they need to stop.
Speaker 3: But when the Titans offense actually scores, the defense will
give up a long drive when they need a stop
just to get the football back. They haven't been able
to get that drive and get that stop. Now. The
defense is the lease of their worries. They don't have
a pass rush. Their secondary is beaten up and banged up.
The Lugerious Need has been out for a month. Choblougie
is maybe coming back sooner rather than later, but he's
been out for the majority of the season. They're playing
with backups in the secondary, and they're still doing this
through an aggressive style where they're putting pressure on quarterbacks,
not getting sacks, but they're getting off the field and
you know that their offense isn't helping them. I'm surprised
that we haven't seen more finger pointing to this point
because the defense is carried away and they would have
a few more wins if not for the quarterback.
Speaker 1: All Right, So if you're overhauling this team next year,
what are the first two positions you're going for in
the draft?
Speaker 3: Where am I where am I selecting?
Speaker 1: Uh? Well, I would say top four would be fair
to say.
Speaker 3: Okay, I don't think Dion will let Schador play in Nashville.
I think he wants to play it. I think he
wants to be in Vegas. Look, they need right tackle
on edge rusher. I never passed on a quarterback though
they don't have one. They've got a five hundred quarterback
whenever he's at his best and Will Levis and I
think that's probably being more optimistic than I should be
given the evidence that we have. They got a quarterback
coach as a head coach. They need to pair him
with a quarterback that starts. That starts the whole process
of where they're selecting Matt That right tackle is atrocious.
It is a turnstile. You'll see it on Sunday. And
edge rush. They don't have a rush. They don't have
a pass rush. They've got Jeffrey Simmons in the middle
of the defensive line and that's it. They have to
get more pressure on the quarterback to help out a
secondary that is sometimes torched throughout games. And I mean
they draw a penalty. Opponents draw a penalty on the
Titans seven percent of all snaps, which is pretty high
in the in the NFL for this season. So yeah,
they've got to get it. Starts with the quarterback and
on the other side, they have to affect the quarterback.
The Titans do neither.
Speaker 1: All right, Two last questions not about the Titans, or
at least one off the field and one non Titans
is the goalpost still in the river after the event
victory and they pull that bad boy out.
Speaker 3: Yet they pulled it out and they Vanderbilt in the city.
They like cut it up into pieces and then sold
off pieces of it for charity for a fundraiser that
the university did. So I thought that was cool. You know,
the police helped march it down. They led the escort
down Broadway and there was nothing dangerous about that. That
feels to me like that was several miles, correct.
Speaker 2: It was.
Speaker 3: It's two miles, yeah, and also a steep there's a
steep river bank as well. That's not well lit. I
mean it's not much lighting over there in the pitch
darkness because there's no events over there at that time
of night. So I'm surprised as well about about that.
But yeah, no injuries. And look, maybe there's a little
luck going in. Morgan wall and threw a barstool of
a six four balcony at Eric Church's bar on Broadway.
Didn't hit anybody. He's extreme lucky in this case. In
this case, you know, the the goalpost is is uh
is pretty easy compared to other things that will happen
down on the Feral Broadway, as I call it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, lastly, my audience knows this. I grew up as
an Order fan, and when the Orders left Tacoda, Nashville,
I was without a football team. I observed the Texans.
I have a lot of Texans fans that listen, but
I'm just not a per se fan. If they win,
it's great, but if they lose, I have a lot
of I'm a Cougar fan, so I have a lot
of turmol in my life. I've had the Astros lose
World Series and cheating, So I just hear that you're
basically you're like me.
Speaker 2: You're like me.
Speaker 3: I root for the storyline more than.
Speaker 1: You can't take any more to spare, So I'm just
I temper everything. But with that being said, I was
never a fan of Bud Adams as a kid because
I just think he ruined my franchise with poor decisions
and general managers and bad coaching fires. Uh.
Speaker 2: Tell me about Amy Strunk. I know she's looking for
a new stadium there.
Speaker 1: I thought it was a huge insulting that she'd wore
the Order gear against the Texans, because it was a
thumb your nose at Houston and they.
Speaker 2: Got our ass kicked by that.
Speaker 1: Last year she wanted to sue the University Houston for
wearing the Houston Blue which are wearing this Saturday.
Speaker 2: So I'm really not a fan of hers.
Speaker 1: Give me the perception of ownership with its Nashville fans,
and I know at some point you guys want to
get a replacement for Nissan Stadium.
Speaker 2: What's going on with those two situations.
Speaker 3: Well, I'll start with the stadium. The stadium's currently under construction.
They've got it. That's a two point one billion dollars
stadium ownership is contributing seven hundred million. It's amazing what
the owners will get across the league from city and
state governments. It's going to be amazing. So yeah, i'd
be the state of the art and it'll be perfect.
It's literally right beside the current stadium, and you should
be open in twenty twenty seven Super Bowl by twenty thirty,
twenty thirty one, if I had to guess, Amy Adams
Strunk took over after we after what was just pure
misery during the Ken Whizen Hunt era, Bud Adams passed
away Tommy Smith, the son in law, of the husband
of Susie.
Speaker 2: Who were in town.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, yeah.
Speaker 3: It was not good. Yeah, and it was it was
just not good. You know. They took over a team
that they had not been a part of, and from
an ownership standpoint, I'm saying, so, you know, Amy and
as Trunk came in and took over, and they had
them on the path. They went to the Nation Championship game,
made a hire of a guy who was from Tennessee
and John Robinson, who was really the face of the
franchise quite frankly, because he's he's a Tennesseean.
Speaker 2: And it was a dream job.
Speaker 3: She fired him after giving him a raise nine months earlier,
fired him in the middle of the season in December
when the team was seven and five and leading in
the NFC South. Since then they had been awful.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: And and that's you know, due to you know, the
quick trigger of some hiring environs. The same thing with
Mike Rabel And I think that's also a lot of
what Bud would have done, quite frankly.
Speaker 2: And look, I.
Speaker 3: Think the whole Oiler's Blue Blumbia Blue is is more
about the family in the city than it is the team, right,
Like and you would know better than me on that.
But Bud always had a chip on his shoulder when
it came to Houston. You don't the one game you
don't want to lose as a head coach is that
game there this week. They just it's always been one
of those games.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 3: That and that's the one that they circled. It's the
one that Houston circles. I love the rivalry of it,
but there's definitely more than just a rivalry there. There's
a chip on the shoulder, there's some bad blood, and
I think both sides lean into it. I'm not pretty
the full details of you know, the Oiler's history when
Bud had the team there. I know how the team
left and that left a bad taste and everyone's about
that still felt today. So I mean, you're you're you're
a great ample. You have nothing first to bring it
up and ask me, and from this from on this end,
it's really not talked about. Yeah, unless you walk through
the facility. There's a lot of Oiler's history in their facility.
But they as soon as they became the Tennessee Titans,
they treated almost like two franchises Titans History Oilers History
franchise history. That's how they reference it. But their facility
is full of Houston memorabilia. It's like you're in Texas.
A great thing and and and an ode to Uh.
I take a tip of the cap to her dad,
who would love it.
Speaker 1: I gotta, I gotta let you go, and I go
throw up in my mouth right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Jonathan, it was great visiting with you.
Speaker 1: You're now our official Tennessee insider, so we're calling you
at least twice here.
Speaker 3: You know these things, right, yeah, Well feel free, uh
and get the Nashville We'll go down Broadway and we'll
do the tour of of all of the the bauchery.
Speaker 1: And all I want to do. We'll get you an
NBA franchise and I'll be there in a heartbeat. John
is grazy visit with you. Thanks again for coming.
Speaker 2: On the show. We really appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Thank you all right, Jonathan Hunting from OutKick, I mean,
really good insight, and he knows my pain like a
lot of you know my pain. A lot of you
experience in my pain.