Coach Aaron Whitecotton brings a unique mentality to Tennessee, unleashing a revamped pass rush designed to restore the fiery, aggressive edge missing from the Titans' defense.
The Tennessee Titans have been missing something on defense lately.
With former head coach Mike Vrabel, you knew there was going to be a lot of energy on that side of the ball, given his background. That fiery edge has been something that the Titans desperately need to bring back.
It's a new coaching staff here in the Music City with Robert Saleh.
He did retain a few assistants from the previous regime. Special teams coordinator John "Bones" Fassel is back, and so is running backs coach Randy Jordan.
A new face is coaching the defensive line, as Aaron Whitecotton is leading the position group.
The Titans struggled to maintain an effective pass rush last season, ending with 42 sacks, which ranked 14th in the NFL.
Jeffery Simmons had a career year, finishing with 11 sacks, 67 total tackles and 17 TFLs. He made his fourth-career Pro Bowl and was a First-Team All-Pro.
He was the only real bright spot.
Others had promising years, with Jihad Ward (5), Dre'Mont Jones (4.5), Jaylen Harrell (4.5) and Arden Key recording at least four sacks or more.
However, Ward, Jones and Key are no longer with the team.
Whitecotton will need to find a way to get the best out of this Titans' defensive line, which has now added John Franklin-Myers, Jacob Martin, Jermaine Johnson, and Keldric Faulk to the mix, among many others.
His philosophy should give a pretty good idea of how the Titans will attack this season. Whitecotton got his coaching philosophy from former Titans' defensive line coach Jim Washburn (1999-2010) and described it as a deranged raccoon.
"I think a raccoon that's on something," Whitecotton said. "That's kinda how I look at it, you know what I mean? It's really just like a deranged raccoon going out there and getting after it, and really push the limits of what we can do at practice, and we're gonna be alright in the games. That's just the way we were all brought up."
This is exactly the kind of mentality the Titans need to have.
This franchise has had some fiery personalities come through its doors on defense. This is the same organization that has had Jevon Kearse and Keith Bulluck come through its doors.
Having a consistent pass rush could positively affect other levels of the defense as well. The Titans allowed the seventh-most passing yards per game last season, partly because Simmons was the only one getting after opposing quarterbacks regularly.
Tennessee did invest in the secondary this offseason with Alontae Taylor and Cor'Dale Flott, so they should help, but forcing quarterbacks into getting rid of the football quicker because of the pass rush would go a long way.
Tennessee needs to channel the energy that surrounded the franchise in Jeff Fisher's days.
What's the best way to do that? Apparently, it's to play like deranged raccoon between the trenches.
