After years of front-office instability and losing streaks, running back Tyjae Spears draws on his collegiate resilience to signal a gritty new era of optimism in Tennessee.
The Tennessee Titans have been in a rut ever since Mike Vrabel was fired after the 2023 season.
Even before then, there has been a revolving door in the front office.
It started with Jon Robinson's firing in December of 2022. His decision to trade A.J. Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2022 NFL Draft and his calling card of drafting players with injury histories cost him his job.
Then, the Titans hired Ran Carthon as General Manager. Carthon lasted two years before being fired in January of 2025 after his contract decisions didn't pan out.
He signed Lloyd Cushenberry, L'Jarius Sneed, Calvin Ridley and Tony Pollard to huge deals in free agency. Only Pollard has lived up to his contract so far. Cushenberry and Sneed were cut after not being able to stay on the field.
Brian Callahan didn't even make it two years before he was fired halfway through last season. The Titans hired Mike Borgonzi ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft, and just after this year's draft, another big change took place in the front office.
Former Titans President of Football Operations Chad Brinker stepped down, meaning that Borgonzi now has full control of the team's decisions.
The Titans are now led by head coach Robert Saleh, who has his work cut out for him. Changing the culture of a team that has gone 6-28 over the last two years won't be easy.
However, one player's comments may signal that the culture is starting to shift in the right direction. Tyjae Spears spoke to the media in June and talked about how he dealt with injuries and a few rough seasons at Tulane.
Tulane went 7-6 in Spears' first year in 2019, but then they missed a bowl game in 2020 and went 2-10 in 2021. After all that struggle, Tulane finally turned things around in Spears' final year and went 12-2, reaching a New Year's Six Bowl.
Spears has been in these situations before and knows that it's only a matter of time before the Titans turn things around, too. He even predicted the Titans would have a winning record, per Insider Jim Wyatt.
"I went through some (tough years) in college," said Spears, who played at Tulane. "So, my first few years in college were kind of rough, dealing with injuries, dealing with the record. Eventually, we keep on working hard and working together, something has to change, and this is the year to change. We have a new logo, and we have a lot of new things around here. So, we are going to have a winning record this year."
When changing a team's culture, it's absolutely crucial to make sure that the players are bought in. After these comments from Spears, it's clear that the Titans are buying what Saleh is selling.
This kind of transformation won't happen overnight, as the Titans are nowhere near a perfect team by any stretch of the imagination.
Even after improving multiple positions this offseason via free agency and the draft, there are still holes on the roster.
For reference, Cam Ward is going to have two new starters on the offensive line this season after Cushenberry and Kevin Zeitler are no longer with the team.
Regardless, these players believe in Saleh's philosophy, and that's a very big first step toward turning this franchise around.
