Titans Reportedly to Name TE Coach Todd Downing OC After Arthur Smith Exit

The Tennessee Titans are reportedly set to promote tight ends coach Todd Downing to offensive coordinator to replace Arthur Smith, who left the staff to become head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.

Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported the news Friday.

Downing spent the past two years as the Titans' tight ends coach. He previously served as the Oakland Raiders' offensive coordinator during the 2017 season and spoke in 2019 about the stark difference between being an assistant and a coordinator:

"When I was a coordinator and sitting in that chair in Oakland, I remember talking to some friends of mine and saying, 'You really have no idea what that role is like until you're in it.' You can be prepared schematically. You can be as smart as Arthur is, as smart as any coach out there is. But until you have all that weight on your shoulders and all that responsibility on your plate, you don't really know what it's like. It can be taxing. It can feel lonely at times."

The Raiders ranked 17th in total offense under his guidance and missed the playoffs with a 6-10 record.

Downing owns 22 years of coaching and executive experience dating back to 1999 when he started as an assistant at Eden Prairie High School in Minnesota, his alma mater.

He joined the Minnesota Vikings as an intern in 2001 and worked his way on to the team's coaching staff in 2005. He's also made stops with the St. Louis Rams, Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills.

The 40-year-old University of Minnesota product will be tasked with maintaining or improving a Titans offense that ranked tied for second in yardage (396.4 YPC) and fourth in points (30.7 PPG) in 2020.

Tennessee posted an 11-5 record to win the AFC South but was eliminated during Wild Card Weekend by the Baltimore Ravens.

Expect Downing to lean heavily on what worked so well in 2020: a lot of runs by Derrick Henry to open up the play-action passing game for Ryan Tannehill.