Tennessee hires Ken Whisenhunt

Horton is considered one of the top defensive minds in the league. He’s best known for his 3-4 defense, but is expected to run more of a hybrid system in Tennessee. During his two years in Arizona, the Cardinals fielded one of the best defenses in football. The Browns were less successful in his one year there, but they ranked ninth in yards allowed and eighth in points allowed.

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Ken Whisenhunt’s coaching career has taken a number of turns in recent years, but the latest twist takes him back to Nashville, right where his coaching career started. Nearly 20 years after he started out as an assistant at Vanderbilt, Whisenhunt is the new head coach of the Tennessee Titans.

If Whisenhunt proves to be the right hire in Tennessee, as the majority of the Music City Miracles community believes, he’ll likely need to solve the Titans’ quarterback issues. Tennessee used the No. 8 pick in 2011 to draft Locker, but he’s been injured and ineffective during his NFL career. He was more productive last season, but suffered a season-ending foot injury and was limited to seven games. Tennessee will have to make a decision soon on whether it will pick up the $13 million option in Locker’s contract. The option is only guaranteed for injury, meaning 2014 could be a make-or-break year for Locker in Tennessee.

In Tennessee, he will take over for Mike Munchak, who was fired after three seasons. The Titans are coming off a 7-9 season and have not made the playoffs since 2008. Tennessee has some talent, however, and seven if its nine losses were by nine points or less.

One of the first orders of business for Whisenhunt in Tennessee will be making a decision on the future of Jake Locker. The 25-year-old quarterback was limited to seven games last season due to injury. He showed more promise than earlier in his career, but the Titans will have to decide if he’s going to be the quarterback moving forward. While Whisenhunt had success with Rivers in San Diego and Warner in Arizona, he was unable to get much production from other quarterbacks with the Cardinals, a huge reason why he was fired.