Mike Mularkey: Coordinators share vision for physical football team
Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Mularkey says the three coordinators he's hired to help fill out his staff - offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie, defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau and special teams coach Bobby April - all share a similar approach to the game that will be easy to get across to the team.
Via Tennessee's official website:
“All they want to do is win, and all of them want to win physically, it is a common theme with these guys,’’ Mularkey said. “And they know how I coach because I’ve coached with all three of them. So the message is going to be easy, and I know it will be spread amongst the three phases.”
Mularkey said Robiskie, who he coached with in Atlanta, will be particularly helpful as the Titans look to establish an identity on offense.
“Terry is a passionate football coach -- he is fiery, and he will hold players accountable. But players will love him when it is all said and done,’’ Mularkey said. “His No.1 objective is to win, and he wants to win by beating somebody bad. Physically, he wants to beat them up. And he is speaking my language – that is why we have gotten along so well.
“We want to be physical running the ball. But when we throw a pass, there’s going to be a lot of guys around the ball, knocking people around. That’s receivers blocking, guys running to the ball. That’s what he and I both know. And we won a lot of games in Atlanta because of it. It wasn’t because we had the most talent, it wasn’t because we had Matt Ryan. It was because of how hard we played.”.
Whether a more physical approach produces better results after a 3-13 season remains to be seen. But it's clear improvement is needed, especially on offense. Tennessee finished 30th in the NFL in offense, averaging 311.8 yards per game in 2015.