Tennessee Titans
Nashville, TN – The success of the Tennessee Titans tight ends was due in part to position coach Arthur Smith, who was promoted by Mike Vrabel to offensive coordinator after the season.
Former coordinator Matt LaFleur was hired as head coach of the Green Bay Packers. Smith, 36, has spent eight seasons with the Titans under four different head coaches, working his way up from defensive assistant/quality control coach in 2011.
Smith took over the coaching duties with the tight ends in Week 9 of the 2015 season, and since that time the unit accounted for 29.7 percent of the team’s total receptions (326 of 1,096), a number that ranked second behind only the Philadelphia Eagles tight ends (34.0 percent).
In the same time period, the Titans ranked fifth in the NFL in total rushing yards (6,827), with Smith and the tight ends involved heavily in the run scheme and execution.
Smith, a Memphis native, began his coaching career in 2006 as a graduate assistant at the University of North Carolina, where he played as an offensive lineman. He joined Joe Gibbs’ staff at the Washington Redskins in 2007, and in 2010, he spent a season at Ole Miss.
