The Tennessee Titans have found their new general manager, as the team announced on Friday that they had agreed to terms with former Kansas City Chiefs assistant general manager Mike Borgonzi to be their new GM. He replaces Ran Carthon, who was fired earlier this month.
“Mike’s experience speaks for itself: he has been part of the core team that delivered four AFC championships and three Super Bowls over the past five seasons,” Titans Controlling Owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement. “It’s the type of standard I want to build here in Tennessee. I know we have a lot of work ahead of us, and I’m excited for Mike to get started.”
Borgonzi officially interviewed for the job earlier this week on Jan. 15. He heads to Nashville after working in the Chiefs front office since 2009. In that time he rose through the ranks, starting as an administrator of college scouting up to assistant general manager, a post he’s held since 2021. In that time, Borgonzi has helped turn Kansas City into a powerhouse that has won three Super Bowl championships thanks, in part, to savvy drafting and additions by the front office.
In an interview with the Titans’ official website on Friday, president of football operations Chad Brinker glowed about his new hire, saying Borgonzi has a clear vision to help build a winning culture.
“He’s literally thought through everything you could possibly think through as a general manager,” Brinker said. “He’s mapped out the entire plan from everything he believes in, which is the same thing we believe in here, the draft, develop and retain model. From that to everything about being a general manager, in particular when it comes to the evaluation from pro to college, the calendar, what that looks like, the meetings … to his plan on working with the coaching staff to the player development side of it, player engagement, sports medicine. He literally had a plan for everything. And then he’s also been at a place that’s been able to execute that plan at a high level.”
In a message to fans following the Carthon firing, Brinker said he was searching for a new general manager that had spent their career as a scout, and was a “top-level evaluator” with “fingerprints all over the roster.” The Titans were the worst team in football this year, as they finished the season with a 3-14 final record — poor enough to clinch the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The 14 losses tied a Titans/Oilers franchise record.
There was optimism entering 2024 for Tennessee, as Carthon spent $228 million on a free-agency shopping spree that brought players like Calvin Ridley, L’Jarius Sneed and Tony Pollard to Nashville. However, the Titans took a massive step backwards under first-year head coach Brian Callahan, and they are facing a rebuild that will now be led by Borgonzi.
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