Tennessee’s 2025 season never found firm ground, and the record kept shouting it. The Titans stumbled to 3–14, fired Brian Callahan after a 1–5 start on Oct. 13, and handed the rest of the year to interim Mike McCoy. The slide didn’t stop under the interim patch, and the franchise responded by tightening the org chart so GM Mike Borgonzi leads the coaching search and the next head coach reports to him. That’s the backdrop for the odds board: a team that needs a real quarterback plan for Cam Ward and a staff-building blueprint that doesn’t crumble by Halloween.
Who will emerge as Tennessee’s next head coach? Let’s break down the odds on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Titans next head coach odds
Tennessee is already being priced like a “stability plus quarterback development” hire, not a mystery-box rebuild. Matt Nagy sits as the clear favorite at +300, with Robert Saleh and Mike McCarthy both at +650 right behind him, then Arthur Smith at +700 and Chris Shula at +750. The next tier is the “credible interview pool” range: Mike Kafka, Klint Kubiak, and Jeff Hafley all at +1000, then Joe Brady, Jesse Minter, and Brian Flores at +1200.
After that you hit the longer swings—Kliff Kingsbury, Anthony Campanile, and Lou Anarumo at +1400; Brad Idzik and Anthony Weaver at +1600; Vance Joseph, Todd Monken, and Jim Schwartz at +2000; and Mike McCoy at +2500. That shape tracks with what the Titans just signaled organizationally: Mike Borgonzi is leading the coaching search and the next head coach reports to him, with the whole front office structure clarified to remove ambiguity.
What went wrong in 2025 was blunt-force, across the whole ecosystem. The Titans finished 3–14, got outscored 478–284, and lived in negative game states that made everything feel brittle. Offensively, the profile was bottom-tier efficiency: 4,413 total yards on 1,040 plays (4.2 yards per play), only 74 third-down conversions on 232 tries, and 56 sacks allowed. They also finished at a -6 turnover ratio, which is the fast lane to 3–14 even when the defense plays honest ball. Cam Ward (QB) taking every snap until the finale injury is a testament to toughness, but the rookie-year line still reads like a team searching for answers—3,169 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, seven picks, and a low QBR profile that matches the overall dysfunction. And the firing wasn’t just about losing; it was about operational chaos. NFL Network’s reporting on Brian Callahan’s exit pointed directly at avoidable coaching errors and management issues that kept showing up early.
Now the candidates, through the lens of fit and the price the board is offering. At +300, Nagy is priced like a 25% implied outcome, and that’s not an accident. He’s the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator and has a direct Borgonzi orbit, plus the hire would scream, “We are building Ward’s structure first.” The fit is clean if Tennessee wants fast answers, condensed reads, and a program that can survive a young quarterback’s ugly stretches without spiraling. The risk is equally obvious: Nagy as a head coach has historical scar tissue, and Tennessee cannot afford another two-year “reset” with the stadium era approaching. Still, if the Titans want the quickest path to competence on offense, +300 is a fair favorite rather than a steal.
At +650, the board is basically asking whether Tennessee prefers a CEO defensive builder (Saleh) or a veteran offensive organizer (McCarthy). Saleh is specifically flagged as a likely interview request by NFL.com, and the appeal is culture, defensive spine, and a locker room that stops fraying. The cost is that Ward’s development becomes an OC-and-staff bet, and Tennessee has already lived through the coordinator carousel inside the carousel. So to speak.
McCarthy at +650 is the opposite wager: process, staff-building, and quarterback infrastructure that looks like an adult operation on Monday through Saturday. If Tennessee wants reduced volatility and a real weekly floor, McCarthy fits that vibe, even if the scheme isn’t the sexiest pitch.
Arthur Smith at +700 is the “memory lane, but with logic” option. He knows the building and he knows how to build a run-action offense that can protect a young quarterback’s decision tree. The question is whether ownership wants that identity again, or whether the franchise is trying to look forward, not back. Chris Shula at +750 is fascinating because he’s explicitly in the reported interview mix, and his price implies about an 11.8% outcome—big enough to be real, long enough to be valuable. The appeal is modern defensive teaching, Rams-standard culture, and a fresh voice who can hire an offensive coordinator with Ward as the centerpiece. The risk is simple: first-time head coach variance is real, and Tennessee’s game tree is already wide.
The +1000 cluster is where the board starts dangling modern offense versus program builder. Kafka at +1000 comes with interim head coaching reps and an Andy Reid-influenced background, but he’s also tied to a Giants situation that may not scream clean offensive identity. Klint Kubiak at +1000 is the most schematic “fit” if Tennessee wants wide-zone/play-action rhythm and an offense that manufactures easy throws while Ward grows up. Hafley at +1000 is the defensive-culture bet, and he’s also in the NFL Network’s inside candidate lane, which matters for realism.
At +1200, Minter is the cleanest value on the board because he’s both reported in Tennessee’s likely interview orbit and priced like a sub-8% shot. If Tennessee believes it can hire a premium OC while Minter runs the whole operation with discipline, that ticket makes sense. Brady at +1200 and Kingsbury at +1400 are pure “Ward development” swings, and they only cash if Tennessee prioritizes offense above all else. Flores at +1200 is credibility and teeth, but the offensive coordinator hire becomes the entire story.
The deep longshots—Schwartz, Joseph, Weaver, even McCoy—feel like name recognition more than true signal at this stage.
One final note: As of this writing, the Colts have also requested interviews with Broncos DC Vance Joseph, Colts DC Lou Anarumo, and Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo. Odds should be up for those names shortly.
