May 20, 2025 • 31 mins
Amie Wells and Rhett Bryan host the Titans annual Meet the GM event and have conversations with Titans President of Football Operations Chad Brinker and General Manager Mike Borgonzi. Tune in to hear about free agency, The Draft and what makes Mike Borgonzi the perfect fit for this Titans team.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome to the OTP. I'm Amy Wells, and we're not
in the studio like we normally are. We are over
here at Nissan Stadium for an event that we like
to call Meet the GM. It's a very original name.
Myself Rhet Brian. We were able to spend some time
with Titans general manager and president of football Operations right here,
with some of our closest friends who just happen to
(00:34):
be season ticket members as well. So here's our conversation
with Chad Brinker and Mike Borgonzi right here on the OTP,
and we are so excited to introduce you to some
of the people who are going to be leading this
Titans team through the twenty twenty five season and beyond.
So just for starters, I'm Amy Wells. This is Rhet Brian.
(00:56):
We will be your fabulous hosts this afternoon.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
She will be fabulous.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I'll just be here, so.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Rhtt I guess we should probably just get right to it.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
We should. Our first guest, ladies and gents, is the
President of Football Operations for the Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
He's a seasoned.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
NFL executive, a track record he has of success in
team management and strategy, a former Green Bay Packers executive
and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the
Tennessee Titans. Ladies and gentlemen, President of Football are operations
for the Titans, Chad Brinker?
Speaker 4 (01:36):
How are we doing doing great? It's great to be here, excellent,
good to see fans.
Speaker 5 (01:45):
Chad, do us a.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Favor, and let's pull back the curtain a little bit
on some of your role and really the process of
hiring a new general manager that you, guys, I'm sure
by now know, as is Mike Morganzi. But how do
you gather the pool of candidates for that search?
Speaker 4 (02:05):
Yeah, someone asked me that question when we were going
through our search. Was one of the questions. They asked me,
are you going to hire a search firm? And I said,
for what? This is what I do for a living.
And I know all these coaches, I know all these
general managers around the league are up and coming general managers.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
So you know, it happened pretty fast.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
I knew I wanted to get ahead of the New
York Jets at the time, and the Las Vegas Raiders
as well as the Jacksonville Jaguars because there was something
going on there. I had heard about, so I tried
to jump on it really fast, narrowed down the candidates
to ten. We did ten zooms in three days. Those
are about three to four hours apiece, and then Narra
(02:47):
that candidate pulled down to six for in person, so
we had a candidate in the morning. Those are about
six hours at candidate in the afternoon. So we had
our owner, Amy and obviously Kenneth involved in that in
Barkley were there at lunch time to meet all the
candidates and spent a couple hours with them in between
at lunch.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
But we brought those.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Six candidates in. That was a pretty intense process. But
it became pretty clear even early in the zooms that
Mike Burganzi was rising to the top. And when he
came in person, he just crushed it and I knew
he was the right guy for for our organization.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
All right, So you talked about you had knowledge of
Mike Borganzi. You got that's a small circle you guys
working in the league for these teams. But what was
the aha moment with him when you realized, Okay, it's
Mike Borganzi.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Yeah, I think you know it's it's kind of like
a fraternity in our league. When it comes to scouting
and coaching, there's there's a lot of crossover over the years.
So Mike and I met in two thousand and nine
and I was in Green Bay and he was in
Kansas City. We were out on the road together scouting
(04:01):
and we just hit it off. So I had a
really good relationship with Mike from the beginning, and quite frankly,
all the candidates that we brought in, especially the final six,
I had really good, strong relationships with. But Mike, just
knowing him over the years, he's just one of those
guys that's always been extremely prepared. He's intelligent, He's an
Ivy League grad, he went to Brown played football there.
(04:24):
Just really impressed with him as far as his football knowledge.
Anytime we talked about players, which we did a lot of,
just you know, the evaluation part was really impressive to me.
And just the person you'll get to meet him here
in a minute. He's just an outstanding human being, very humble,
hard working. He's from the Northeast, blue collar kind of family.
(04:48):
Really had to grind in this business. Both he and
I had similar pass in that regard, but he really
started at the bottom he's at Boston College as a
recruiting assistant there and kind of got into the NFL
and started as a you know, an intern scouting assistant
and pro scout and kind of worked his way up
over a sixteen year career and one of the in
(05:10):
recent time, one of the most successful organizations in Kansas
Ay Chiefs and one multiple Super Bowls there.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
So it was pretty cool.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
But I think all the candidates that we brought in
that week, I remember talenting it up. I think there
was fourteen or fifteen Super Bowls amongst the six that
we brought in, So that was really important to find
someone from a winning organization to kind of bring that
type of mentality to Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
You and Mike obviously worked together a lot. How have
you found that your skill sets complement each other as
you're working together to build this Titans team?
Speaker 4 (05:43):
Yeah, I think, you know, obviously, I grew up in
this business as a scout as well, so we have
very similar backgrounds in that regard. And Mike had been
part of the inner cabinet with Andy Reid, Brett Veach
and others over there in Kansas City, and I had
a similar path with the Green Bay packers where.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
I was involved in a lot of the decision making too.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
But one thing where I diverted from a lot of
the scouts in our industry is I had an opportunity
to work on the salary cap, player contracts, analytics, and
then operations, and kind of my career evolved over time
while I still had my baseline of scouting, and I
really got the Pandora bocks open to me by russ
(06:27):
Ball and Ted Thompson up in Green Bay to show
me how to run an NFL franchise, and I'm very
grateful to that organization what they had given me. But
Mike grew up in this industry where he was exposed
a lot of those things. But his primary responsibilities for
sixteen years was building a football team.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
And that's what he is.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
He's a team builder, and he understands who can play
and who can't. He understands how this piece fits here
and if we make this decision will affect another decision
down the road. So he's really good with the strategy
of team building as well.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Chad, you mentioned some of the things in your resume
as you kind of went along your process in Green Bay,
and those are applied in your role as the president
of football Operations outside of roster construction and those things,
let's give us another peak behind the curtain of maybe
a couple of things that you've been doing this off
season or that fall into your purview because you are
over a lot of different responsibilities and departments as the
(07:20):
guy of football Operations.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Yeah, I guess in January when when you look at
an ORG chart, I had fourteen direct reports and I
needed to thin that down a little bit. And with
hiring Mike Mike overseas our coaching staff, our scouting staff,
our player engagement, sports medicine and medical. Now I support
him in all those areas, of course, but that's his
(07:45):
primary responsibilities. Anything outside of that, you know, whether it
comes to the salary cap, whether it comes to data
science or the analytics side, to the operations side where
people don't even realize it from I mean you're talking
and equipment and video grounds crew. You got your software
(08:05):
side of this, which we call football information systems. Anything
that touches that football team I'm ultimately responsible for.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
But I've been able to put.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Some key leaders in key positions where where it's helped
me to to to focus on the main thing, and
that's it's helping him build this football team. But I'm
able to support him from the long term strategy way
I look at my role. I think when you I'm
looking out for the organization long term, you know, like
five years plus, you know, That's that's the way I
view the long term strategy. Our general manager needs to
(08:38):
be looking after the organization over the next two three years,
and our head coach just win the next game. That's
what I want him focusing on. It's all he needs
to worry about. And as long as each of us
understand each of our roles and and how we fit
into those roles, it's it's been.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
It's been a good group so far.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
You mentioned the technology and software part of your role,
and I know you're really passionate about technology and utilizing
technology to help this team continue to grow. What are
some of the things that you're working on and implementing
to help build this Titans team.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Yeah, there's there's a lot. We've done a lot in
the last two years.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
When I got here, there really wasn't much in terms
of technology and analytics. We had our traditional scouting systems
or the coaching systems. As far as how they watch tape.
But we've really had to build everything out like kind
of like a startup. I've built a team of we
got six on the analytics side and f I S
(09:34):
as well, and really had to start from scratch and
just building it out as far as like some of
the things that we're doing that maybe you might be
interested in. You know, we just partnered with with a
company called Zebra that that's going to be working with
us on the player tracking data. So all of our
players when they when they go to practice, there's there's
a tracking device either in their shirt or on their
(09:57):
shoulder pads where it's tracking their heart rate, their speed,
and acceleration, deceleration, change the direction. We're just monitoring everything
for these players. So we get reports that come back
every single day. We can see the max speeds that
our players that hit that particular practice. We can also
see if a particular player is kind of overloading himself
(10:20):
to a point where we might have to pull back
on the reps the following day in practice. So we're
tracking all that data that goes into our system and
our database, and we do a lot of things from
injury prevention as well, from the sports science side and
the weight room with the testing of the hamstrings. A
lot of hamstring injuries happen in our league, our muscle pools,
(10:40):
so we're always measuring the strength of the right hamstring
versus left.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
We're looking for asymmetries and.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
Just being able to build a plan around that to
get our strength coach involved, the sports scientists, our nutritionists,
our head coach, our personnel folks, and everybody on the
same page. But all that data is get and then
got to be stored somewhere. And that's one thing that
we've created is like a central hub because it used
to be and maybe in some of your companies that
(11:07):
you've worked in. You know, Johnny down the Hall keeps
everything in his spreadsheet and Joey over here has things
in his spreadsheet down the Hall, Like, we pull in
all our data into one system. So when I pull
up a player in our system, anything I want to
know about that player, from scouting reports, to the coaching reports,
to the sports science to the height, weight speed, to
(11:30):
practice to the contract, anything I want to know, it
comes up in a matter of seconds. If I want
to watch tape on that player, I rate in our system.
You know, if I wanted to see all the third
down throws of this particular quarterback last season. I can
just click on that button the film pops up immediately.
So that's some of the technology that we've implemented within
(11:50):
the organization and some of the things we are doing
a little bit more on the cutting edge around the
league when it comes to lean body mass and muscle
to bone ratios that we're looking at you. Maybe Mike
will speak a little bit more on that with his
experience in Kansas City. But there's a lot going on.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Wow, that's a lot to digest one stop shop for
you that I understand the centralization of that.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
That's interesting. So we've just had the NFL Draft.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
The Titans obviously had the first overall pick, Cameron Ward,
the quarterback from Miami. We're excited about that. Yes, yep.
And your role as president of football Operations. Did that
change anything at all? Having the number one pick? Is
that was anything that made it different?
Speaker 5 (12:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (12:35):
I understood the magnitude of that. You know, I think
you know you always approach every season the same way.
We have our processes and how we follow and how
we scout and how we kind of build the database
of these players and the profiles. I don't think that's
changed as far as the work, But when you have
the number one overall pick, knowing the situation that we're in.
(12:58):
I remember I was talking to Amy probably late October,
and season wasn't going as well as we would have hoped,
and and I knew there was a potential that this
might go in a direction where we might have a
top five pick. So I need to get out there
and see some of these quarterbacks. I went out in
the in the fall, like if we played an away game,
(13:18):
I would go to one of these college games on
the Saturday before whoever we played and try to see
those prospects. I saw every one of them last year,
including two of them that actually went back to school,
the LSU quarterback and the Georgia quarterback and went to Miami.
So I went and saw them all, and I got
to see Cam he played Georgia Tech.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I'll never forget.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
I went out real early to warm up, so I
just wanted to see how he operated, to see what
his routine was, and and you know, just watching him through.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
The football is super impressive.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
He had this routine similar to some of these great
quarterbacks that I've been around, whether it's Aaron Rodgers and others,
and I don't know. I don't think I said anything
to anybody at that point, because I like, there's a
lot we got to figure out as far as the person.
There's more to playing quarterback than just being able to
throw an accurate pass or have a strong arm or
pocket mobility. Those things are important, but that's really a
(14:13):
neck up position, and we needed to figure out what
what cam was all about. And then once we dug
into that in the off season, I'm sure Mike will
hit on this here in a little bit.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
I mean, I just can't wait till y'all get to
know cam Ward. He's pretty impressive.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Mike Bourganzi is coming up next, right, he is, all right,
Chack waiting so much for taking the time. We so
appreciate you. We know you're a very busy man, so
we will let you get back to work. And I
think we're just going to bring up our next guest.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Su let's do that, all right, all operations.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
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(15:09):
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get your favorites delivered today. Delivery fees apply. Now back
to the OTP. Ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to introduce
the General Manager of the Tennessee Titans, Mike Bergonzi.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
It's great to see everyone.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Happy to see it. So you started this role in
late January.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Since then, you've had just about everything in the world
to do. You've been to All Star Games, you've been
to the Combine, you've been to free agency, and you've
had Pro Days and you had I don't know, the
number one pick in the NFL Draft. You've had a
lot of stuff to do. When exactly did you stop
to say, sleep or eat or take a breath for
(16:06):
a minute. Have you been running since January?
Speaker 5 (16:09):
It's been busy, but it's a good busy, you know.
Speaker 6 (16:12):
We The thing is we have a great group here
and when you love doing something like I have, and
the people that I have around me. It doesn't feel
like work. It is work, but it you know, when
you surround yourself with good people and you're trying to,
you know, get to the common goal of building a
roster together. It's really been a joy to work with Chad.
(16:35):
And you know, we hired Reggie McKenzie, who's a former
GM with the Raiders Tennessee evolved legend Dave Zigelu who
we hired as well, so you know, it was it
was really.
Speaker 5 (16:49):
Seamless for me coming in a ton of work.
Speaker 6 (16:52):
But when you surround yourself with good people, it really
doesn't feel like work.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
So Amy mentioned all those pre draft things that ramp
up to the aft into the where we are now,
and in your role with the Kansas City Chiefs, you've
been to all of those things multiple times. But how
different was it going into those situations as the general
manager of the Titans.
Speaker 6 (17:13):
You know, it was different, But you know, I had
really a front row seat when I was in Kansas
City because you know, we weren't very good at one time.
At one time, we did have the number one pick
in twenty thirteen, so you know, learning from mentors like
Andy Reid, Joan Dorsey and then working with Brett Veach
all those years, you know, I was able to see
something from the ground up and to build it from
(17:35):
the ground up. So when I came here, it's a
step by step process. It's not going to happen overnight.
But you know, I've seen it before, and really for us,
when we're building this team, it's not only the talent,
and I've talked about this is just bringing in the
right type of character guys as well, you know, football character,
personal character. You know, we want smart, tough, dependable players
(17:59):
here that are good in the community as well, and
then are good teammates. So you know, I've seen it
done before, and if you surround yourself with good people
and you have the same vision, usually it works out.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
The Titans were pretty active in free agency. What was
your top priority heading into that time of the year.
Speaker 6 (18:19):
Well, you know, I think for us, and we all
come from similar backgrounds where you know, it's it's building
the team from the inside out to making sure that
the fronts are there. So, you know, building the offensive
line was a priority for us. You know when we
first got in here, and you know, we signed Dan Moore,
who's played left tackle, in Pittsburgh for four years, you know,
dependable player, and then JC who you know, the drafted
(18:42):
here last year, were able to move him to right
tackle as well. And then Kevin Zeitler too, who we're
gonna plug in here at right guards been in the
league for a long time. You know, a veteran guy
like that in the room I think is really important.
And then we went on the defensive side of the ball,
attack that side with you know, Draymond Jones, and you know,
able to add some pieces there too. So but for us,
(19:04):
really we want to try to build the fronts of
offensive line defensive line first, and that's been off philosophy.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
So you mentioned some of those guys, and with the
Dan Moore move, you were able to kind of do
two things at once by moving JC Latham to right tackle,
which appears to be his natural position is what he
played in college. But Kevin Zeitdler brings a world of
experience at right guard. So yeah, building an inside out certainly.
(19:33):
I wanted to ask you more about Draymont Jones because
I thought he was one of the better free agent
acquisitions you guys got for the kind of skill set
he has to help off the edge.
Speaker 6 (19:45):
You know, he's a bigger body for us that that
has played. He's versatile too, so he's gonna play outside
linebacker for us and in our base defense and also
has the capability of kick inside there and you'll see
him rush over guards as well. And you know, I've
studied him all the way back to Ohio State, and
you know, just knowing the type of person he is,
he was in Denver and in Seattle, so you know
(20:06):
he's going to be a tough, versatile player for us,
but also bring a lot of the leadership in the
locker room as well.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
We mentioned the big guys on offense and defense. Also
some big additions on special teams Johnny Hecker Joey Sly
two major additions punter and kick ear. They're kind of important.
What makes those guys the right fit for Jump Fossil's.
Speaker 6 (20:26):
Unit, So so bones Coach Fossil actually had Johnny with
the Rams when he when he was a rookie at
one point. And you know, he's always been the consummate professional,
has been productive, He's a great locker room guy. And
then with Joey, you know we've seen him kick over
the years. He's got a big leg and he's another
guy that had a relationship with coach Fossil in the past.
(20:49):
So you know, we're excited to add those two guys
into the specialists room.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Let's go to the quarterback position for a moment too,
because you added Brandon Allen and Tim Boyle in free
agency to bring it to that room. What was the
thought process and bringing those two guys to Nashville.
Speaker 5 (21:03):
Yeah, we'll start with Brandon.
Speaker 6 (21:04):
You know, Brandon had experience with coach Callahan and Cincinnati
and this guy that knows the offense, guy that's been
a dependable backup in the league for years. And then
with Tim, you know, Chad actually signed him in Green
Bay at one point too. So the two veteran guys
that I think are going to add a lot to
the room. So we're excited excited to get him there.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
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(21:46):
which we work and live. Ashley, the official furniture provider
of the Tennessee Titans. Now back to the OTP. Speaking
of quarterbacks, Yead and another one in the drafting cam Ward.
What is it about him that made you so sure
he was a Tennessee Titan.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
You know, we did a lot.
Speaker 6 (22:06):
Of work on Cam And for me, you know, we
we in the fall when I was with Kansas City,
we were pretty set at the quarterback position, so I
really didn't study a lot of Cam in the fall.
Of course, I looked at him, and I think one
of the first things we did when we when I
came in here is, you know, I wanted everybody to
sit down and study the quarterback position. And I've always
said that that position is the most important position in
(22:27):
professional sports really, and just from the start really watching
Cam a guy that's had you know, five years of experience.
Guy's a zero star recruit that carries this chip on
his shoulder.
Speaker 5 (22:39):
You know.
Speaker 6 (22:39):
He went to Incarnate Word, went to Washington State and
just continued to get better, you know, and you know,
for us, we had not met him before. So the
first time we actually met him was at the Combine.
You know, his tape jumps out because the physical capabilities
that he has, I mean, the arm talent he has,
the side that you know, the urm angles that he
(23:01):
throws with. And then when we got to meet him
at the combine, everything that we heard really from our
scouts and everything.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
He's a special person.
Speaker 6 (23:11):
Not only is football intellect, but you know, he comes
from a great family as well, and he's got a
great way about him. And I just remember talking to
coach Crystal Ball, who's who's been around some pretty good teams.
He's a former play at Miami, and he said that,
you know, he's the best leader that he's ever been around.
(23:31):
And we got the same message from every person that
I talked to. Actually, when I first got hired, I
went down to the East West game and that was
we had our practices at North Texas and there was
a coach there.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
Coach Eric Morse. Was my first really interaction.
Speaker 6 (23:46):
With a coach that had coach Cam and he had
coach Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech as well, and.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
He said to me, he was pretty sure with me.
He said, he's.
Speaker 6 (23:55):
Everything you're gonna want, you know, and I said, what
do you mean, and he said, the way he carries himself,
his leadership ability. He said, you can watch the tape
and you're gonna see that he's a good football player.
But in terms of the makeup, he's everything you want.
So we did a lot of homework on him, you know,
brought him in on a visit, had multiple zooms with
(24:17):
him as well, got to meet his parents before the
pro day, so you know, I know he's excited to
really get out into the community and to meet everybody else.
But you're gonna love him.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
In Night two of the draft, you took Ola with
Emmy Ola Dajo at pass rusher from UCLA and it's
an interesting prospect because he's a guy that moved from
inside linebacker to out as a pass rusher within that
twenty twenty four season. What was it that made Femi
the right pick at number fifty two.
Speaker 6 (24:45):
Yeah, it is funny because you know, he was playing
an inside backer for most of his career, didn't really
move to the outside into the fourth game of the
year this past year. But when you see femiine interviews,
he's a high energy guy, tough, physical guy that's gonna
play outside linebacker for us, and he's just growing into
his role as a pass rusher too. So you know,
(25:07):
he's been great since we've had him here. You know
this past week, the energy that he brings in the
locker room and you'll hear his interviews and get to
meet him here. He's a guy that's going to be
a great locker room guy for us as well.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
You're able to swing a couple of trades, get some
extra picks there in the process, and it pick eighty two,
you selected Penn State's Kevin Winston Junior. Was Was that
a good value there at number eighty two?
Speaker 6 (25:32):
You know, Kevin was one of the top safeties in
the draft and he probably would have went you know,
early second round and unfortunately, you know, towards acl the
second game of the year.
Speaker 5 (25:42):
But you know, we went back and.
Speaker 6 (25:43):
Watched him his his sophomore year when he was nineteen
years old, and you know, he's a tough, physical safety
that is just wired right. So for us to get
him where we got him at pick eighty two, you know,
very excited about him.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
He just like to your point, he just turned twenty
one in December, so I mean, he's a gonna be
a young fellow there. So Day three of the draft
you start on offense at pick one oh three and
take Florida wide receiver Chim Ray DK And obviously to
improve the speed of the Titans is one of this
but one of those attributes. But how much can that
Florida wide receiver help in that department and the speed?
Speaker 6 (26:20):
Yeah, Chim's a guy ran fourth three to two at
the combine, one of the fastest guys at the combine.
And for Chim, you know, he's a versatile, smart receiver
that also can bring some returnability to pump return and
kick return. So we were really excited to get him
where we got him there and really all those guys in.
Speaker 5 (26:38):
The fourth round where we added there with Gunner.
Speaker 6 (26:42):
And you know, it's he's gonna be a versatile piece
in this offense. He's really smart and the returnability is
going to be good for us too.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Well, let's talk about Gunner Helm a little bit tight
end out of Texas. What do you think that he
brings to that offense.
Speaker 6 (26:58):
You know, Gunner is a guy that's really just growing
into the tight end too. He was a former receiver
in high school that actually John Elway was in Denver
at Cherry Creek High School his friends with the parents
and said, you know, I don't think there's there's many
receivers in the NFL is going to run a four
to seven right now. So but he was a big receiver,
so they moved him to tight end. And you know,
(27:20):
Gunner is a guy that you know, played behind Sanders
who ended up get drafted in Carolina, a guy.
Speaker 5 (27:25):
Before the year before.
Speaker 6 (27:27):
So really this year was kind of his breakout year
for him. And he's a big, dependable target. Guy's got
long arms. He's got like thirty three inch arms, So
it's going to be great for the quarterback to have
that type of player. Smart, savvy, and he's got really
good run after the catch too.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
So continuing at Day three, two more offensive picks in
as you took wide receiver elk I am Manor from
Stanford and an offensive lineman and Jackson Slater from Sacramento State.
What was it that you guys liked about those two
young men.
Speaker 6 (27:56):
Well, first off, with Elick, you know, he's a big
receiver that line up at X for US, big physical
receiver that's gonna be good in the red zone. Good,
we contested catches, as well. Another guy that's smart and
versatile too in the offense, So no really excited about him.
Added him with Chim and it's great to have two
young receivers kind of grow together, and you've kind of
(28:19):
seen them the last the last week here together kind
of just push each other. So, you know, drafting those
two guys where we got them, you know.
Speaker 5 (28:28):
It's gonna be really good for the receiver room.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Rounding out this draft class. You've got a corner in
Cal product Marcus Harris, and then a converted linebacker from
Michigan and you have a big running back in Khalil Mullins.
So both of those guys strong players in their own regard.
What did those two bring to this draft class? That
really rounded out nicely well.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
First of all, with Marcus, you know, I got to
see him at the East West game and he's a
you know, he played outside corner at Cal, but you
know we can move inside to the nickel. Another guy
that's gonna have versatility. You're gonna that's a big thing
with me, is having versatility and.
Speaker 5 (29:05):
He can do both spots.
Speaker 6 (29:07):
Guy that's you know, quick twitch and actually the game
versus Miami, actually really that's when I kind of noticed
him a little bit too. He made a couple of
plays in the ball versus versus cam that kind.
Speaker 5 (29:19):
Of stood out to me.
Speaker 6 (29:20):
So I'm really excited to add him to the room too.
Speaker 5 (29:23):
Yeah, you know, I forgot to mention Klell to Mullings.
Speaker 6 (29:26):
The guy who got from Michigan, the running back, former linebacker,
converted running back. So he's going to give us a
bigger back in the room too. Really tough and competitive, too.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Awesome to have you kind of run down the draft
class in this and see all these things start to
come together. When we talked about all, you know, the
first four picks in Day three were all offense, and
of course, people talking to Amy and I are like,
he's gonna do all this.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
To help the quarterback.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
I'm like, well, that's true, but you guys are in
the AFC and it's the Wild while West with all
these quarterbacks in the division, they were playing the AFC
West this year.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
It's about scoring more than eighteen points a game. That's
really what it is.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Yes, you'll help the quarterback as a byproduct, but you've
got to put more points on the board.
Speaker 6 (30:11):
But yeah, adding those offensive weapons, I think the games
evolved over the years where there's so much offense.
Speaker 5 (30:16):
The quarterbacks are so good. In this league, you need
to score points.
Speaker 6 (30:19):
You do need to have a very good defense too,
But you've seen a lot of these games over the
past really ten years where they've become shootouts, and I
experienced a lot of those games over my career. So
being able to have playmakers on offense is a point
of emphasis for us.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Mike Bergonzi, thank you so much for taking the time
to talk to us, guys. Give it up for a
Titans general manager.
Speaker 6 (30:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Well.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
Once again. We so appreciate you guys coming out to
spend some time with us today. We hope that you
learned a little bit more about this Titans team. We
hope you are so excited about the upcoming Sea in
Welcome to the OTP. I'm Amy Wells, and we're not
in the studio like we normally are. We are over
here at Nissan Stadium for an event that we like
to call Meet the GM. It's a very original name.
Myself Rhet Brian. We were able to spend some time
with Titans general manager and president of football Operations right here,
with some of our closest friends who just happen to
(00:34):
be season ticket members as well. So here's our conversation
with Chad Brinker and Mike Borgonzi right here on the OTP,
and we are so excited to introduce you to some
of the people who are going to be leading this
Titans team through the twenty twenty five season and beyond.
So just for starters, I'm Amy Wells. This is Rhet Brian.
(00:56):
We will be your fabulous hosts this afternoon.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
She will be fabulous.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I'll just be here, so.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Rhtt I guess we should probably just get right to it.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
We should. Our first guest, ladies and gents, is the
President of Football Operations for the Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
He's a seasoned.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
NFL executive, a track record he has of success in
team management and strategy, a former Green Bay Packers executive
and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the
Tennessee Titans. Ladies and gentlemen, President of Football are operations
for the Titans, Chad Brinker?
Speaker 4 (01:36):
How are we doing doing great? It's great to be here, excellent,
good to see fans.
Speaker 5 (01:45):
Chad, do us a.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Favor, and let's pull back the curtain a little bit
on some of your role and really the process of
hiring a new general manager that you, guys, I'm sure
by now know, as is Mike Morganzi. But how do
you gather the pool of candidates for that search?
Speaker 4 (02:05):
Yeah, someone asked me that question when we were going
through our search. Was one of the questions. They asked me,
are you going to hire a search firm? And I said,
for what? This is what I do for a living.
And I know all these coaches, I know all these
general managers around the league are up and coming general managers.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
So you know, it happened pretty fast.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
I knew I wanted to get ahead of the New
York Jets at the time, and the Las Vegas Raiders
as well as the Jacksonville Jaguars because there was something
going on there. I had heard about, so I tried
to jump on it really fast, narrowed down the candidates
to ten. We did ten zooms in three days. Those
are about three to four hours apiece, and then Narra
(02:47):
that candidate pulled down to six for in person, so
we had a candidate in the morning. Those are about
six hours at candidate in the afternoon. So we had
our owner, Amy and obviously Kenneth involved in that in
Barkley were there at lunch time to meet all the
candidates and spent a couple hours with them in between
at lunch.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
But we brought those.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Six candidates in. That was a pretty intense process. But
it became pretty clear even early in the zooms that
Mike Burganzi was rising to the top. And when he
came in person, he just crushed it and I knew
he was the right guy for for our organization.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
All right, So you talked about you had knowledge of
Mike Borganzi. You got that's a small circle you guys
working in the league for these teams. But what was
the aha moment with him when you realized, Okay, it's
Mike Borganzi.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Yeah, I think you know it's it's kind of like
a fraternity in our league. When it comes to scouting
and coaching, there's there's a lot of crossover over the years.
So Mike and I met in two thousand and nine
and I was in Green Bay and he was in
Kansas City. We were out on the road together scouting
(04:01):
and we just hit it off. So I had a
really good relationship with Mike from the beginning, and quite frankly,
all the candidates that we brought in, especially the final six,
I had really good, strong relationships with. But Mike, just
knowing him over the years, he's just one of those
guys that's always been extremely prepared. He's intelligent, He's an
Ivy League grad, he went to Brown played football there.
(04:24):
Just really impressed with him as far as his football knowledge.
Anytime we talked about players, which we did a lot of,
just you know, the evaluation part was really impressive to me.
And just the person you'll get to meet him here
in a minute. He's just an outstanding human being, very humble,
hard working. He's from the Northeast, blue collar kind of family.
(04:48):
Really had to grind in this business. Both he and
I had similar pass in that regard, but he really
started at the bottom he's at Boston College as a
recruiting assistant there and kind of got into the NFL
and started as a you know, an intern scouting assistant
and pro scout and kind of worked his way up
over a sixteen year career and one of the in
(05:10):
recent time, one of the most successful organizations in Kansas
Ay Chiefs and one multiple Super Bowls there.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
So it was pretty cool.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
But I think all the candidates that we brought in
that week, I remember talenting it up. I think there
was fourteen or fifteen Super Bowls amongst the six that
we brought in, So that was really important to find
someone from a winning organization to kind of bring that
type of mentality to Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
You and Mike obviously worked together a lot. How have
you found that your skill sets complement each other as
you're working together to build this Titans team?
Speaker 4 (05:43):
Yeah, I think, you know, obviously, I grew up in
this business as a scout as well, so we have
very similar backgrounds in that regard. And Mike had been
part of the inner cabinet with Andy Reid, Brett Veach
and others over there in Kansas City, and I had
a similar path with the Green Bay packers where.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
I was involved in a lot of the decision making too.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
But one thing where I diverted from a lot of
the scouts in our industry is I had an opportunity
to work on the salary cap, player contracts, analytics, and
then operations, and kind of my career evolved over time
while I still had my baseline of scouting, and I
really got the Pandora bocks open to me by russ
(06:27):
Ball and Ted Thompson up in Green Bay to show
me how to run an NFL franchise, and I'm very
grateful to that organization what they had given me. But
Mike grew up in this industry where he was exposed
a lot of those things. But his primary responsibilities for
sixteen years was building a football team.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
And that's what he is.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
He's a team builder, and he understands who can play
and who can't. He understands how this piece fits here
and if we make this decision will affect another decision
down the road. So he's really good with the strategy
of team building as well.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Chad, you mentioned some of the things in your resume
as you kind of went along your process in Green Bay,
and those are applied in your role as the president
of football Operations outside of roster construction and those things,
let's give us another peak behind the curtain of maybe
a couple of things that you've been doing this off
season or that fall into your purview because you are
over a lot of different responsibilities and departments as the
(07:20):
guy of football Operations.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Yeah, I guess in January when when you look at
an ORG chart, I had fourteen direct reports and I
needed to thin that down a little bit. And with
hiring Mike Mike overseas our coaching staff, our scouting staff,
our player engagement, sports medicine and medical. Now I support
him in all those areas, of course, but that's his
(07:45):
primary responsibilities. Anything outside of that, you know, whether it
comes to the salary cap, whether it comes to data
science or the analytics side, to the operations side where
people don't even realize it from I mean you're talking
and equipment and video grounds crew. You got your software
(08:05):
side of this, which we call football information systems. Anything
that touches that football team I'm ultimately responsible for.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
But I've been able to put.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Some key leaders in key positions where where it's helped
me to to to focus on the main thing, and
that's it's helping him build this football team. But I'm
able to support him from the long term strategy way
I look at my role. I think when you I'm
looking out for the organization long term, you know, like
five years plus, you know, That's that's the way I
view the long term strategy. Our general manager needs to
(08:38):
be looking after the organization over the next two three years,
and our head coach just win the next game. That's
what I want him focusing on. It's all he needs
to worry about. And as long as each of us
understand each of our roles and and how we fit
into those roles, it's it's been.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
It's been a good group so far.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
You mentioned the technology and software part of your role,
and I know you're really passionate about technology and utilizing
technology to help this team continue to grow. What are
some of the things that you're working on and implementing
to help build this Titans team.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Yeah, there's there's a lot. We've done a lot in
the last two years.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
When I got here, there really wasn't much in terms
of technology and analytics. We had our traditional scouting systems
or the coaching systems. As far as how they watch tape.
But we've really had to build everything out like kind
of like a startup. I've built a team of we
got six on the analytics side and f I S
(09:34):
as well, and really had to start from scratch and
just building it out as far as like some of
the things that we're doing that maybe you might be
interested in. You know, we just partnered with with a
company called Zebra that that's going to be working with
us on the player tracking data. So all of our
players when they when they go to practice, there's there's
a tracking device either in their shirt or on their
(09:57):
shoulder pads where it's tracking their heart rate, their speed,
and acceleration, deceleration, change the direction. We're just monitoring everything
for these players. So we get reports that come back
every single day. We can see the max speeds that
our players that hit that particular practice. We can also
see if a particular player is kind of overloading himself
(10:20):
to a point where we might have to pull back
on the reps the following day in practice. So we're
tracking all that data that goes into our system and
our database, and we do a lot of things from
injury prevention as well, from the sports science side and
the weight room with the testing of the hamstrings. A
lot of hamstring injuries happen in our league, our muscle pools,
(10:40):
so we're always measuring the strength of the right hamstring
versus left.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
We're looking for asymmetries and.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
Just being able to build a plan around that to
get our strength coach involved, the sports scientists, our nutritionists,
our head coach, our personnel folks, and everybody on the
same page. But all that data is get and then
got to be stored somewhere. And that's one thing that
we've created is like a central hub because it used
to be and maybe in some of your companies that
(11:07):
you've worked in. You know, Johnny down the Hall keeps
everything in his spreadsheet and Joey over here has things
in his spreadsheet down the Hall, Like, we pull in
all our data into one system. So when I pull
up a player in our system, anything I want to
know about that player, from scouting reports, to the coaching reports,
to the sports science to the height, weight speed, to
(11:30):
practice to the contract, anything I want to know, it
comes up in a matter of seconds. If I want
to watch tape on that player, I rate in our system.
You know, if I wanted to see all the third
down throws of this particular quarterback last season. I can
just click on that button the film pops up immediately.
So that's some of the technology that we've implemented within
(11:50):
the organization and some of the things we are doing
a little bit more on the cutting edge around the
league when it comes to lean body mass and muscle
to bone ratios that we're looking at you. Maybe Mike
will speak a little bit more on that with his
experience in Kansas City. But there's a lot going on.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Wow, that's a lot to digest one stop shop for
you that I understand the centralization of that.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
That's interesting. So we've just had the NFL Draft.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
The Titans obviously had the first overall pick, Cameron Ward,
the quarterback from Miami. We're excited about that. Yes, yep.
And your role as president of football Operations. Did that
change anything at all? Having the number one pick? Is
that was anything that made it different?
Speaker 5 (12:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (12:35):
I understood the magnitude of that. You know, I think
you know you always approach every season the same way.
We have our processes and how we follow and how
we scout and how we kind of build the database
of these players and the profiles. I don't think that's
changed as far as the work, But when you have
the number one overall pick, knowing the situation that we're in.
(12:58):
I remember I was talking to Amy probably late October,
and season wasn't going as well as we would have hoped,
and and I knew there was a potential that this
might go in a direction where we might have a
top five pick. So I need to get out there
and see some of these quarterbacks. I went out in
the in the fall, like if we played an away game,
(13:18):
I would go to one of these college games on
the Saturday before whoever we played and try to see
those prospects. I saw every one of them last year,
including two of them that actually went back to school,
the LSU quarterback and the Georgia quarterback and went to Miami.
So I went and saw them all, and I got
to see Cam he played Georgia Tech.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I'll never forget.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
I went out real early to warm up, so I
just wanted to see how he operated, to see what
his routine was, and and you know, just watching him through.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
The football is super impressive.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
He had this routine similar to some of these great
quarterbacks that I've been around, whether it's Aaron Rodgers and others,
and I don't know. I don't think I said anything
to anybody at that point, because I like, there's a
lot we got to figure out as far as the person.
There's more to playing quarterback than just being able to
throw an accurate pass or have a strong arm or
pocket mobility. Those things are important, but that's really a
(14:13):
neck up position, and we needed to figure out what
what cam was all about. And then once we dug
into that in the off season, I'm sure Mike will
hit on this here in a little bit.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
I mean, I just can't wait till y'all get to
know cam Ward. He's pretty impressive.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Mike Bourganzi is coming up next, right, he is, all right,
Chack waiting so much for taking the time. We so
appreciate you. We know you're a very busy man, so
we will let you get back to work. And I
think we're just going to bring up our next guest.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Su let's do that, all right, all operations.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
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(15:09):
of your Tennessee Titans. Download the Little Caesars app and
get your favorites delivered today. Delivery fees apply. Now back
to the OTP. Ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to introduce
the General Manager of the Tennessee Titans, Mike Bergonzi.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
It's great to see everyone.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Happy to see it. So you started this role in
late January.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Since then, you've had just about everything in the world
to do. You've been to All Star Games, you've been
to the Combine, you've been to free agency, and you've
had Pro Days and you had I don't know, the
number one pick in the NFL Draft. You've had a
lot of stuff to do. When exactly did you stop
to say, sleep or eat or take a breath for
(16:06):
a minute. Have you been running since January?
Speaker 5 (16:09):
It's been busy, but it's a good busy, you know.
Speaker 6 (16:12):
We The thing is we have a great group here
and when you love doing something like I have, and
the people that I have around me. It doesn't feel
like work. It is work, but it you know, when
you surround yourself with good people and you're trying to,
you know, get to the common goal of building a
roster together. It's really been a joy to work with Chad.
(16:35):
And you know, we hired Reggie McKenzie, who's a former
GM with the Raiders Tennessee evolved legend Dave Zigelu who
we hired as well, so you know, it was it
was really.
Speaker 5 (16:49):
Seamless for me coming in a ton of work.
Speaker 6 (16:52):
But when you surround yourself with good people, it really
doesn't feel like work.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
So Amy mentioned all those pre draft things that ramp
up to the aft into the where we are now,
and in your role with the Kansas City Chiefs, you've
been to all of those things multiple times. But how
different was it going into those situations as the general
manager of the Titans.
Speaker 6 (17:13):
You know, it was different, But you know, I had
really a front row seat when I was in Kansas
City because you know, we weren't very good at one time.
At one time, we did have the number one pick
in twenty thirteen, so you know, learning from mentors like
Andy Reid, Joan Dorsey and then working with Brett Veach
all those years, you know, I was able to see
something from the ground up and to build it from
(17:35):
the ground up. So when I came here, it's a
step by step process. It's not going to happen overnight.
But you know, I've seen it before, and really for us,
when we're building this team, it's not only the talent,
and I've talked about this is just bringing in the
right type of character guys as well, you know, football character,
personal character. You know, we want smart, tough, dependable players
(17:59):
here that are good in the community as well, and
then are good teammates. So you know, I've seen it
done before, and if you surround yourself with good people
and you have the same vision, usually it works out.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
The Titans were pretty active in free agency. What was
your top priority heading into that time of the year.
Speaker 6 (18:19):
Well, you know, I think for us, and we all
come from similar backgrounds where you know, it's it's building
the team from the inside out to making sure that
the fronts are there. So, you know, building the offensive
line was a priority for us. You know when we
first got in here, and you know, we signed Dan Moore,
who's played left tackle, in Pittsburgh for four years, you know,
dependable player, and then JC who you know, the drafted
(18:42):
here last year, were able to move him to right
tackle as well. And then Kevin Zeitler too, who we're
gonna plug in here at right guards been in the
league for a long time. You know, a veteran guy
like that in the room I think is really important.
And then we went on the defensive side of the ball,
attack that side with you know, Draymond Jones, and you know,
able to add some pieces there too. So but for us,
(19:04):
really we want to try to build the fronts of
offensive line defensive line first, and that's been off philosophy.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
So you mentioned some of those guys, and with the
Dan Moore move, you were able to kind of do
two things at once by moving JC Latham to right tackle,
which appears to be his natural position is what he
played in college. But Kevin Zeitdler brings a world of
experience at right guard. So yeah, building an inside out certainly.
(19:33):
I wanted to ask you more about Draymont Jones because
I thought he was one of the better free agent
acquisitions you guys got for the kind of skill set
he has to help off the edge.
Speaker 6 (19:45):
You know, he's a bigger body for us that that
has played. He's versatile too, so he's gonna play outside
linebacker for us and in our base defense and also
has the capability of kick inside there and you'll see
him rush over guards as well. And you know, I've
studied him all the way back to Ohio State, and
you know, just knowing the type of person he is,
he was in Denver and in Seattle, so you know
(20:06):
he's going to be a tough, versatile player for us,
but also bring a lot of the leadership in the
locker room as well.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
We mentioned the big guys on offense and defense. Also
some big additions on special teams Johnny Hecker Joey Sly
two major additions punter and kick ear. They're kind of important.
What makes those guys the right fit for Jump Fossil's.
Speaker 6 (20:26):
Unit, So so bones Coach Fossil actually had Johnny with
the Rams when he when he was a rookie at
one point. And you know, he's always been the consummate professional,
has been productive, He's a great locker room guy. And
then with Joey, you know we've seen him kick over
the years. He's got a big leg and he's another
guy that had a relationship with coach Fossil in the past.
(20:49):
So you know, we're excited to add those two guys
into the specialists room.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Let's go to the quarterback position for a moment too,
because you added Brandon Allen and Tim Boyle in free
agency to bring it to that room. What was the
thought process and bringing those two guys to Nashville.
Speaker 5 (21:03):
Yeah, we'll start with Brandon.
Speaker 6 (21:04):
You know, Brandon had experience with coach Callahan and Cincinnati
and this guy that knows the offense, guy that's been
a dependable backup in the league for years. And then
with Tim, you know, Chad actually signed him in Green
Bay at one point too. So the two veteran guys
that I think are going to add a lot to
the room. So we're excited excited to get him there.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
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(21:46):
which we work and live. Ashley, the official furniture provider
of the Tennessee Titans. Now back to the OTP. Speaking
of quarterbacks, Yead and another one in the drafting cam Ward.
What is it about him that made you so sure
he was a Tennessee Titan.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
You know, we did a lot.
Speaker 6 (22:06):
Of work on Cam And for me, you know, we
we in the fall when I was with Kansas City,
we were pretty set at the quarterback position, so I
really didn't study a lot of Cam in the fall.
Of course, I looked at him, and I think one
of the first things we did when we when I
came in here is, you know, I wanted everybody to
sit down and study the quarterback position. And I've always
said that that position is the most important position in
(22:27):
professional sports really, and just from the start really watching
Cam a guy that's had you know, five years of experience.
Guy's a zero star recruit that carries this chip on
his shoulder.
Speaker 5 (22:39):
You know.
Speaker 6 (22:39):
He went to Incarnate Word, went to Washington State and
just continued to get better, you know, and you know,
for us, we had not met him before. So the
first time we actually met him was at the Combine.
You know, his tape jumps out because the physical capabilities
that he has, I mean, the arm talent he has,
the side that you know, the urm angles that he
(23:01):
throws with. And then when we got to meet him
at the combine, everything that we heard really from our
scouts and everything.
Speaker 5 (23:09):
He's a special person.
Speaker 6 (23:11):
Not only is football intellect, but you know, he comes
from a great family as well, and he's got a
great way about him. And I just remember talking to
coach Crystal Ball, who's who's been around some pretty good teams.
He's a former play at Miami, and he said that,
you know, he's the best leader that he's ever been around.
(23:31):
And we got the same message from every person that
I talked to. Actually, when I first got hired, I
went down to the East West game and that was
we had our practices at North Texas and there was
a coach there.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
Coach Eric Morse. Was my first really interaction.
Speaker 6 (23:46):
With a coach that had coach Cam and he had
coach Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech as well, and.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
He said to me, he was pretty sure with me.
He said, he's.
Speaker 6 (23:55):
Everything you're gonna want, you know, and I said, what
do you mean, and he said, the way he carries himself,
his leadership ability. He said, you can watch the tape
and you're gonna see that he's a good football player.
But in terms of the makeup, he's everything you want.
So we did a lot of homework on him, you know,
brought him in on a visit, had multiple zooms with
(24:17):
him as well, got to meet his parents before the
pro day, so you know, I know he's excited to
really get out into the community and to meet everybody else.
But you're gonna love him.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
In Night two of the draft, you took Ola with
Emmy Ola Dajo at pass rusher from UCLA and it's
an interesting prospect because he's a guy that moved from
inside linebacker to out as a pass rusher within that
twenty twenty four season. What was it that made Femi
the right pick at number fifty two.
Speaker 6 (24:45):
Yeah, it is funny because you know, he was playing
an inside backer for most of his career, didn't really
move to the outside into the fourth game of the
year this past year. But when you see femiine interviews,
he's a high energy guy, tough, physical guy that's gonna
play outside linebacker for us, and he's just growing into
his role as a pass rusher too. So you know,
(25:07):
he's been great since we've had him here. You know
this past week, the energy that he brings in the
locker room and you'll hear his interviews and get to
meet him here. He's a guy that's going to be
a great locker room guy for us as well.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
You're able to swing a couple of trades, get some
extra picks there in the process, and it pick eighty two,
you selected Penn State's Kevin Winston Junior. Was Was that
a good value there at number eighty two?
Speaker 6 (25:32):
You know, Kevin was one of the top safeties in
the draft and he probably would have went you know,
early second round and unfortunately, you know, towards acl the
second game of the year.
Speaker 5 (25:42):
But you know, we went back and.
Speaker 6 (25:43):
Watched him his his sophomore year when he was nineteen
years old, and you know, he's a tough, physical safety
that is just wired right. So for us to get
him where we got him at pick eighty two, you know,
very excited about him.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
He just like to your point, he just turned twenty
one in December, so I mean, he's a gonna be
a young fellow there. So Day three of the draft
you start on offense at pick one oh three and
take Florida wide receiver Chim Ray DK And obviously to
improve the speed of the Titans is one of this
but one of those attributes. But how much can that
Florida wide receiver help in that department and the speed?
Speaker 6 (26:20):
Yeah, Chim's a guy ran fourth three to two at
the combine, one of the fastest guys at the combine.
And for Chim, you know, he's a versatile, smart receiver
that also can bring some returnability to pump return and
kick return. So we were really excited to get him
where we got him there and really all those guys in.
Speaker 5 (26:38):
The fourth round where we added there with Gunner.
Speaker 6 (26:42):
And you know, it's he's gonna be a versatile piece
in this offense. He's really smart and the returnability is
going to be good for us too.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Well, let's talk about Gunner Helm a little bit tight
end out of Texas. What do you think that he
brings to that offense.
Speaker 6 (26:58):
You know, Gunner is a guy that's really just growing
into the tight end too. He was a former receiver
in high school that actually John Elway was in Denver
at Cherry Creek High School his friends with the parents
and said, you know, I don't think there's there's many
receivers in the NFL is going to run a four
to seven right now. So but he was a big receiver,
so they moved him to tight end. And you know,
(27:20):
Gunner is a guy that you know, played behind Sanders
who ended up get drafted in Carolina, a guy.
Speaker 5 (27:25):
Before the year before.
Speaker 6 (27:27):
So really this year was kind of his breakout year
for him. And he's a big, dependable target. Guy's got
long arms. He's got like thirty three inch arms, So
it's going to be great for the quarterback to have
that type of player. Smart, savvy, and he's got really
good run after the catch too.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
So continuing at Day three, two more offensive picks in
as you took wide receiver elk I am Manor from
Stanford and an offensive lineman and Jackson Slater from Sacramento State.
What was it that you guys liked about those two
young men.
Speaker 6 (27:56):
Well, first off, with Elick, you know, he's a big
receiver that line up at X for US, big physical
receiver that's gonna be good in the red zone. Good,
we contested catches, as well. Another guy that's smart and
versatile too in the offense, So no really excited about him.
Added him with Chim and it's great to have two
young receivers kind of grow together, and you've kind of
(28:19):
seen them the last the last week here together kind
of just push each other. So, you know, drafting those
two guys where we got them, you know.
Speaker 5 (28:28):
It's gonna be really good for the receiver room.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Rounding out this draft class. You've got a corner in
Cal product Marcus Harris, and then a converted linebacker from
Michigan and you have a big running back in Khalil Mullins.
So both of those guys strong players in their own regard.
What did those two bring to this draft class? That
really rounded out nicely well.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
First of all, with Marcus, you know, I got to
see him at the East West game and he's a
you know, he played outside corner at Cal, but you
know we can move inside to the nickel. Another guy
that's gonna have versatility. You're gonna that's a big thing
with me, is having versatility and.
Speaker 5 (29:05):
He can do both spots.
Speaker 6 (29:07):
Guy that's you know, quick twitch and actually the game
versus Miami, actually really that's when I kind of noticed
him a little bit too. He made a couple of
plays in the ball versus versus cam that kind.
Speaker 5 (29:19):
Of stood out to me.
Speaker 6 (29:20):
So I'm really excited to add him to the room too.
Speaker 5 (29:23):
Yeah, you know, I forgot to mention Klell to Mullings.
Speaker 6 (29:26):
The guy who got from Michigan, the running back, former linebacker,
converted running back. So he's going to give us a
bigger back in the room too. Really tough and competitive, too.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Awesome to have you kind of run down the draft
class in this and see all these things start to
come together. When we talked about all, you know, the
first four picks in Day three were all offense, and
of course, people talking to Amy and I are like,
he's gonna do all this.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
To help the quarterback.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
I'm like, well, that's true, but you guys are in
the AFC and it's the Wild while West with all
these quarterbacks in the division, they were playing the AFC
West this year.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
It's about scoring more than eighteen points a game. That's
really what it is.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Yes, you'll help the quarterback as a byproduct, but you've
got to put more points on the board.
Speaker 6 (30:11):
But yeah, adding those offensive weapons, I think the games
evolved over the years where there's so much offense.
Speaker 5 (30:16):
The quarterbacks are so good. In this league, you need
to score points.
Speaker 6 (30:19):
You do need to have a very good defense too,
But you've seen a lot of these games over the
past really ten years where they've become shootouts, and I
experienced a lot of those games over my career. So
being able to have playmakers on offense is a point
of emphasis for us.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Mike Bergonzi, thank you so much for taking the time
to talk to us, guys. Give it up for a
Titans general manager.
Speaker 6 (30:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Well.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
Once again. We so appreciate you guys coming out to
spend some time with us today. We hope that you
learned a little bit more about this Titans team. We
hope you are so excited about the upcoming Sea in
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