Will Levis was the easy scapegoat for the Tennessee Titans’ failures in 2024.
The images of two costly plays that led to losses in the first two games of his tenure with Brian Callahan, and then his benching later against Cincinnati, are forever etched in the minds of Titans fans.
The fact that new general manager Mike Borgonzi immediately drafted his replacement in Cam Ward the following spring only added to Levis getting the blame for much of what went wrong.
When Levis met with the media for the first time in more than a year, he was asked about 2024 and whether he had blamed himself.
His statement that, while he could have played better, no one person was solely responsible for what happened that season raised some eyebrows and brought out some sharp knives of criticism again for Levis.
But he’s right.
Levis certainly had his problems that season, but the organization was in such upheaval that he wasn’t entirely to blame for what happened.
If you use the buzzword that had permeated the organization at that time – collaboration – it aptly describes what happened to the Titans from ownership, front office, coaching and the roster. It was a collaborative failure.
No one person nor one plan was good enough to save the team from the downward spiral that was spawned in the aftermath of the firings of Jon Robinson and Mike Vrabel.
Ownership seemed in a panic and out of touch with reality. The front office was in chaos with first Ran Carthon in charge and then Chad Brinker’s nebulous role suddenly being placed in charge of the operation.
The coaching staff was too inexperienced with first-timers at head coach and all the coordinator positions, and the roster, well, you don’t have to be told how thin and oversold it was after a $200 million free-agent spending spree produced just three wins.
Sure, Levis bears some culpability. He was a big part of that team, but in such a fiasco of a situation, it’s not a surprise that he failed to elevate the roster around him.
So while his statement might ruffle some feathers, it’s certainly not inaccurate given all that went wrong that season.
-- By Terry McCormick