Titans Promote Chuck Cecil to Replace Jim Schwartz

Tennessee, despite its disappointing playoff exit, did boast one of the NFL's top defenses last season. So after the Lions hired away defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz to be their new head coach, the Titans decided that the best thing going forward was to keep things as close to the status quo as possible.

With that approach in mind, the Titans announced that they have promoted Chuck Cecil -- a member of Tennessee's staff since 2001 -- from secondary coach to defensive coordinator, where he will serve as Schwartz's replacement.

"Chuck has seen this defense from a number of different perspectives and he is ready for this next step," said Titans head coach Jeff Fisher. "I felt like continuity at this point was very important for our defense. Jim (Schwartz) and the defensive staff over the last several years have developed a very good system and I wanted to keep as many of those parts together as possible."

Makes sense to me. It's a substantial chore to bring in a coach who wants to install a new system -- so when something's working like it has been in Tennessee for the last couple seasons, it's logical to stick with it.

Cecil's also a coach cut in a similar mode to Schwartz. They're both relatively young in the coaching world (Schwartz is 42, Cecil 44), and both are fiery personalities. The one thing that Cecil has in his pocket that Schwartz does not is an NFL playing career. While playing for the Packers, Cardinals and Oilers, Cecil developed a reputation as one of the game's most ferocious hitters.

Tennessee is banking on that aggressive personality to help bridge the gap on this coordinator handoff.