The Tennessee Titans have named Tim Kelly as the team’s offensive coordinator, one of several coaching changes the team announced on Tuesday.
Kelly had been Tennessee’s passing game coordinator in 2022 and has spent a total of five years working with Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, both with the Titans and previously with the Houston Texans.
"I think it's the right fit at this time for us," Vrabel said Tuesday, via TitanInsider.com. "Really, it's the perfect fit."
Kelly served as the Texans’ offensive coordinator from 2019 to 2021, working in that position under two different head coaches -- Bill O’Brien and David Culley. O’Brien first hired Kelly as a graduate assistant at Penn State in 2012 and brought him to the Texans in 2014, keeping him on staff and gradually elevating him up the food chain before O’Brien was fired early in 2019.
Kelly replaces Todd Downing, who had been the Titans’ offensive coordinator the past two seasons before being let go after Tennessee missed the postseason. Tennessee ranked 28th in points and 30th in yards last season, especially struggling when quarterback Ryan Tannehill missed five games with injuries.
Kelly’s brother, Dennis, is an offensive tackle for the Indianapolis Colts, whom the Titans face twice a year as AFC South rivals.
The Titans’ coaching overhaul also includes the hiring of Charles London as pass game coordinator/quarterbacks coach; Chris Harris as defensive pass game coordinator/cornerbacks coach; Lori Locust as defensive quality control coach; and Justin Hamilton as defensive quality control coach.
London joins the Titans from the Falcons, where he spent the past two seasons, and Harris, who played eight seasons in the NFL with four teams, arrives from Washington, where he spent the past three seasons on the Commanders’ staff.
Locust becomes the first full-time female member of the Titans’ coaching staff. She spent the past four seasons as the assistant defensive line coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Tennessee also announced that former running backs coach Jason Houghtaling will serve as the team's new offensive line coach, replacing Keith Carter, who was not retained; former tight ends coach Luke Steckel is now the team's run game analyst; former QB coach Pat O'Hara is now a pass game analyst; and former RB coach Tony Dews is now the team's tight ends coach.
The Titans’ running backs coach position currently remains open.