In a decisive move aimed at bringing clarity and a traditional football structure to a franchise at a crossroads, Tennessee Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk issued a detailed letter to the team's passionate fanbase on Monday, February 9, 2026. The communication, shared directly via the team's official website and disseminated across major sports news outlets, outlined a significant restructure of the club's football operations hierarchy. The central tenet of the change: General Manager Mike Borgonzi will now report directly to Adams Strunk and has been granted final authority over the all-important 53-man roster. Furthermore, Borgonzi is tasked with leading the imminent search for the team's next head coach, a process that will define the franchise's direction for years to come.
This announcement, coming just days after the conclusion of Super Bowl LX and the official start of the 2026 NFL league year, signals a purposeful shift in how the Titans will operate. It moves away from a more collaborative, sometimes ambiguous front-office model and towards a defined, linear chain of command. For a team coming off a difficult 3-14 season and holding the No. 4 overall pick in the upcoming draft, this establishment of clear roles and responsibilities is not merely administrative—it is a foundational step in a critical offseason rebuild.
The Letter: A Blueprint for Accountability Adams Strunk's letter, characterized by its direct and candid tone, served as both a state-of-the-franchise address and a blueprint for the future. She revealed that the restructuring was initiated by Borgonzi and President of Football Operations Chad Brinker themselves. Following a comprehensive evaluation of the 2025 season, the two executives approached ownership with a proposal to alter the reporting structure to enhance efficiency and accountability. Adams Strunk agreed, endorsing their vision for a more streamlined operation.
"Going forward, Mike will serve as general manager in the most traditional sense—pick and support the players, oversee the coaching staff—while Chad will continue his outstanding work managing our salary cap, analytics, and research and development," Adams Strunk wrote. This delineation is crucial. Borgonzi, a respected talent evaluator with a background in scouting, now has unambiguous control over personnel. Brinker, a salary cap wizard and strategic planner, will focus on the financial and data-driven aspects of team building. Both now report directly to the owner, eliminating any potential for conflicting directives or blurred lines of authority that can plague modern NFL front offices.
Empowering Mike Borgonzi: The "Traditional" GM Role The most significant takeaway from the announcement is the empowerment of Mike Borgonzi. The 2026 season will be his third as the Titans' general manager, and this move solidifies his position as the primary football decision-maker. The "final say on the 53-man roster" is a phrase loaded with consequence. It means Borgonzi will have the ultimate authority on draft selections, free agent signings, trades, and the composition of the active roster each week. This centralizes personnel power, a structure favored by many successful, stable franchises across the league.
Perhaps even more pressing is Borgonzi's mandate to "lead the team's upcoming head coach search." The Titans are in the market for a new leader after parting ways with their previous head coach following the 2025 season. This search is arguably the most important decision the organization will make this offseason, more immediately impactful than any single draft pick or free agent acquisition. By placing Borgonzi at the helm of this process, Adams Strunk is ensuring that the new head coach will be a partner selected by, and ultimately reporting to, the man responsible for constructing the roster. This alignment between the GM's vision and the head coach's philosophy is paramount for sustained success. It prevents the dysfunctional dynamic where a coach is hired by ownership and then handed a roster constructed by a GM with a different strategic outlook.
The Chad Brinker Factor: A Continued Vital Role While Borgonzi's role is amplified, the restructure also reaffirms the critical importance of Chad Brinker. Since joining the Titans, Brinker has been instrumental in managing the team's salary cap with a forward-thinking approach. His work is a major reason why the Titans are projected to enter the 2026 league year with approximately $100 million in cap space, one of the healthiest financial positions in the NFL. By focusing Brinker's expertise squarely on the cap, contract negotiations, and advanced analytics, the Titans are optimizing their use of one of the league's top front-office minds in his area of greatest strength. His direct line to Adams Strunk ensures that financial strategy is given appropriate weight at the ownership level, balancing Borgonzi's football-centric focus.
The Impetus for Change: Learning from 2025 The decision to restructure did not occur in a vacuum. The 2025 season was a stark disappointment, featuring a franchise-worst 3-14 record, significant injuries to key players like quarterback Will Levis and wide receiver Calvin Ridley, and periods of inconsistent performance. In her letter, Adams Strunk acknowledged the season's frustrations but was careful to frame the restructure as a proactive step forward, not a punitive reaction. "Mike and Chad came to me with a clear-eyed assessment of our season and a thoughtful plan for how we can operate better," she stated. This suggests the front office conducted a rigorous self-audit and concluded that a clearer, more traditional structure would best position them to execute their ambitious offseason plan.
The previous structure, which involved a more complex reporting web, may have contributed to delays or indecision. In the high-stakes, fast-paced environment of the NFL offseason—where free agency opens with a frenzy and the draft requires precise, unified strategy—clarity and speed of decision-making are competitive advantages. This new, streamlined model is designed to provide just that.
Impact on the Titans' Critical 2026 Offseason The timing of this announcement is strategically significant. With the NFL Scouting Combine, the legal tampering period, and free agency all on the immediate horizon, the Titans now have a unequivocal chain of command in place. This will be vital as they navigate a offseason laden with opportunity and expectation.
First, the coaching search can now proceed with a defined leader. Borgonzi can interview candidates with the authority to make an offer, knowing he has the full backing of ownership. Potential coaches will enter discussions knowing exactly who they would report to and who has control over the roster they would inherit. This transparency makes the Titans' vacancy a more attractive and stable proposition.
Second, the team's enormous cap space and high draft pick require decisive action. Borgonzi, with his new unambiguous authority, can aggressively pursue free agent targets without internal roadblocks. He can work in concert with Brinker to structure contracts that fit both the immediate competitive window and the long-term financial health of the franchise. When the Titans are on the clock with the No. 4 overall pick in April, there will be no question as to who is making the selection and who bears the responsibility for its outcome.
Third, this move sends a powerful message to the locker room and the league. It projects stability, intentionality, and a clear vision from the top. For players on the roster and those considering signing in Tennessee, it answers the question of "who's in charge?" In a business where uncertainty can be a deterrent, the Titans have proactively provided an answer.
A Return to Tradition in a Modern League Adams Strunk's letter explicitly mentioned a return to a "more traditional" football structure. In an era where some teams have experimented with collaborative "cabinet" approaches or have given coaches excessive personnel control, the Titans are opting for a classic model: a strong general manager who builds the roster, a head coach who coaches it, and a cap specialist who manages the finances. This model has a proven track record of success when the right people are in place. It allows for specialization, clear accountability, and, when it works, harmonious alignment from the owner's suite to the practice field.
The Stakes and the Outlook The importance of this organizational shift cannot be overstated. Amy Adams Strunk has placed her trust squarely in Mike Borgonzi and Chad Brinker, streamlining their paths directly to her. This is a vote of confidence, but it also comes with elevated expectations. The performance of the football operations department will now be judged with crystalline clarity. Borgonzi owns the roster decisions. Brinker owns the cap health. Together, under the owner's direct oversight, they are tasked with engineering a rapid turnaround.
For Titans fans enduring a lean period, this letter offers more than just platitudes. It provides a tangible, structural change that addresses a common source of fan anxiety: organizational confusion. By defining roles and establishing a direct line of accountability, Adams Strunk has taken a significant step toward rebuilding not just the roster, but the operational credibility of the franchise itself.
The 2026 offseason was always destined to be pivotal for the Tennessee Titans, given their draft capital and financial resources. With the announcement on February 9, it has also become an offseason defined by a new clarity of purpose. The foundation for the decisions to come—the coaching hire, the free agent splashes, the draft night choice—has been firmly set. The Titans are not just rebuilding their team; they have consciously rebuilt their front-office engine, hoping it will power a swift and successful journey back to contention.