Chad Brinker's Tennessee Titans role had outlived its usefulness | Estes

Without knowing the particulars of why Chad Brinker abruptly quit his high-ranking Tennessee Titans job to “pursue other opportunities,” I did what football people do to educate themselves quickly:

I checked the tape.

I saw that when the Titans drafted Cam Ward in 2025, Brinker was among the people to speak to the quarterback on the phone, after Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk, general manager Mike Borgonzi and former coach Brian Callahan. That’s per the video put out by the team. Same with second-rounder Femi Oladejo.

A year later, Brinker was one of the out-of-focus people in the draft room.

I think.

Maybe I missed something. But were it not for a glimpse of Brinker hugging Gus Bradley after the call with Anthony Hill Jr., and then applauding after a late call to Jaren Kanak, you wouldn't have have known Brinker was even in the room by the videos the Titans posted of the 2026 draft calls. Borgonzi, not Brinker, spoke at press conferences before, during and after the draft.

Carnell Tate, left and Keldric Faulk enter the room as the Titans present their first two NFL Draft selections at their practice facility in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, April 24, 2026.

From left, general manager Mike Borgonzi, wide receiver Carnell Tate, edge defender Keldric Faulk and coach Robert Saleh take questions as The Titans present their first two NFL Draft selections at their practice facility in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, April 24, 2026.

Coach Robert Saleh takes questions as the Titans present their first two NFL Draft selections wide receiver Carnell Tate and edge defender Keldric Faulk at their practice facility in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, April 24, 2026.

Edge defender Keldric Faulk takes questions at the Titans' practice facility in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, April 24, 2026. He was the Titans second draft pick for 2026.

Wide receiver Carnell Tate takes questions at the Titans' practice facility in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, April 24, 2026. He was the Titans first draft pick for 2026.

Wide receiver Carnell Tate takes questions at the Titans' practice facility in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, April 24, 2026. He was the Titans first draft pick for 2026.

1 / 7

Meet the Titans newest draft picks Carnell Tate and Keldrick Faulk

Carnell Tate, left and Keldric Faulk enter the room as the Titans present their first two NFL Draft selections at their practice facility in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, April 24, 2026.

1 / 7

Meet the Titans newest draft picks Carnell Tate and Keldrick Faulk

Carnell Tate, left and Keldric Faulk enter the room as the Titans present their first two NFL Draft selections at their practice facility in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, April 24, 2026.

2 / 7

Meet the Titans newest draft picks Carnell Tate and Keldrick Faulk

3 / 7

Meet the Titans newest draft picks Carnell Tate and Keldrick Faulk

4 / 7

Meet the Titans newest draft picks Carnell Tate and Keldrick Faulk

Edge defender Keldric Faulk takes questions at the Titans' practice facility in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, April 24, 2026. He was the Titans second draft pick for 2026.

5 / 7

Meet the Titans newest draft picks Carnell Tate and Keldrick Faulk

Wide receiver Carnell Tate takes questions at the Titans' practice facility in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, April 24, 2026. He was the Titans first draft pick for 2026.

6 / 7

Meet the Titans newest draft picks Carnell Tate and Keldrick Faulk

Wide receiver Carnell Tate takes questions at the Titans' practice facility in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, April 24, 2026. He was the Titans first draft pick for 2026.

7 / 7

Meet the Titans newest draft picks Carnell Tate and Keldrick Faulk

In hindsight, it seems less surprising that Brinker announced his resignation “as the leader of the football strategy" three days after the draft.

His Titans job description remained vague and non-sensical (football strategy?) all the way until the end. But none of that matters anymore. The Titans’ ever-spinning power wheel has a new favorite in Borgonzi.

In a crowded front office, Brinker’s role had become extraneous. Surely, he grasped that. He’s a smart guy. You’d have to be, wouldn’t you, to be able to climb the Titans’ corporate ladder during one of the bleakest, tumultuous periods in franchise history?

Just think: Jon Robinson, Mike Vrabel, Ran Carthon, Callahan, the equipment guy, the head of media relations and multiple clusters of assistant coaches all didn't survive the Titans’ unrelenting purge of recent years.

Brinker didn’t just survive. He thrived, somehow getting promoted from Carthon’s Assistant General Manager all the way up to President of Football Operations.

After being hired by Carthon, Brinker got to hire Borgonzi as Carthon’s replacement.

“I believe the Titans have exceptional people and long-term stability at the general manager position and throughout the scouting department,” said Brinker in his parting statement. “While there is work to be done, I believe we've laid the foundation to restore the Titans to its rightful place as a sustainable, winning program.”

Chad Brinker, president of football operations for the Tennessee Titans, fields questions from the media at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, July 22, 2025.

Brinker’s farewell letter was crafted to express that while he’s going away, he isn’t going away angry. This, he said, was on his terms. Adams Strunk seconded in a prepared statement of her own that could be summed up in about four words: I DIDN’T FIRE HIM!

“While it is difficult to lose him,” Adams Strunk said. “I understand his decision and will do whatever I can to support him.”

In addition to the fact that her franchise still can’t stop being a magnet for in-house drama, I’d love to have the chance to ask the Titans’ owner why she believes it’s difficult to lose Brinker.

Because I honestly never understood what he did, and I certainly haven’t known since Borgonzi, at long last, was explicitly given roster control after this past season.

That move needed to happen, and I don’t think Brinker disagreed. To dispute the perception of it being a demotion, I’ve been told the switch was Brinker’s preference. If true, it tells you Brinker may already been looking elsewhere. It’d also tell you that he may not have been as cutthroat and power hungry as the Titans’ org chart would’ve suggested.

More: What I did and didn't like about Titans' 2026 draft class | Estes

Brinker, if anything, was miscast as the corporate CEO, face-of-the-franchise type that Adams Strunk tried to shoehorn him into, mostly because she couldn’t get away with giving him the GM title after firing Carthon. Instead, she created this weird, upper-management role that forced Brinker into the spotlight.

“I didn't ask for (roster control). So let’s just start there,” Brinker said soon after the promotion. “I wasn't like I went and said, 'I've got to have the 53.' This is what Amy wanted. … She wants me to kind of lead this organization. She asked me to do that. So I'm doing a job. I'm going to do the job that best I can.”

That quote above came from an on-record media gathering that the Titans called for Brinker in which video and audio clips weren’t allowed to be used.

He was at his best in casual settings. On a practice field. Watching and talking ball. You got the sense, even then, that’s what Brinker would’ve rather been doing.

The personnel side with players is “what I love,” Brinker said in his statement, and makes sense that Brinker no longer saw a future with the Titans.

Because in those videos of draft calls with new Titans players, you barely saw him.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans, why Chad Brinker's resignation makes sense