NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans have interviewed Las Vegas Raiders interim coach Antonio Pierce and Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald for their head coaching job.
The Titans announced Saturday they completed virtual interviews with Macdonald and Pierce as they seek to replace Mike Vrabel, who was fired Tuesday after consecutive losing seasons and just six wins in his last 24 games. Vrabel was 56-48 overall, counting a 2-3 mark in playoff games, in six seasons in Nashville.
Pierce became interim coach of the Raiders after Josh McDaniels was fired on Oct. 31. The 2023 team went 3-5 under McDaniels and 5-4 under Pierce, who remains a leading candidate to get the full-time job.
Tennessee began its coaching search Friday by interviewing Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan and New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka.
The 45-year-old Pierce, a former NFL linebacker with the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants, began his coaching career at the high school level before stints as linebackers coach and defensive coordinator at Arizona State. He joined the Raiders as linebackers coach in 2022.
The 36-year-old Macdonald has been the Ravens’ defensive coordinator since 2022. Baltimore finished No. 1 in the NFL in scoring defense and had the sixth-ranked defense overall this season.
Macdonald had stints with the Ravens as a defensive assistant, defensive backs coach and linebackers coach from 2015-20. He then spent 2021 as the defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan.
Macdonald has also interviewed this past week with the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Chargers.
Beginning on Jan. 22, teams may hold in-person interviews with coaches whose teams are no longer in the playoffs.