NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans have been granted permission to interview Catherine Hickman by the Cleveland Browns as the Nashville franchise looks for a new general manager, a person familiar with the request told The Associated Press.
Hickman has been assistant general manager and vice president of football operations for the Browns since 2022 after being hired in 2019 as the football operations coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles. The person spoke Wednesday on the condition of anonymity because neither team is commenting on interview requests.
Hickman currently is the NFL’s highest-ranking female executive with a team. Meeting with her will help Tennessee meet the Rooney Rule that requires a team to interview at least two outside candidates who are either a person of color or female for the Titans’ general manager opening. The Titans are owned by Amy Adams Strunk.
Hickman previously worked for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League, where she began as an intern and eventually was promoted to assistant GM before joining the Toronto Argonauts.
The Titans sent out several requests for interviews to fill the GM job that opened Tuesday with the firing of Ran Carthon after two seasons on the job. He was the franchise’s first Black GM and he was fired after the Titans went 9-25 in his tenure.
Chad Brinker, the team’s president of football operations, is running the search and told the AP on Tuesday that the Titans already had lots of interest in the job.