NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans have started their search for a new general manager by interviewing three candidates, beginning with a pair of former NFL general managers in Thomas Dimitroff and Reggie McKenzie.
The Titans wrapped up their first interviews virtually Friday night with Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant general manager John Spytek. Chad Brinker, the president of football operations for the Titans, is leading the search to replace Ran Carthon, who was fired Tuesday after going 9-25 in his two seasons as GM in Nashville.
A Knoxville native who played at the University of Tennessee, McKenzie was the first candidate interviewed Friday morning. This is his second time in contention for this job after being in the mix in 2008. He played five seasons in the NFL, then spent a season as a graduate assistant at his alma mater.
McKenzie went to the Green Bay Packers in 1994 and worked in a variety of roles with the team through 2011, including director of football operations. Brinker was a scouting assistant and pro scout for Green Bay from 2009 to 2012.
McKenzie was general manager of the Oakland Raiders from 2012 to 2018. He has spent the past six seasons as a senior personnel executive with the Miami Dolphins.
Dimitroff was general manager of the Atlanta Falcons from 2008 until he was fired in October 2020. The Falcons went 109-88 with six playoff berths and a Super Bowl appearance during his tenure.
Dimitroff also was a scout for the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots. The Patriots made him their director of college scouting in 2003, a job he held for five years before being hired in Atlanta.
Dimitroff helped start a football analytics company called SumerSports in January 2022 to help with acquiring players and managing NFL rosters. He interviewed with the New York Jets for their general manager vacancy a couple of weeks ago.
The Titans also will be interviewing Catherine Hickman, Cleveland’s assistant general manager and vice president of football operations.
Spytek has been in his current role overseeing Tampa Bay’s college and pro scouting departments since 2023.
He started as an intern for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2005 before becoming a full-time college scout in 2006 and adding pro scouting duties in 2007. Cleveland hired him as director of college scouting in 2010. He was a scout for the Denver Broncos for three years before Tampa Bay hired him in 2016 as director of player personnel.