The Titans have now filled their last main coaching vacancy as they found their defensive coordinator is Gus Bradley. Bradley spent this past season as the assistant head coach of the 49ers under Kyle Shanahan. This gives him a connection to Robert Saleh and now puts the Titans' defense in a tremendous spot.

A former defensive player at North Dakota State himself, Bradley won three Division 2 championships with the Bison before coming on as a graduate assistant. Bradley has been a defensive coach for nearly his entire coaching career. His most notable stint to start his coaching career was under Pete Caroll in Seattle, where the Legion of Boom (LOB) was started under Bradley.

Going into the 2013 season, Bradley took his talents to Jacksonville, where he became the head coach of the Jaguars for the next four years. He got his first coaching win against the Titans in a 27-24 victory, but over the next few years, the Jags never improved. Bradley finished with a head coaching record of 14-48 and was fired in 2016.

After his time in Jacksonville, Bradley has bounced around to several NFL teams. Going back to a defensive coordinator with the Chargers (2017-2020), then a stop with the Raiders in 2021, a few seasons with the Colts (2022-2024), last year with the 49ers as the assistant head coach, and now in Tennessee for the next chapter of his coaching career.

Bradley has coached multiple top defenses during his NFL coaching career, including two top-10 defenses with the Seahawks and a top-10 defense with the Chargers in 2017. He led a Raiders defense to the playoffs with a powerful run defense and pass rush as well, and turned Khalil Mack into a star.

How will Bradley change the Titans' defense, you ask? The answer to that is covering up the field in a cover-3 defense. Cover-3 defense serves as a zone defense that has the ability to not only protect the pass but also help stop the run.

The Titans last year were in the bottom five in almost every passing category and points allowed. They were average against the run, ranking 16th in yards against. Bradley will look to this zone as a way to make up for the Titans' lack of talent in the secondary.

It is almost certain that the Titans will make some moves this offseason to hopefully beef up their defense. They will also have guys like La’Jarius Sneed returning from injury. If they decide to part ways with Sneed, then it is just more cap space for the Titans to play with.

Bradley has the opportunity to get this Titans defense to where it once was, just a few years ago, a powerhouse and swarming defense that they had under Mike Vrabel.

The bar is low as of right now, and any sort of improvement would definitely see Bradley getting some praise for the job he has done. The Titans have formed a solid coaching staff, and fans should be excited to see what this team can do next year.