Titans hire former Chiefs assistant general manager Mike Borgonzi as team’s next general manager

NASHVILLE – Mike Borgonzi has been hired as the next general manager of the Tennessee Titans.

Borgonzi, who previously served as assistant general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs, will come to Tennessee with an impressive background and excellent reputation.

On Friday, the team officially agreed to terms with Borgonzi, who spent the last 16 seasons with the Chiefs.

This hire comes after an extensive search that included interviews with ten candidates, including six interviews conducted in person this week at Ascension Saint Thomas Sports Park.

A press conference is expected early next week in Nashville.

“Mike’s experience speaks for itself: he was part of the core team that won four AFC championships and three Super Bowls over the last five seasons,” said Amy Adams Strunk, owner of the Titans. “That’s the type of standard I want to build here at Tennessee. I know we have a lot of work ahead of us and I’m excited for Mike to get started.”

Ultimately, pairing Borgonzi with Titans president of football operations Chad Brinker was seen as a perfect fit moving forward as the franchise aims to regain its footing after a rough patch.

“During Mike’s 16 years in the league, he played a key role in transforming the Chiefs from a two-win team to a three-time Super Bowl champion,” Brinker said. “During our meetings, he articulated a clear plan to set a championship standard in Nashville through consistency, discipline and hard work. I have admired him for many years and am excited to add him to the team as general manager.

Strunk and Brinker, along with president and CEO Burke Nihill, head coach Brian Callahan and other members of the football team, met with Borgonzi in Nashville earlier this week as the team looked to replace Ran Carthon, who was fired at the end of the season. 2024 season.

During his interview with the team, Borgonzi shared his vision of helping build and maintain a winning culture at Tennessee, doing so with a draft and free agency strategy aimed at creating an identity focused on character and commitment. His plan is to help build a championship team in Tennessee.

Borgonzi comes from a Kansas City organization that has shown the ability to achieve sustained success. He played a role in building three Super Bowl winning teams, including back-to-back Super Bowl teams (LVII and LVIII). The Chiefs have appeared in four of the last five Super Bowls (LIV, LV, LVII and LVIII) while winning eight straight AFC West titles and appearing in six AFC Championship Games.

In an interview with TennesseeTitans.com on Friday, Brinker praised Borgonzi’s preparation and shared vision.

“He literally thought about everything you can think of as a general manager,” Brinker said of Borgonzi. “He mapped out the whole plan from everything he believes in, what we believe in here, the drafting, development and curation model. From that to everything about the role of general manager, especially when it comes to the college pro evaluation, the schedule, what that looks like, the meetings… his plan of working with the coaching staff for player development, player engagement, sports medicine. He literally had a plan for everything. who was able to execute this plan at a high level.

With the Chiefs, Borgonzi rose through the ranks.

In 2021, Borgonzi was promoted to assistant general manager of the Chiefs after serving three seasons as the club’s director of football operations (2018-20) and three seasons as the club’s director of player personnel (2017)/co-director player personnel (2015-16).

According to the Chiefs, Borgonzi oversaw and directed the club’s college and professional scouting operations while closely supporting and advising general manager Brett Veach in managing the club’s roster and acquiring players through the draft. NFL, NFL free agency, street free agency, waiver claims and trades. .

Prior to his current role, Borgonzi spent a year as director of football operations in Kansas City. Prior to that, he assumed the entire role of Director of Player Personnel in 2017 after working alongside Veach as Co-Director of Player Personnel for two years (2015-16).

Borgonzi served as the club’s Assistant Director of Professional Scouting (2013-14) and Club Professional Staff Recruiter (2011-12), where he evaluated all professional players, recommended free agents, supervised free agent workouts, evaluated varsity players and helped coach. personnel with advance scouting reports for the teams’ upcoming opponents. In 2010, he served as the club’s Director of Football Operations. Borgonzi joined the Chiefs in 2009, serving as the club’s college recruiting administrator.

Before joining the Chiefs, Borgonzi served two seasons as assistant recruiting coordinator at Boston College (2007-08).

Brinker noted that when Borgonzi arrived in Kansas City, the Chiefs were coming off a 2-14 season in 2008. Another 4-12 season then followed. But the results and the culture ultimately changed.

“Our goal is to build a winning, cohesive football team that will ultimately bring a championship to Nashville,” Brinker said. “And I hope that every year we can be one of those four to eight teams that compete for championships, that’s ultimately what we’d like to get to. And Mike has been one of that.

“So, I hope he can bring that with him here, and we’ll work together.”

In addition to Borgonzi, the Titans also conducted interviews with Dolphins director of personnel Reggie McKenzie, former Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff, Buccaneers assistant general manager John Spytek, Seahawks senior director of player personnel Matt Berry, Colts assistant general manager Ed Dodds, Bills player manager. Personnel Terrance Gray, Browns assistant general manager and vice president of football operations Catherine Hickman, Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunninghan and Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan.

But it was Borgonzi who got the job.

“Mike should have been general manager two years ago. He’s ready for this position. … And this was the place he wanted to be,” Brinker said. “When he walked into the building, he said it was like a family here, and it reminded him a little bit of Kansas City and what they were able to build there.

“Now we still have a lot to do culturally in our building, but he can see there are some good bones here. We have some really good people in this building, and he can’t wait to get here and to help us start to turn the culture around and start to review this list and really work side by side with me and the others… He just said he felt something special leaving that building, and he felt like it was the right place to him.

“We’re really excited to have him,” Brinker added. “I think it’s going to be a great partnership, that’s what it is. And there’s a humility about him that I love, and what he stands for and who he is as a human being. I I think it will be a very good partnership.”