Chad Brinker has resigned as Tennessee Titans president of football operations, leaving behind a reshaped analytics base and a key role in the GM search that landed Mike Borgonzi.
Tennessee Titans executive Chad Brinker has tendered his resignation, bringing an end to his tenure as president of football operations while the franchise looks to keep building toward sustained competitiveness.
Brinker’s departure matters less because of what he said and more because of what his job covered: overall football strategy. oversight of the football staff. and direct reporting to Amy Adams Strunk.. In his statement. he framed the move as a chance to return to what he loves after spending “less time in personnel. ” a line that hints at how demanding top-level organizational leadership can be for a staff builder.. For Titans fans. it also creates an immediate question: who will now translate the foundation Brinker helped assemble into day-to-day roster decisions?
The timing is also significant.. Brinker joined the Titans in 2023 as assistant general manager and was promoted a year later to president of football operations.. From that seat. he played a central executive role across football operations rather than operating in a narrow slice of the organization.. According to the team’s internal structure. his responsibilities tied together leadership and execution—an important distinction in the NFL. where strategy can be undermined if departments don’t align.. His resignation therefore isn’t just a personnel change; it’s a shift in how the Titans coordinate football decisions from scouting and analytics to free agency and the draft.
One of Brinker’s most visible impacts appears to be the Titans’ recent organizational pivot around leadership continuity—especially the General Manager transition.. It was Brinker who led the search and hiring process when the Titans selected Mike Borgonzi as General Manager in January 2025.. That kind of executive involvement tends to shape the front office’s direction long after the candidate is hired. because the search process reflects what ownership and leadership want the roster to become.
Brinker also credited work over the past three years as laying a foundation “to restore the Titans to their rightful place as a sustainable. winning program.” The emphasis on sustainability is telling.. In the NFL. franchises chasing short-term fixes often end up paying for it later through churn in personnel. inconsistent draft preparation. and unclear player development priorities.. By contrast. a sustainability-first approach typically prioritizes scouting infrastructure. repeatable evaluation methods. and internal stability—areas where analytics and personnel strategy frequently overlap.
That overlap is where Brinker’s background stands out.. During his time with the Titans. he helped reshape and refine the organization’s analytics department and contributed to offseason player acquisition planning for both free agency and the draft.. He previously spent 13 years with the Packers in roles connected to talent evaluation and advising leadership. which suggests his approach blends long-term thinking with detailed roster assessment.. For the Titans. that combination can be a competitive advantage when the organization is still defining its identity and tightening decision-making across departments.
The Packers connection is more than a resume line, too.. Teams that succeed repeatedly in the modern NFL often build processes that survive coaching changes and avoid the trap of reinventing their methods every offseason.. Brinker’s experience with an established evaluator framework likely influenced how the Titans approached measurement, scouting collaboration, and strategic planning.. Even without adding new names yet. the organization now faces the challenge of preserving what has been built—so that the analytics foundation doesn’t become a set of tools without a clear executive driver.
Amy Adams Strunk’s response underscores that internal stability is still a priority.. She acknowledged that losing Brinker is difficult while also signaling willingness to support him personally and professionally.. Her remarks also directly tied confidence to the Titans’ long-term stability at the General Manager position and throughout the scouting department.. For fans. the subtext is clear: the franchise wants the football infrastructure to remain intact even with the top executive leaving.
Where does this leave the Titans now?. If Brinker’s role bridged strategy to execution. his absence creates a gap at the exact point where big decisions become roster realities.. The Titans will need to ensure that oversight of football strategy doesn’t slow down—or, worse, fracture between departments.. In the short term. that means tightening coordination between the front office’s analytics direction and the daily work of scouting. roster construction. and offseason planning.. In the longer term. it likely accelerates conversations about who within the organization can best serve as the connective tissue between ownership goals. GM decision-making. and player acquisition.
Brinker isn’t going far in public terms—his statement frames the move as a “next chapter” and a return to personnel work—but the effect on the Titans could be immediate.. The organization will now have to manage transition while protecting the foundation it has already laid.. If the Titans handle that shift well. the work Brinker highlighted—especially the groundwork for a more consistent. winning program—can continue to grow rather than stall.