A new head coach isn’t the only change coming to the Tennessee Titans for the 2018 NFL season.
The Titans fired head coach Mike Mularkey after a season-ending blowout loss to the New England Patriots in the playoffs. Tennessee replaced Mularkey with former Houston Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel.
The Titans unveiled their new uniforms on April 4 in front of about 20,000 fans in downtown Nashville. People lined Broadway from sidewalk to sidewalk for five blocks for the unveiling and a free concert by Florida-Georgia Line.
Titans radio announcer Mike Keith served as the emcee for the event.
Former Titans players Eddie George, Frank Wycheck, Craig Hentrich and Blaine Bishop walked onto the stage in the team’s old uniforms while a lineup of current players – including quarterback Marcus Mariota – modeled the new uniforms.
Changes made to the jerseys include a new font for the numbers, tapered two-tone grey shoulders resembling the Titans’ sword logo with the Nike logo in red.
Keith asked general manager Jon Robinson to describe the uniforms in one word.
“Fierce,” Robinson replied.
The home jerseys are the same navy blue color while the away jerseys feature a sharper white. Tennessee’s “color rush” jerseys remain the same “Titan blue” color.
The Titans’ most dramatic change involves their helmets. The traditional white helmets with centered blue streaks and black facemasks, now are navy blue with white streaks and grey facemasks.
"The thing that Nike started from the beginning was, Titans, it's superiority. So we wanted that feel. It is going to be what you think of a Titan,” Titans owner Amy Adams-Strunk said in a prepared statement.
The jersey unveiling was not without controversy – someone leaked the designs on social media just days before the official announcement. Circulated photographs appeared to show an individual holding the navy home jersey in front of several opened boxes.
NFL officials are investigating.
The Titans’ new uniforms are the first new uniforms for the team in 19 years. The last time the franchise changed uniforms, the team went to the Super Bowl in 2000.
The change comes on the heels of a season when the Titans advanced to the AFC Divisional round before losing to the New England Patriots.
