It's on Amy Adams Strunk to clean a Tennessee Titans mess of her creation | Estes

Let’s take stock of the Tennessee Titans entering a critical offseason.

They just had a second losing season in a row.

Their roster needs a serious upgrade.

Their era of “collaboration” in leadership is failing. League media near and far keep reporting that coach Mike Vrabel and general manager Ran Carthon have a strained working relationship, stemming from the fact that neither is truly in charge.

It’s a mess Titans ownership has created, and only Amy Adams Strunk can clean it up.

We’ve heard nothing from Adams Strunk in recent weeks and months, as this idea of Vrabel and Carthon being at odds has spread through NFL circles as a reason for why Vrabel might want out of Tennessee. That’s an indictment of her leadership more than theirs. It reflects poorly on the franchise.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Saturday that Vrabel and Titans decision-makers are expected to meet “to determine whether any notable changes will be made,” hinting at the possibility of Vrabel being traded to another franchise. “The situation in Tennessee currently is not settled,” Schefter wrote.

If you’re the boss, you should say something. You need to do something.

Something has to give.

Sunday’s 28-20 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars made for a smooth finish to a rough season, but I doubt it moved the needle for the most pressing questions: Who is going to coach the Titans moving forward? And will that coach have the final say in drafting or selecting free agents with all the cap space the Titans have to play with in the coming months?

Last week, Vrabel said the right things publicly about still wanting to coach the Titans. I'd have no reason to doubt his sincerity, but what else was he supposed to say at a press conference?

“Of course, I want to be here,” Vrabel said Wednesday. “Be here as long as we can win and as long as we can do this thing. And it’s been great, but it also has been just frustrating this year.”

Can they win like this? They haven’t been winning.

I’d understand Vrabel’s frustrations. And Carthon, too.

Multimillion-dollar decisions for an NFL franchise are not a group project. It’s no different from your business or mine. If someone isn’t deputized to make important decisions, then everyone’s job is more difficult. Good luck maintaining a positive culture in an argumentative climate with power struggles and backbiting. And in the NFL, losing exacerbates the problem.

If the Titans’ ownership didn’t consider this when Carthon was hired to replace Jon Robinson, it should have. Adams Strunk didn’t name Carthon as a true GM in complete control of personnel decisions, and she also didn’t publicly bestow those responsibilities on Vrabel.

Instead, she hedged. She idealistically sought collaboration between two people who didn’t know each other well and were in contrasting places in their tenures.

Of course, Carthon would want to start tearing it down and rebuilding. Most first-year GMs would.

Of course, Vrabel wouldn’t want to do that. No sitting head coach would.

Regardless of how deep a divide between Vrabel and Carthon might be, scuttlebutt of this variety tends to be self-fulfilling. When everyone thinks discord is true, it tends to become true, no matter what gets said to dispute the tension once it starts.

Adams Strunk needs to figure out how to address the problems while keeping everyone content – and I’m not sure that’s possible at this point.

Winning operations don’t operate like this.

Before the Titans can become one again, they must get their own house in order.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: It's on Amy Adams Strunk to get Tennessee Titans' house in order