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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- After the ouster of Don MacLachlan, the team’s most public face from the business side of the Tennessee Titans, the team plans to have several different people out in the community as representatives. MacLachlan was a master schmoozer, able to engage the angriest of fans, business partners or city officials and disarm situations. He was asked to do too much, though, and fell out of favor with team president/CEO Tommy Smith and recently resigned rather than get fired. In MacLachlan’s absence, the Houston-based head of the Titans’ ownership group, Smith, said multiple people will emerge and function as the team’s connections to the city and its people. Among those we’re likely to see more of: Stuart Spears, chief revenue officer; Tina Tuggle, director of community relations; Ralph Ockenfels, vice president of marketing; and Bob Flynn, head of facilities and game day operations. I suggest the biggest public role go to the one person Smith mentioned by name regarding the question, Smith’s nephew Kenneth Adams IV, the team’s director of public and charitable affairs. Adams, 30, is one-third of the ownership group, and the lone member of the family with a stake in the team who lives in Nashville. He graduated from The University of the South in 2006 and then started working upstairs in the Titans' headquarters. Early on he moved from department to department to get a feel for the whole operation. He was an assistant to Steve Underwood when the team’s long-term general counsel and Bud Adams' top confidante worked as team president. Bigger roles representing the team will give Spears, Tuggle, Ockenfels and newcomer Flynn a chance to shine or blossom in new ways. But Nashville knew MacLachlan well. Will it want to know five team representatives instead of one? Will those people handle public venom with the style MacLachlan did? If you haven’t been close to that flame and it’s now part of your job, there is a chance you melt. There is a lot not to like about the franchise now. Despite that, most people genuinely liked MacLachlan. There was huge value in that. Adams is a likable guy, and he’s got something nobody else has: A big ownership stake. Hopefully Smith isn’t threatened by Adams. Because in the current environment it seems like a good idea for someone with skin in the game to be in the game -- and the game should now include not just what goes on in the team’s offices, but what goes on with the team in Nashville.
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