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NFL insiders like Ian Rapoport have built their careers on a foundation of the scoops they get from their network of contacts across the league. The vast majority of their reports end up being accurate, but that wasn’t the case with one stemming from the fake information former Titans coach Mike Mularkey leaked before the team kicked him to the curb.
In 2004, Mike Mularkey landed his first job as a head coach in the NFL when he kicked off what ended up being just a two-year stint with the Buffalo Bills. He got another shot with the Jaguars in 2012 but saw things come to a swift end after going 2-14, and he then joined the Tennesee Titans as a tight ends coach before ending up back at the helm when they fired Ken Whisenhunt midway through the 2014 campaign.
Mularkey fared a bit better in Nashville than he did in Jacksonville, as he led the Titans to a 9-7 record after losing the interim label in 2015. That wasn’t good enough to make the playoffs that season, but it was in 2016, as the team snapped an eight-year postseason drought before losing to the Patriots in the second round.
It seemed like the Titans were trending in the right direction under Mularkey’s watch, but the franchise ultimately opted to go in a new direction by firing him just a few days before hiring Mike Vrabel (which didn’t turn out to be the worst decision).
That development came as a bit of a surprise when you consider Ian Rapoport asserted Mularkey was going to be getting an extension from the Titans the night before he was let go.
Sources: The #Titans have offered coach Mike Mularkey an extension in the wake of their playoff run. He’s staying.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 15, 2018
How did Rapoport end up missing the mark? Well, it turns out Mularkey was the man responsible for feeding him the information in the first place.
During a recent interview with Action Sports Jax, Mularkey admitted he decided to entertain himself after coming to the conclusion he was going to be fired when he was called in for a meeting after the Patriots game.
Sources: The #Titans have offered coach Mike Mularkey an extension in the wake of their playoff run. He’s staying.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 15, 2018
Here’s what he had to say:
“When I got called in that Monday morning after the New England game, I knew they were gonna fire me. So, Sunday night, I called Ian Rapoport and said ‘Hey, I don’t know if you know this but I’m getting a new contract in the morning.’
He reported it. It was all over the country…I just wanted to see the faces on the owner and GM who was out to get me. I’m pretty sure I got ’em for a minute or two.”
Well played.