General Manager Search is Over

Update (10 a.m., Jan. 18): The Titans formally announced that they have hired Ran Carthon as general manager.

“He brings a variety of valuable experiences to our team – as a former player and a successful personnel executive for multiple teams," controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement. "I was impressed with his natural leadership qualities and his ability to connect with people. With talent evaluation being critical to this role, the roster they have built in San Francisco stands out. He played an important role there constructing one of our league’s best teams.”

Original Story

Ran Carthon’s best day as an NFL player – modest as it was – came against the Tennessee Titans.

Now, his best day to date as an NFL personnel executive is because of the Titans.

Carthon will be Tennessee’s next general manager, according to multiple reports Tuesday afternoon. The decision comes four days after the 41-year-old interviewed with franchise officials and hours after they met with their seventh candidate, Malik Boyd of the Buffalo Bills.

He becomes the 15th general manager in franchise history and replaces Jon Robinson, who was fired on Dec. 6 after six-plus seasons on the job. It will be his charge to get Tennessee back to the playoffs and into the mix of the AFC’s best teams following a 7-10 record that included seven straight defeats to conclude the schedule.

The Titans and Arizona Cardinals were the only teams in search of new general managers since the end of the regular season. Arizona hired Titans executive Monti Ossenfort on Monday.

Carthon has spent the last six years with the San Francisco 49ers, the first five as Director of Pro Personnel. He was promoted to Director of Player Personnel ahead of this season.

During that time the 49ers played in one Super Bowl and one conference championship game. Following a 41-23 wild card victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday, San Francisco is considered one of the favorites to reach this year’s Super Bowl.

Carthon also worked with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams as Director of Player Personnel and as a professional scout with the Atlanta Falcons. Twice, he has been selected to participate in the NFL Career Development Symposium at the Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia (2018 and 2022). Last year, he also took part in The Accelerator, an NFL program designed to enhance opportunities for minority coaches and front-office personnel.

A running back out of the University of Florida, where he was nicknamed “The Mayor” because he seemingly knew everyone in Gainesville, Fla., his NFL career consisted of nine games played for the Indianapolis Colts over two seasons (2005-06). He joined Indianapolis as an undrafted rookie in 2004.

For his career, he carried 16 times for 22 yards with two touchdowns and caught one pass for 10 yards. His career-high was seven yards on four carries against the Titans on Oct. 2, 2005, which was the same day he notched his only reception.

His father, Maurice Carthon, had an eight-year NFL career that included a Super Bowl win as a member of the New York Giants. Maurice Carthon also spent 19 years as an NFL assistant capped by four years as assistant head coach with the Kansas City Chiefs (2009-12).