Roy Horton at Cleveland Browns training camp: Monday, July 29, 2013

Former Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Ray Horton has taken the Tennessee defensive coordinator job, per source.

(John Kuntz/The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Former Browns defensive coordinator Ray Horton has accepted the Titans defensive coordinator job, a league source told cleveland.com.

The two clubs are working out the financial details before announcing the move.

Horton, 53, will be reunited with Titans new head coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was his boss in Arizona in 2011 and 2012.

In 2013, the Browns defensive finished No. 9 overall and No. 8 against the pass. The Browns were 23rd in the NFL with 25.4 points per allowed and 16th with 40 sacks. They were also second-last in the league in red zone, opponents scoring TDs 64% of the time.

Two of Horton's players received postseason honors, with cornerback Joe Haden being voted to the Pro Bowl and earning first-team All-Pro honors. Safety T.J. Ward earned a second-team All-Pro selection.

But Horton was profoundly disappointed in the 145 points the Browns surrendered in the fourth quarter, and all the defensive meltdowns at the end of the first half and the end of games.

"’m really disappointed that I didn’t do a better job of helping our team win more games,'' Horton said before the season finale. "You look back at the season and right now, sitting here today, eight wins would get you into the playoffs…. I’m disappointed that I didn’t get our guys, my guys better equipped to finish, whether it’s the fourth quarter or however that comes out, because we didn’t finish, and that falls on my shoulders.”

At the time, Horton vowed to evaluate what he could've done differently as a coordinator.

“First thing after the season, you look at your calls, you look at your matchups; how can I affect the game? I’ll go back and look and say, ‘Should I have pressured more? Should I have pressured less? Should I have put someone in? Should I have called a different defense? Should we have done something different?’ Those would be things when you get back and get a chance to step away from the emotional part, look back – I think everybody, I hope everybody does that – I’ll challenge our players to sit back and look at their season,'' he said. "What could they have done? Because as you’re well aware, we’ve had some chances in the fourth quarter to swing games and we didn’t. That to me is my burden that I’ll look back and go, ‘What could I have done better?’”

Horton lamented a three-game stretch in which the Browns led deep into the fourth quarter and lost, giving up four TDs in the final 2:17 of those losses to Jacksonville, New England and Chicago.

"We have failed the last three weeks,'' Horton said in a press conference. "You can not play well for three quarters and then come crunch time tighten up. We talk about being the backbone of the team, well, you can't do that. You don't do that. It's highly. …it's very disappointing.''

He acknowledged that some of his players crumbled under the weight of a close game -- something that will still have to be addressed next year.

"I think as the games go on, there's more pressure to perform well and to not repeat a pattern that has happened in the past,'' he said. "So is there a psychological pressure affect? I think there is."

In 2012, Horton's final season with Whisenhunt in Arizona, the Cardinals led the NFL in passer-rating allowed (71.2) and interception percentage (4.4%). His defense also ranked second in the NFL in interceptions (22), third in third-down efficiency (32.9), third in red zone defense (44.4%) and fourth in takeaways (33).

Horton, who had three years remaining on his Browns contract, interviewed for the Vikings head coaching position this offseason, but the job went to former Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. Last year, he interviewed for the head jobs in Arizona and Cleveland before accepting the Browns coordinator job. The Browns need only pay the difference between what he'll make in Tennessee and his salary here.

The club is also set to lose offensive coordinator Norv Turner and receivers coach Scott Turner soon. Turner is close to becoming the Vikings offensive coordinator under new coach Mike Zimmer, and his son, Scott, is likely to become quarterbacks coach -- the post he was set to take over in Cleveland before Rob Chudzinski was fired.