Jason Wolf

USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

It seems the Fritz Pollard Alliance has overstepped its bounds when it comes to one of the NFL's top minority coaches.

Titans defensive coordinator Ray Horton has disputed comments from Pollard Alliance chairman John Wooten, who told The Tennessean that Horton was “insulted” by the Titans not initially considering him an option for head coach.

Wooten is a former NFL player and front office executive who has been involved with the league for nearly a half century, and works with the league to promote minority hiring of coaches, executives and scouts.

Horton said Wooten is not authorized to speak on his behalf. Horton would not say whether he has shared his feelings with Wooten or whether he has asked for his release from the Titans to join the Browns as coach Hue Jackson’s defensive coordinator, as Wooten said.

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Horton interviewed for the Titans’ head coaching job Saturday, the same day Mike Mularkey was named head coach. Mularkey, who led the Titans to a 2-7 record as interim coach and was long considered the front-runner to land the permanent job, and general manager Jon Robinson, who was hired Thursday, will be introduced by the Titans during a press conference at 1 p.m. Monday.

“I was very happy to have an interview,” Horton told The Tennessean. “I welcomed the opportunity to interview for (controlling owner) Mrs. (Amy Adams) Strunk and the Tennessee Titans organization. The interview went outstanding. It was about a four-hour interview where great ideas were exchanged that I was told will be implemented in the Tennessee Titans organization. I couldn’t have been insulted by it, because it went well.”

Wooten also spoke with Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com, who confirmed The Tennessean's original report.

“They insulted him,” Wooten had told The Tennessean. “The Browns had put in a request to interview him, and then Tennessee interviewed him (for the head coaching job Saturday). And they said that they didn’t know that he had any interest in being a head coach. Well, that’s an insult to the man. That is just an insult.

“And then when he got in the interview, they seemed shocked that he was as prepared and knowledgeable and everything else at that point,” Wooten said. “And they of course already interviewed Mularkey on Friday, and they gave the job to Mularkey.”

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Wooten said Horton had since requested to be released from his contract, and that Titans president and CEO Steve Underwood had told Horton his request would be granted. Horton would become the Browns' defensive coordinator, Wooten said.

Horton has been the Titans’ defensive coordinator for two seasons but was “overshadowed,” Wooten said, by the presence of Dick LeBeau, who was hired last season as assistant head coach/defense.

LeBeau has 57 seasons of NFL experience as a player and a coach, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010 and is expected to remain on Mularkey’s staff.

Horton has played for or coached alongside LeBeau in 19 of his 32 seasons in the league and has been to five Super Bowls. Horton played safety for 10 seasons with the Bengals and Cowboys. Most recently, he was a Steelers secondary coach from 2004-10, the Cardinals’ defensive coordinator under Ken Whisenhunt from 2011-12 and the Browns’ defensive coordinator under Rob Chudzinski in 2013, prior to joining the Titans’ staff built by Whisenhunt in 2014.

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The year before Horton's arrival, the Titans ranked 14th in total defense (337.9 yards allowed per game) and 16th in points allowed (23.8). After his first season, they ranked 27th in total defense (373) and 29th in points allowed (27.4).

This season, their second using a 3-4 defensive front and with LeBeau on staff, the Titans ranked 12th in total defense (342.2 yards per game) and seventh against the pass (229.9), but were still among the most scored upon units in the NFL, ranking 27th in points allowed (26.4).

Horton was one of four candidates and the last to interview for the Titans' head coaching position.

“He felt disrespected just because of the way — it’s really touchy,” Wooten said. “For them all to be in the same building and not to know what Ray Horton is about just tells you that, it’s like you don’t exist, like you’re invisible.”

Jaguars assistant head coach Doug Marrone and Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin were the only external candidates to interview for the Titans’ head coaching job. Austin, also promoted by the Pollard Alliance, has interviewed for eight NFL head coaching jobs since last season.

The NFL’s Rooney Rule requires teams to meet face-to-face with at least one minority candidate for head coaching and general manager vacancies.

Titans interview Mularkey, Austin for coach job; Horton next

The Titans hired Robinson, the Buccaneers' former director of player personnel, as GM on Thursday, the same day they began interviewing head coaching candidates.

They were the last of seven teams to select a head coach since the end of the regular season, after vacancies had been filled by the Bucs, Browns, Dolphins, Eagles, 49ers and Giants.

Jackson, who was the Bengals’ offensive coordinator before becoming Browns head coach, was the only minority candidate hired.

Reach Jason Wolf at jwolf@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter at @JasonWolf and on Instagram at TitansBeat.