NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As Ran Carthon was being introduced as Tennessee Titans general manager in January, his mind flashed back to 2003.
The thought brought a smile to his face. Carthon was a senior at Florida when his then-girlfriend, Heaven, asked him what he wanted to do for a living.
“I told her, ‘One day I want to be a GM of an NFL football team,'” Carthon said. “She later told me that she almost stopped dating me because she never met somebody that lived in la-la land.”
Carthon thanked myriad people during his speech before he smiled at Heaven, who’s now his wife, and said “Honey, today that dream comes true.”
Carthon became the fifth GM of the Titans since the franchise moved to Nashville in 1997, achieving a goal dating back to childhood. It was an arduous process. He employed unconventional methods to get his foot in the door after spending 2004 to 2006 as a running back with the Indianapolis Colts before finishing the second half of his third and final season with the Detroit Lions.
“He can connect with anyone,” Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said of Carthon, whom he worked with in San Francisco. “Everybody is Ran’s best friend. He’s … very relatable, very personable.”
CARTHON’S PASSION FOR scouting started in 1995, when he was 14 years old and studying draft previews. When draft day came, he and his younger brother would record the all-day event on their VCR. Carthon watched each selection, rewinding and scribbling the picks on his “little legal pad.”
That passion only grew in Indianapolis.
Future Hall of Famers like quarterback Peyton Manning and running back Edgerrin James were pivotal for his development on and off the field. He had to be ready for Manning’s famous “Omaha” calls at the line of scrimmage, constant audibling and knowing everyone’s job on any given play.
“You can’t just know your spot when playing with a guy like that,” Carthon said. “You have to know what everybody is doing.
“It opens up your eyes from the vantage point of being a talent evaluator, being able to understand who is making the mistake, who is right, who is wrong.”
Even as a player, he scoured advanced scouting reports. James was impressed with the way Carthon read every report and evaluated film, calling his former teammate “a student of the game.”
“Ran, he was going a little bit deeper,” James said. “He’s studying the sheets and really knew everything when he didn’t have to.”
Carthon was first exposed to the NFL personnel world when he was in college. The New York Jets staff visited Florida for pro days, and his father, Maurice — a former NFL fullback — was a member of the Jets’ coaching staff. They ended up putting Ran to work as he timed the 40-yard dash and tabulated results. He also would meet with the coaches and watch film.
“That was my introduction to the business side of it and not just be a fan of the draft,” Carthon said.
As Carthon’s playing career was ending, he knew he had to create connections that would help him take steps toward becoming a GM — including taking workouts to network to set — but little did he know, it would be the key to his future.
THE WORKOUT CARTHON took with the Atlanta Falcons might have been the most valuable. He was able to establish a relationship with then-general manager Thomas Dimitroff, and that led to a scouting job in 2008.
He spent four seasons attending games, practice sessions and studying prospects’ tapes.
Carthon’s next job was director of player personnel with the Rams from 2012 to 2016. He was still a scout, but he was also in charge of pulling together reports from other scouts and coaches to present to the general manager and head coach.
The most pivotal move came in 2017 after he joined the San Francisco 49ers as director of pro personnel. Carthon was required to have extensive knowledge of all 32 NFL rosters.
“I came from a good situation in San Francisco,” Carthon said. “It was a really great building with a lot of strong relationships there.”
Carthon went on to become the director of player personnel in 2021, a move that put him on track to become a GM.
“Ran’s had a tremendous amount of experience in a variety of roles,” 49ers general manager John Lynch said. “He did a tremendous job in our pro department. Then we wanted him involved in more than just the pro department because he was worthy of that. So Ran got involved in our college process.”
The 49ers selected former Louisiana running back Elijah Mitchell in the sixth round of the 2021 draft, in part, because Carthon pushed for it. The football research and development manager, Demetrius Washington, came to Carthon saying his numbers were telling him Mitchell was the best outside zone running back in the draft, but he wanted Carthon to watch the game film.
Carthon agreed with Washington, and they took their findings to 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan. DeMeco Ryans, who was the defensive coordinator at the time, agreed as well, and the 49ers selected Mitchell instead of a linebacker they originally focused on selecting.
Injuries to running backs Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. thrust Mitchell into duty in 2021, where he rushed for 963 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie in 11 games and helped push the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game.
San Francisco’s success in the draft and free agency led to a Super Bowl appearance in 2019 and back-to-back NFC Championship Game appearances in 2021 and 2022. The 49ers’ winning ways landed Carthon in the conversation for multiple general manager roles.
CARTHON INTERVIEWED FOR the general manager position with the Chicago Bears, New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022.
The opportunity to become the Titans’ general manager may not have been possible if Carthon didn’t attend The NFL Front Office Accelerator program in December. The program is designed to enhance opportunities for diverse front office prospects to strengthen relationships with club ownership and executives.
“The goal of our accelerator program is to foster relationships between owners and potential candidates for front office positions,” said Steelers president Art Rooney II, chairman of the NFL Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. “Both the clubs and the accelerator participants understand the importance of the exposure, professional development and networking opportunities.”
The accelerator program put candidates like Carthon in a meet-and-greet setting with NFL team leadership groups.
“I am extremely appreciative to commissioner [Roger] Goodell, [NFL chief diversity and inclusion officer] Jonathan Beane and all those beautiful people at the league office there that spearheaded the program,” Carthon said.
“It works. I’m here in part because of it, so it works.”
During the program, Carthon was encouraged to meet with the Titans leadership panel that included controlling owner Amy Adams-Strunk, president/CEO Burk Nihill and chief external and league affairs officer Adolpho Birch III.
“What impressed me the most was his growth mindset and clear vision,” Adams-Strunk said of Carthon.
Adams-Strunk was also struck by Carthon’s “ability to connect” with the Titans’ leadership group.
Developing relationships has always been one of Carthon’s strengths, going all the way back to his time in Gainesville, Florida, where he was nicknamed, “The Mayor.”
“He gets to know people in a really authentic way,” Lynch said. “I can’t tell you how many times I was like, ‘Ran, I need you to go find this out.’ He’d always deliver because people connect with Ran.”
When Carthon landed his first scouting job, there were three Black general managers (Ozzie Newsome, Baltimore Ravens; Rick Smith, Texans; Jerry Reese, Giants) in NFL history.
Now he’s one of eight in the NFL.
“There have been plenty of men that have come before me that have laid this foundation,” Carthon said. “It is paramount in my mind to do the work and be successful in order to leave the door open for other young Black men that are coming behind me.”
CARTHON WAS TESTED immediately in his new role. The Titans entered the offseason with multiple holes to fill — including retooling the offensive line, adding playmakers to an anemic offense and replacing free agents that went on to other teams — with limited cap space.
Under Carthon’s leadership, the Titans added low-cost starters for a franchise with approximately $14.4 million left of a possible $224.8 million salary cap for 2023.
“He’s a guy that’s motivated for the right reasons to do what he does best, evaluate football players,” Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said of Carthon, who he knows from his days as 49ers offensive coordinator. “He has a great scope of what it takes for a team to win and all the different variables that are encompassed in that.”
Carthon opened the line of communication with defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons‘ agent, Paul DeRousselle, about a contract extension soon after he got the job. Simmons had already made it clear after the 2022 season finale that he wanted a new deal to stay with the Titans and didn’t want to play on the franchise tag.
“When I first met Ran, he told me I would be here in Tennessee,” Simmons said. “I would say Ran kept his word.”
The two parties kept the communication going through free agency and brokered a deal that made Simmons the highest-paid player at his position at the time with a four-year, $96 million extension through the 2027 season.
“[Negotiations were] collaborative and never combative,” DeRousselle said. “We never got away from the purpose. We didn’t negotiate through the media. We just did good, clean business.”
Then the focus turned to the draft in April where the Titans held the No. 11 pick. Carthon said he woke up at 3 a.m. and struggled to go back to sleep one of the nights leading up to the draft because he wondered who would be there when the Titans were on the clock.
That No. 11 pick ended up being Northwestern offensive lineman Peter Skoronski, a player they thought would be gone.
Carthon was excited when they were put on the clock. He likened the moment to when a player scores their first touchdown and does a dance to celebrate before the coach tells him to act like he’s been there before.
“I told Ran, you never forget your first [pick],” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said.
The Titans still needed to address the wide receiver position after finishing 30th in receiving yards last season. Carthon decided to play the long game, trusting his belief an option would open as teams continued to churn their rosters.
Then the Arizona Cardinals released two-time All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins in late May. Tennessee moved in quickly by hosting Hopkins on his first free agent visit in June. As Hopkins waited to make his decision, Carthon had to free up cash.
Five-time captain Kevin Byard was asked to take a pay cut earlier in the offseason but he refused. Carthon and the Titans went back to Byard in July about restructuring his deal.
This time it was a success.
The Titans were able to sign Hopkins to a two-year deal worth $26 million a little over a month after they first brought him to Nashville.
Carthon breathed a sigh of relief before speaking to the media on Day 1 of training camp. He called the process of signing Hopkins “a long date.”
The ever evolving roster construction process came to an end as the Titans released their initial 53-man roster. There’s still more work to be done but after seven months into the job, Carthon is comfortable with the group he has in place.
“I’m in a lucky spot to come into a place that’s pretty much established and has a culture.” Carthon said. “Myself, [assistant general managers] Chad [Brinker] and [Anthony Robinson], we get to come in and add our flavor, bring it all together. It’s a collaborative effort.”