New Titans’ Defensive Coach Could Unlock Caleb Farley

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans selected cornerback Caleb Farley out of Virginia Tech in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. To put it lightly, the move has not worked out well for the Titans or Farley to this point. Farley enters his third season coming off two major injuries that ended his first two years early. Farley tore an ACL in 2021 and then had a back injury in 2022. The scariest of those being the back injury last season as Farley’s health, specifically that of his back, was a major red flag heading into the 2021 draft.

Farley likely only has one more year in Nashville to get his NFL career on track. If he is hurt again or plays poorly in 2023, the odds are the Titans will release Farley prior to 2024. It would not save the Titans any money to do so, but the roster spot Farley would hold may be more valuable to the Titans with another player in it, regardless of the $4.2 million they would eat in dead cap.

With that in mind, the Titans would be wise to do everything in their power to get something out of Farley even if it is as a role player and not a first-round talent. Even the most optimistic person would not expect Farley to live up to his first round billing at this point, but the Titans made a move this offseason to try and maximize any value Farley could bring.

Enter Justin Hamilton. Hamilton was on the staff at Virginia Tech when Caleb Farley had the seasons that led to him being a first round pick. In 2018, Farley played 13 games and had two interceptions with seven passes defended. Hamilton was the director of player development in 2018. He wasn’t Farley’s direct positional coach, but he was involved in assisting the defensive backs.

In 2019, Farley played in 10 games and had four interceptions with 12 passes defended including a pick six for a score. Hamilton was promoted to safeties coach in 2019 so he wasn’t working directly with Farley every day, but considering Farley’s development from 2018 to 2019, it is hard to ignore the impact Hamilton might have had on Farley as a young player. Farley skipped the 2020 covid-impacted season and went into the draft in 2021.

Farley has struggled to stay healthy since entering the NFL and the injuries have led to poor play when he was healthy enough to play, so it is fair to be skeptical of Farley becoming any kind of contributor for the Titans. If Farley is going to blossom, he will need to stay healthy, first and foremost, but if he is able to do so, Hamilton might be exactly what he needs to regain his confidence and be reminded of the player he was those two years in college that led to him being a first round pick.

Hamilton and newly signed defensive backs coach Chris Harris are going to be tasked with fixing a Titans’ pass defense that has been awful the last few seasons. One of the quickest ways to accomplish that would be to get Farley back to a level where he can contribute week in and week out. At worst, Farley can be a nice rotational piece, but at best, the Titans could unlock Farley and have a long, starting-level cornerback on their hands.

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