 This is the man of the hour the Titans new GM and we have to start with the most important part I say because I watched your dad play in the USFL Maurice Carthon I say Carthon because that's how they said it on TV. Is that your preferred pronunciation? We can yes, that's how I pronounce it my mom pronounced it Carthon Everybody has their own that's how my mom said it would you got hired? She said Carthon. I said I think it's Carthon So I use Carthon. I use Carthon. He uses Carthon Everybody has their own version of it, but we'll roll with Carthon Titans fans say Carthon. You're doing just fine All right, so when you're looking for players, I want to throw the stat at you about your dad. Okay, so in 1985 He played 22 games for the New Jersey generals. You know this yes He played 22 games for the New Jersey generals then he walked 65 steps from the generals locker room at the Meadowlands to the Giants locker room at the Meadowlands and Then he played 23 games for the Giants So in the space of less than a year your dad played in 45 games Can you find us some players like that? I don't think those exist Thank goodness, right time limitations and but no he told me that story and I was I was unaware of that story he told me that Man probably about eight years ago He told me that story. I think he had a two-week window from when the USFL season ended versus when he signed with the Giants He told me legitimately he almost retired after you know following that season just because of the toll it took on his body And especially as a lead blocking, you know fullback who didn't touch the ball He just was a batter-in-round was an extension of the old line But yeah, that's a that's a crazy stat. What's the main trait you think you take from your dad And you carry on into your life to this day work at it. That's the first income of mine I tell people I'm an early riser got that from my dad like my my biological clock no matter what coast I'm on my I'm up by 447 and it's specifically 447 and that's just my biological clock My dad when he was coaching he was in the office by 430 You know so you know my dad worked extremely hard and that's that was him all the way through and you know I mean ultimately he had a he had a stroke in 2014 new year's day And that was a lot of you know stress from the way he worked and not allowing his body to regenerate But you know the way I'm hard-wired comes from him to you know, I'll be in here early That's just who I am. I get my best works done then but that's the quality. I think I took the most from my dad Fran, what was it like telling your mom and dad? I'm a GM in the NFL as of today. So it's funny my dad and I we were talking about it last night when he got in town He was like you told me the news so calm. He was like, I was just waiting on more I didn't know if you were serious and I kind of got that consistently you my wife didn't take me serious But you know like I've said before I was in the middle of an airport terminal You know so I couldn't be too excited and run I you have this vision Of you know when I get that call that I'm going to be named the GM of a place like I'm It's like draft day where you see the guys jump up and family suck. I'm in a terminal with strangers You know and so I just tried to compose myself as much as possible He was just giving me a hard time last night that I was just way too calm Found a couple quotes from you from 2012. I want to read them to you see see how much they still apply That's what I'm all about. I'm all about winning Oh 100% even more so than in 2012 I mean now in 2012 I'm assuming at the time I was with the Rams I may have just gotten hired by the Rams So I'm playing a key part in Les's operation Um, and I tell guys in the office all the time whether you agree or disagree with the decision Let's just use uh less as example since we're talking we're here to execute Les's vision Right, so I'm just a soldier in Les's army and now I get to be the general You know of an army so it's really more it's important You know like I said to uh to win, you know, and it's even more important now that I'm the general. All right, here's another one I never run away from competition. I'm a very competitive guy I'm feeling like that came from my college days um And I know the exact time we had a log jam in the backfield and I'm not afraid of competition. You know, I'm one of those people that I'm good with having the uncomfortable conversation You know because sometimes you just need to take things head on and whether you win or lose you usually get better You know when you compete on something so that still holds true. All right, you're an sec guy You're back in sec country It feels like that was part of the allure of this job was to get back here Where you know football just means a little bit more no matter what level it's at Yeah, it was it's super important and I'm gonna have to be careful find my gator flag Every home that we've lived in we have Something gator oriented in the front of our home to let everybody know we're gators now. We have a A decal on the garage. I got a little gator holding a football on the front step. I remember living in Atlanta I had a gator flag after every sec game Usually my flag was in the yard because somebody came and took it down, you know It's really huge, you know, and even from an outside of football's Perspective my wife is from Miami and it just allows us to get back on this side and be closer to family You know, our parents are getting up there in age. So it's more important You know spend more time with them and you know being here in this location allows us to do so When you finished your playing career, you went back and finished your degree and then you said I'm not going to follow my dad into coaching which is what most former players do You said I want to work in personnel. Why did personnel have that kind of intrigue for you? So what people don't know is my dad's Initial thing was he wanted to do personnel. Okay, so Parcells called him. I think this was 94 95 And offered him a job and my dad was like, okay, cool But I want to do personnel and bills like if you know bill know you're coaching and once he stamps that that's what it is And so my dad always steered me, you know, it's a personnel. So when I was in college pro day circuit comes I get a call. Hey coach a is coming. You need to meet him at the office at six You need to watch film with him. You need to hold his clipboard You need to clock his 40s. You need to and you need to talk to him about your teammates And so that was kind of ingrained in me early. And so when I was done I actually coached high school ball one year in Miami in 2007 And to see if I if I had that in me and I I learned after two weeks that coaching wasn't for me But it was a good experience to have and then once I went back to finish my degree I kind of just you know went all charges ahead You went through some stuff as a player. You got hurt in high school. You get to florida a bunch of backs there You have to wait your turn. You don't get drafted. You fight your way into the nfl. You're cut multiple times the journey being I don't want to say hard, but I mean certainly there were obstacles How much of that do you carry into this job? And do you feel like Helps you in the personnel world and now as a general manager? I think it allows What these young men are going through? I think it brings a A human element to it because I've been through it my one of my mentors back home bill spots would You know his family owned a hotel and at the age of 14 He knew that that's what he wanted to do. So his father made him work Every job in the hotel until he eventually took over. So that's how I see my journey, right? I've gone through all these multiple steps And now i'm here at the pinnacle of you know, what it is we do and so I've worked every job in the building So now that allows me to identify with every scout. I've been in the locker room. I've been cut multiple times So now I can identify with those guys in the locker room. So that's kind of how I see my journey Alignment in the organization. You said that's the most important lesson you've learned that successful Organizations have alignment between personnel and coaching when you talked about that today at the press conference. I totally believed you Because you could you you sense That having seen it successfully work that it can be carried over, right? Yeah, absolutely And at the end of the day, like I said, you know, we're we're here to execute, you know, mike's vision You know and and mike and you know, whoever I knew offers a coordinator going to be and our defense coordinator Especially team coordinator. They have a way that they want to do things and it's our job as You know personnel staff to go find those players, you know miss. Amy and the crew from the interview You know, I have this quote and they've heard me say it Hunting at the same time isn't the same as hunting together And that's what I want to do here. I want our guys to hunt together So we can go out and bring home You know the the meal so to speak and allow us to be successful One way that you brought home the meal is in san francisco You identified a lot of free agents that have fit well Into the 49ers world whether they be big name or not Why has that been a strength and and what do you feel about that? That you hope you can do here the same way again, it goes back to our staffs being married You know in the collaboration of the staff knowing what it's going to take for us to be successful Knowing what our coaches want, but then at the same time knowing the right people to bring into our culture You know one thing I can say if you look at the roster that we built In san francisco, we didn't have a lot of bad character guys We didn't have a lot of guys facing disciplinary actions because we were intentional About the type of person that we wanted to come in and fit our culture. All right last one You have been so close to winning a super bowl as a player And and as a personnel man in this league. I mean you have been frighteningly close How much of it is a motivation that you bring to ascension st. Thomas sports park and the tennessee titans today? Yeah, that was one of the things uh, I spoke with uh the intergroup uh interview group about Is you know, it would be their first lombardy and my first lombardy and after we lost the super bowl in 2019 You know obviously devastated. I'm talking to my wife about it and my wife kind of brought up the point You know, maybe it's not your time You know, maybe your time is when you're in charge somewhere. Maybe that's your time and I truly, you know, believe You know by the grace and mercy of the most high that You know that the time will come with me in charge and specifically here with this organization We're looking forward to the ride whatever it is. Thank you so much. Thank you red carthon We're saying it proper carthon carthon. We're glad he's here. Thanks very much