Seven games into his rookie season Marcus Mariota was already conversant with the NFL’s biggest fact of life.

“You understand that it’s a business and it is performance driven,” Mariota acknowledged after the Tennessee Titans fired Ken Whisenhunt, the head coach who helped draft him, in November 2015.

Monday the Titans parted company with Whisenhunt’s successor, Mike Mularkey, meaning that when the 2018 season kicks off Mariota will be playing for his third head coach in four seasons at Tennessee.

So, yes, it is definitely “performance driven” and Mariota is the key figure as the Titans continue their search for the head coach best able to build an offense that allows him to drive them to a championship level.

Whisenhunt was jettisoned because his offense couldn’t protect Mariota and Mularkey is gone because his offense was deemed unable to fully utilize Mariota’s multiple skills going forward.

It was revealing that late in the season when teammates implored Mariota to step out of the tightly scripted offense and just make plays — with his feet or arm — the Titans enjoyed some of their greatest success, including the playoff victory over Kansas City that was the franchise’s first in 14 years.

This isn’t to say that he needs to carry the ball 20 times a game and, indeed, it would be foolhardy and career-shortening to have him do so. But they need to do a better job of allowing Mariota to be the player they drafted with the second overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft. They need to tailor and employ a scheme that will permit Mariota to be, well, Mariota.

The Titans have made the jump from 3-13 his first year to 10-8 and a playoff team, but the coming of Year Four means aiming higher and tapping the full potential of their franchise quarterback to get there.

That wasn’t accomplished in the just-completed season, where his statistics regressed to a career-low quarterback rating (79.3) and his worst touchdown-interception ratio (13 TDs to 15 interceptions).

“Marcus is a really good football player, I think if you just look at the statistics (from 2017), it didn’t quite say that,” Titans general manager Jon Robinson noted at Monday’s press conference. “But, I think Marcus made a lot of really good plays for us this year.”

To be sure, Mariota can use more help at wide receiver and on the offensive line. Meanwhile, it is on him to improve his mechanics and decision-making.

But it appeared from Mularkey’s postgame comments and Robinson’s press conference statements that the coach insisted on keeping offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie while management recognized and was adamant on the need for change.

“Marcus is a pretty resilient guy. He’s a very mentally tough guy,” Robinson said of his quarterback during the press conference. “He takes a lot from the standpoint of ownership in things. I have zero concern in Marcus being able to adapt and learn, and do what’s best to get the offense going.”

“I have a great relationship with Marcus, and I’m sure we’ll talk,” Robinson said. “He is kind of catching his breath right now after a long season and I look forward to chatting with him about the team.”

Robinson said, “I think whoever the head coach is, you want to maximize the abilities of all your players. That’s the beauty of this game, it’s a team game. It takes 11 guys. Marcus is certainly an important part of that. The quarterback position is a very important, if not the most important, position on the field.”

In the Titans’ case, putting Mariota in the right situation to help him reach his most productive level is what drives change.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.