In an unexpected move Tuesday, the Tennessee Titans announced that they have parted way with head coach Mike Vrabel. While several head coaches have been relieved of their duties so far, including the Falcons parting ways with head coach Arthur Smith and the Washington Commanders paring ways with Ron Rivera, the Titans dismissal of Vrabel was shocking to say the least.
Vrabel leaves after six seasons with the Titans. Vrabel was hired in 2018, and led the Titans to four consecutive winning seasons, including trips to the playoffs in 2019, 2020 and 2021. In 2019, the Titans reached the AFC Conference championship game, before falling to the Kansa City Chiefs 35-24.
Despite a 7-10 finish last season and a 6-11 finish this season, few people who cover the NFL expected that Vrabel was in any danger of being fired.
Titans team over Amy Adams Strunk called the decision to fire Vrabel “as difficult as any I’ve made as a controlling owner.”
“As the NFL continues to innovate and evolve, I believe the teams best positioned for sustained success will be those who empower an aligned and collaborative team across all football functions. Last year, we began a shift in our approach to football leadership and made several changes to our personnel to advance that plan. As I continued to assess the state of our team, I arrived at the conclusion that the team would also benefit from the fresh approach and perspective of a new coaching staff.”
According to a statement released by Titans owner Amy Adam Struck – credit ESPN.com
Titans General Manager Ran Carthon stated that the new head coach would decide on which assistant coaches would stay and which would be dismissed as well as all other player personnel decisions.
[…] Vrabel’s exit seems to have more to do with the fact that he fell out of favor with the ownership of the team, then it has anything to do with him being bad at the actual thing of coaching, because only a fool would actually believe that. […]