The Tennessee Titans fired coach Mike Vrabel on Tuesday after back-to-back shedding seasons, and though he might need had commerce worth to different groups with a head-coaching emptiness, the staff’s proprietor mentioned she did not need to wait out such a situation.
In an interview posted by the staff Tuesday, controlling proprietor Amy Adams Strunk was requested if she thought-about buying and selling the coach as an alternative of firing him.
“Sure, there was. However there is a little bit of false impression a few coach’s contract, say versus a participant’s contract. A coach’s contract, you may’t commerce them except they’re a keen companion to that commerce,” she mentioned. “So, sure, we considered it however on the finish of the day with league guidelines the way in which they’re it might have perhaps put us again three weeks and you already know, to get the correct head coach I used to be simply not keen to go to the again of the road and take an opportunity of lacking out on somebody we actually wished.”
Earlier Tuesday, in an announcement saying Vrabel’s firing, Strunk mentioned she instructed Vrabel her choice to fireside him “was as troublesome as any I’ve made as Controlling Proprietor.”
Vrabel’s firing comes a yr after the Titans made a change at normal supervisor, hiring Ran Carthon.
“Because the NFL continues to innovate and evolve, I consider the groups greatest positioned for sustained success will likely be those that empower an aligned and collaborative staff throughout all soccer capabilities. Final yr, we started a shift in our method to soccer management and made a number of adjustments to our personnel to advance that plan. As I continued to evaluate the state of our staff, I arrived on the conclusion that the staff would additionally profit from the recent method and perspective of a brand new teaching workers,” Strunk mentioned in her assertion.
In a information convention Tuesday afternoon, Carthon mentioned he and Vrabel by no means had any points, dispelling hypothesis on the contrary.
“Whether or not it is private or skilled, we labored nicely collectively and had a superb relationship. We had been in lockstep,” he mentioned. “… I want Vrabes nothing however the most effective, I take into account him a good friend and I really feel like we’ll be that means shifting ahead.”
Vrabel, 48, led Tennessee to 4 consecutive successful seasons after arriving in 2018, however the Titans have skilled back-to-back irritating seasons, ending a number of video games beneath .500 each instances.
The Titans completed 6-11 this season.
“I’ll by no means draw back from acknowledging that I’ve unapologetically excessive expectations for the soccer staff and each facet of the Titans group,” Strunk mentioned in her assertion. “Our imaginative and prescient is just not merely to supply extra wins than losses, it’s to often compete for championships. Whereas this season was disappointing, I see early indicators of progress taking form. Final yr we added a promising younger quarterback and a number of other different proficient gamers to our roster. With a training search, enviable cap house, and top-10 draft place, this offseason is as essential as any in our historical past. I am excited for the weeks and months forward. We’ll meet the second.”
Carthon mentioned the staff will launch “an exhaustive” seek for its subsequent coach and that he will likely be concerned together with Strunk.
Carthon mentioned he met with every of the staff’s assistant coaches individually Tuesday and that the brand new head coach will determine whether or not to retain any of the present workers.
The Titans chosen quarterback Will Levis within the second spherical of final yr’s draft, and he began 9 video games. The Titans maintain the No. 7 choose within the 2024 draft.
Carthon mentioned that when the Titans determined to begin Levis over veteran Ryan Tannehill in the course of the season, that decision was made in unison between himself and Vrabel in session with Strunk.
The overall supervisor mentioned he instructed Levis earlier than he made his first begin, “‘You do not have to be No. 1. You simply must be considered one of 11.'”
“We’re not going to make our entire search about Will Levis. We’ve got different guys on this staff which might be going to require teaching, they’ll require improvement, however we are going to convey somebody in right here that sees it the identical means and is greater than keen to work with him,” he mentioned.
Titans star working again Derrick Henry, who will likely be a free agent in March, instructed The Athletic he was surprised by Vrabel’s firing.
“Wow. Wow. I am shocked. Coach Vrabel is a frontrunner of males. He is a superb coach and trainer. I do know he’ll get one other alternative straight away. I look ahead to it,” he mentioned.
Carthon mentioned Tuesday that he “had an actual good dialog” with Henry on Monday however the choice on whether or not to attempt to re-sign the working again will likely be made between himself and the brand new head coach.
“The door is rarely closed,” Carthon mentioned.
Vrabel guided Tennessee to back-to-back AFC South championships in 2020 and 2021, and the Titans earned the No. 1 seed within the AFC in 2021, the identical yr Vrabel was named NFL Coach of the Yr.
Vrabel finishes his Titans tenure with a 54-45 file. He was 2-3 within the postseason, together with in 2019 when he led Tennessee to the AFC Championship Recreation.
