The Tennessee Titans surprised the NFL world on Tuesday when they fired head coach Mike Vrabel. Opposing fan bases in the AFC South celebrated, while talk show hosts were left with mouths agape. Vrabel went 54-45 as the head coach of the Titans over six seasons, won the AFC South twice and earned NFL Coach of the Year in 2021. However, the franchise recently had fallen on hard times.
Tennessee registered back-to-back losing seasons after Vrabel had put together four straight winning campaigns to start his head coaching career. The Titans went 6-18 over the last 24 games, which was tied for the second-worst record in the NFL over that span. Still, it looked like the Titans' issues had more to do with roster construction as opposed to coaching.
As for why Vrabel was fired, team owner Amy Adams Strunk alluded to a lack of cohesion in part of her statement announcing the news.
"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."
Clearly, the team owner and head coach were not in alignment when it came to their vision for the future. Strunk did release a video explaining her decision, but Titans general manager Ran Carthon also stepped up to the podium and fielded questions from reporters on Tuesday. One thing he wanted to make clear in his opening statement was that there was no conflict between he and Vrabel, like many speculated about.
"I will say that Mike and I, we've never had any issue, whether it's personal or professional," Carthon said. "We worked well together and had a good relationship. We were in lockstep."
Carthon admitted he wasn't in the room when the decision was made about Vrabel. This was not his decision to make, which did make it tough to answer questions from reporters.
"These things are ultimately Mrs. Amy's decisions," Carthon said, via the Titans' official website. "Organizationally structured, we both (reported) to her. … It was about Amy's long-term vision on what she wants the organization to be, and how she wants to move this organization forward."
Many wondered why the Titans did not trade Vrabel, who is expected to be a popular candidate on the coaching carousel. Carthon explained there were some obstacles with that.
"It's just not as simple and cut-and-dry," Carthon said. "You look over the history of coaches being traded, it's just not a lot in recent times. And when you say recent times, I know Sean Payton was just traded for, but he was out, and New Orleans had a coach in place. But there's also league mandates and rules that you have to follow before you can execute a trade. The partner, if you will, will have to go through an exhaustive process and meet the Rooney rules and all those qualifications. And before we could even start interviewing, we have to have an opening. So it just prolongs our ability to get the next and best head coach in here."
As for what's next with the Titans and how they will decide on their next head coach, Carthon said it will be a vote, per The Tennesseean. They will, "listen to each other and figure out who's best."
"We are going to hit the ground running," Carthon said. "We are going to run an exhaustive process to find our next head coach, and it's going to involve a lot of people. Obviously, I'll be a part of that. Amy (Adams Strunk) will be a part of that, and others. But we want to make sure we are getting the right people in here."
