Despite reaching the playoffs this past season, the Tennessee Titans made a change at the top with the hiring of new head coach Mike Vrabel.
After eight seasons of not making postseason plans, the Tennessee Titans were playoff-bound in 2017. It looked like it might be a short stay after club fell behind 21-3 in the first half in the AFC Wild Card Playoffs. But Mike Mularkey’s club rallies for a 22-21 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
That good feeling was short-lived. The Titans were manhandled by the New England Patriots one week later, 35-14, at Foxborough. And shortly afterwards, Mularkey is given the pink slip.
Enter Mike Vrabel, who takes over as the team’s fifth different sideline leader dating back to 2010. He spent just one season as the Houston Texans’ defensive coordinator. But a former teammate believes Vrabel has a lot to offer when it comes to his newest job.
"“We all took pride in being tough, and Vrabel was part of the foundation in our toughness,” said one-time Patriots’ defender Willie McGinest last week (via Jim Wyatt of TitansOnLine.com). “Not just going out and being physically tough, but mentally tough — being able to withstand all the different emotional and roller coaster swings that happen in games. He was mentally tough and that will help as a head coach. He’s not going to let his team get penalties and play bad football. They will be fundamentally sound.”"
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Titans’ general manager Jon Robinson and Vrabel go back to the days when both were part of the Patriots’ organization. Each knows something about what it takes to win an NFL title. “Everything we do is going to be geared towards winning and being physical,” explained Vrabel to Cameron Wolfe of ESPN. “We want to prepare our players so they know what to do, which will allow them to play fast and aggressive.”
Now it’s all about putting what he’s preaching into motion on the field.