NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Mike Vrabel can be too much of an alpha, and being so can come across poorly when you're guiding a losing team.
He had a hand in the Titans' roster, but it was Jon Robinson, fired in early Dec. of 2022, who dug the team's big hole. It takes a good while to come out so much early-round failure and to get level with the cap.
Now he's a victim of wavering ownership that extended him in Feb. 2022 and backed him over Robinson just 13 months ago.
Vrabel deserved a chance to continue to work back from the roster issues. Maybe he didn't even want that.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Mike Vrabel is out as coach of the Titans after six seasons.
The weak-rostered Titans were 6-18 in their last 24 games and missed the playoffs the last two seasons.
That's the top reason the team will look for a fresh perspective.
Vrabel finishes his Titans tenure with a 54-48 record with three playoff appearances in six seasons.
Trade possibilities were explored but determined not to be feasible. The timetable and the team's feeling that Vrabel would be willing to participate in a trade were factors.
Teams cannot talk in person to NFL candidates until after the divisional round of the playoffs which finishes Jan., 21 and have to meet with two external minority candidates to comply with the Rooney Rule.
Now the Titans can start Zoom meetings with some in-house candidates immediately.
Last week, amid rumors of his discontent with things he was asked if he wanted to stay.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans were highly motivated, focused and looked determined to not only spoil the Jaguars playoff bid, but get right on offense and send Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill off to free agency with excellent last games in front of the home crowd.
The Titans once again played the bully. It was a long time coming but they finally found an identity they have been searching for the past two seasons.
The Titans leaned heavy on their best players on offense. Henry, short passes to DeAndre Hopkins from veteran Tannehill, quick screen games to Tyjae Spears and Chig Okonkwo -- utilizing their most explosive offensive threats and keeping the Jaguars’ defense off-balance with a combination of runs, quick passes and allowing the beleaguered Titans’ offensive line to have success without long developing pass plays and protections.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Are the Titans working on a trade of Mike Vrabel right now?
We don’t know.
We don’t know a lot of things, which we have to accept and which could change in moments.
But a deal for a coach isn’t a sprint, and if that’s what is happening it’s likely to take at least a bit of time. I wouldn't dismiss the idea he still could stay, either.
In the history of the Titans in Nashville, the coach has always spoken to the press on clean-out day. But on Monday, when a huge share of the roster talked to the media while cleaning out lockers and saying goodbye, Vrabel did not talk. The current play is that he will talk later this week.
Another notable piece of information that could be an indicator about him:
With a win at Nissan Stadium Sunday, the Jaguars would clinch the AFC South, the 4-seed in the playoffs, and welcome Joe Flacco and the Cleveland Browns to Jacksonville next weekend. With a loss, they would find themselves in the exact same position as the Titans and fans around the world next weekend, watching from home. In contrast, the Titans waltzed onto the field eliminated from playoff contention, with the majority of the fanbase already perusing mock drafts and conflicting reports on the future of Mike Vrabel that swirling right through kickoff.
By all accounts, it was a game the Jaguars should win, but once again they were outplayed, outworked, and ultimately beaten by the trio of Mike Vrabel, Ryan Tannehill, and Derrick
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Derrick Henry just turned 30 and his contract expires in March. He left Nissan Stadium facing more questions than he has in a long time. But he didn’t have to worry, as he typically does, about what to eat.
After a vintage 19-carry, 153-yard game with a touchdown in the Titans’ surprising 28-20 upset of the Jaguars Sunday, his strict in-season diet relaxes and a burger from Jack Brown’s was foremost on his mind.
First, he held a 13-minute press conference that was easily the most expansive of his eight-year professional career, during which he bounced between wistfulness about staying and reality about the potential he might move on.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Jan Robinson’s been counting it down, game-by-game, as she approaches her final shot of tequila off the Mace Fask Krewe’s Spirit Sword.
Since the very start of the Titans' run at what was originally Adelphia Coliseum, she and a die-hard group of friends have tailgated in Lot N, Southeast of the stadium.
Sunday before the home team plays the Jacksonville Jaguars, they will have one big final party surrounding the game, saying goodbye to a curb area and eight or 10 spots adjacent to it where they’ve eaten, drunk and been merry for the better part of 383 games.
Now lots A, B, C and D will be home to new Nissan Stadium. Other parking in the area will be part of the construction site or reassigned.
Season ticket holders are being offered spots in eight offsite garages within a 20-minute walk. Tailgating in lots surrounding the Titans’ venue has reached its end.
There are about 7,500 parking spots in the setup about to end. There will be about 2,800 when all the construction is finished, but some will be in parking decks.
A large park where the current stadium sits will come with opportunities for tailgating akin to The Grove at Ole Miss. There will be a large plaza and bars and restaurants. But things will be very different than what people are accustomed to.
So many of Sunday’s tailgates will be thanks-for-the-memories and bring-your-best.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Derrick Henry turned 30 on Thursday, three days before the Titans' season finale and what could be his last game with the team that drafted him in 2016.
He was named to the AFC's Pro Bowl roster a day early, though he said it was for play he's "not too proud of" this year. Sunday' the Titans will doubtlessly introduce the offense and let a guy who's been as much the face of the franchise as anyone in the team's 25 seasons in Nashville soak in the appreciation of the home crowd.
The game will determine if the Jaguars win the AFC South and if the Titans finish with five wins or six, winless in their division for the first time since they were the Houston Oilers in 1982, a season shortened by a strike that included just four division games.