National Football League

If Mike Vrabel is not back, why it would be a major blow to Titans

Published Jan. 8, 2024 6:56 p.m. ET

There's a cloud hanging over the Titans. It's undeniable. It lingered at locker cleanout on Monday:

Is Mike Vrabel going to be back as coach?

Speculation has been rampant. Reports have swirled that his status is unsettled. That his standing is very much up in the air. That unspecified meetings between Vrabel, general manager Ran Carthon and team ownership are set to take place. The thought that Vrabel gets traded (quite possibly to the Patriots — where he won three Super Bowls as a player — considering New England might part ways with Bill Belichick) is in the ether as well.

Rookie quarterback Will Levis confirmed the legitimacy of the uncertainty, telling reporters that he spoke with Vrabel and that the coach will communicate with the team "as soon as he knows" about next year. He added that Vrabel wants to be in Nashville.

If the result of whatever needs to take place is Vrabel leaving the Titans, it would be a major loss to Tennessee — one that could set the team back years.

Vrabel, hired in 2018, has elevated the standard of a franchise that not too long ago was one of the laughingstocks of the league. He led the Titans to their first AFC Championship Game in 17 years in 2019. He guided them to three straight playoff berths from 2019-21, including back-to-back AFC South titles.

His ability to get the most out of his players makes him one of the better coaches in the league. The Titans were ravaged by injuries in 2021 — they used 91 players, a non-strike season NFL record — and still won 12 games en route to the AFC's No. 1 overall seed. That's because of Vrabel, who was named AP Coach of the Year that season.

The last season and a half has been rough for Tennessee. The team, which has now missed the playoffs in back-to-back years, is 6-18 since Thanksgiving of 2022. But it's impossible to ignore the personnel misses in the draft, free agency and via trade that have played a significant role in the lackluster product, that cost former general manager Jon Robinson his job. Vrabel with better talent to work with — on the offensive line, at receiver, cornerback and other positions — could look as good as any coach in the league. His track record suggests that.

He'd be very difficult to replace.

"He has a don't-flinch mentality," cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting told FOX Sports in December. "I think it rubs off on a lot of guys — if not all the guys — in our building. I'm talking coaching staff included. He's just a realist, man. … He keeps it blatantly honest with you as much as possible because he doesn't want you to fear anything and he wants you to give all your effort and have no questions or no doubts about it.

"Ultimately, he just makes guys want to play," he added. "He makes you want to run through a brick wall for him."

A new coach could also negatively impact Levis' development. Continuity can be paramount for young quarterbacks.

And in a rookie season held to nine games due to a backup role to start and injuries late, Levis flashed as the Titans' franchise quarterback of the future.

"I love everybody in this building. I hope it stays the same," Levis said Monday. "And I hope that we're all able to grow and stick together."

Vrabel and Carthon need time together, too.

This past season was their first working together. The first year of a collaborative partnership that controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk had envisioned. Their first time getting a feel for one another. They hadn't met until Carthon's hiring last January.

Next season's results from the personnel moves to be made this upcoming offseason, and the development of the 2023 rookie draft class, will tell us a lot more about the direction of the franchise with Vrabel and Carthon than as it stands right now.

The Titans currently have $76.3 million in 2024 salary cap space, second-most in the NFL, according to OverTheCap. They also have the No. 7 pick in the upcoming draft.

"I know where we're at as an organization. I'm excited to build this thing and to fix this thing and get it to where we want it to be, to win championships with Ran and Chad [assistant general manager-strategy Chad Brinker] and A-Rob [assistant general manager-personnel Anthony Robinson] and the coaching staff and everybody," Vrabel said last week. "That's what our goal is.

"Of course I want to be here," Vrabel added. "I want to be here as long as we can win and as long as we can do this thing. It's been great, but it's also been just frustrating this year. Nobody wants to be where we're at."

The cloud persists.

Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.