There won’t be any statues built for the Mike Vrabel/Ryan Tannehill/Derrick Henry era Tennessee Titans. There won’t be any reunions either. But they had a pretty good run. Until, suddenly, everything turned sour.
Vrabel had four winning seasons in Tennessee to start his head coaching career. The Titans advanced to the AFC championship game at the end of the 2019 season. They had the No. 1 seed in the AFC in 2021. Between 2020 and 2021 the Titans went 23-10. But Tennessee couldn’t get to a Super Bowl, and then it all crumbled.
After starting 7-3 in the 2022 season, the Titans went 6-18 for Vrabel’s last 24 games as Titans head coach. Tannehill suffered injuries and lost his starting job to 2023 rookie Will Levis. Henry’s contract ran out and he wasn’t brought back. Vrabel’s relationship with ownership and the front office reportedly was falling apart throughout 2023, and the Titans fired him despite a fairly successful run in Tennessee.
This embedded content is not available in your region.
The drama between Vrabel and owner Amy Adams Strunk reportedly boiled over last season with a Week 15 home loss in overtime to the Houston Texans, who were without quarterback C.J. Stroud. The Titans made the curious decision to wear old Houston Oilers throwbacks in that game against the team currently from Houston, and after the loss Strunk was “visibly upset” according to The Athletic. Months of disagreements and a lack of communication came to a head and after that loss Strunk decided to move on from Vrabel, the report said.
Even though Vrabel did some good things in Tennessee, the new era won’t have much resemblance to the old one.
The Titans hired Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan to replace Vrabel. Callahan didn’t call plays for the Bengals but has a good reputation as a sharp offensive mind. With former NFL linebacker Vrabel in charge the Titans relied on defense, running the ball with Henry and a low volume play-action passing game. Callahan’s Titans…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-offseason-power-rankings-no-27-tennessee-titans-enter-new-era-after-unsatisfying-end-to-old-one-122920493.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-06-25 12:29:20
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
