Titans fire coach Mike Vrabel after back-to-back losing seasons
Nashville, Tenn. — Tennessee Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk wants a fresh approach to compete in the NFL, so she fired coach Mike Vrabel on Tuesday morning after six seasons and losing 18 of the past 24 games.
Strunk said in a statement it was a decision "as difficult as any I've made."
But she said she believes teams best positioned to win must be aligned and collaborate across the board. The Titans started that shift a year ago, hiring Ran Carthon as the franchise's first Black general manager and expanding its analytics staff. More changes were needed to "fully achieve our vision."
Strunk said she assessed the team throughout the season in an interview released by the team. The Titans went 7-10 in 2022 and just finished a 6-11 season Sunday.
"I thought it was time to make that change," Strunk said.
The announcement came a day after the Titans cleaned out their lockers with Vrabel not speaking to reporters.
It was the first time in the franchise's 27 seasons in Tennessee the head coach did not talk to reporters since the team moved to the state from Texas.
Several Titans, from rookie quarterback Will Levis to two-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons, all said they wanted to keep Vrabel as their coach.
"We all have to do better and do our job better," said Simmons, who finished the season on injured reserve as the Titans used a leaguehigh 83 players.
Carthon is scheduled to discuss the decision and his first NFL coaching search at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
The Titans now are the sixth NFL team at the moment looking for a new coach, joining Atlanta and Washington who fired coaches Monday. The Raiders, the Chargers and Panthers didn't wait for the season to end before firing coaches.
NFL teams can't start in-person interviews until after the divisional round after owners voted in October to push those back a week to slow down the hiring process and try to increase diversity in hiring.
They also cannot interview head coaching candidates employed by other NFL teams until Tuesday or Wednesday for any coach whose team is done or team has a playoff bye.
Teams can start virtual interviews. Any internal candidates or someone not currently employed by the NFL can interview in person.
Strunk said the Titans did think about trying to trade Vrabel and gauge interest from other NFL teams in a coach expected to be a top candidate. She noted a coach has to be willing to be traded, and trying to deal Vrabel might've delayed the Titans' search by three weeks.
"To get the right head coach, I was just not willing to go to the back of the line and take a chance of missing out on someone we really wanted," Strunk said.
Hired in January 2018, Vrabel went 56-48 overall, including a 2-3 record in the playoffs.
He led the Titans to the AFC championship game in the 2019 season as part of three straight playoff berths. Tennessee lost at home in a wild-card game after the 2020 season and as the AFC's No. 1 seed capping the 2021 season.