Mike Vrabel had six seasons with the Titans.

Robert Griffin III and Mike Vrabel (Via Sports Illustrated and IMAGO)

This NFL 2023-24 season witnessed a lot of coaching terminations. It started with Josh McDaniel for the Las Vegas Raiders then it kept spreading through the channels. This time, the Tennessee Titans fired Mike Vrabel, their head coach after the team finished their season with a 6-11 record. They finished last in the AFC South Division. The performance could have been the sole reason behind firing the HC.

Unlike other cases, Vrabel did provide some major success to the team. He was in charge of the team for six seasons and he led the Titans to playoffs four times. In addition, the HC also managed to take the team to the AFC Championship game. However, he did not have the good fortune to get success in those rounds. It was only two seasons when he had a bad time. He had a bad season this year, with just six wins. Last season, it was one more. With consecutive losing seasons, the controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk had seen enough. She sacked the HC.

The HC had two more seasons left in his contract and a lot of analysts argued that the feasible option for the team was to trade him. However, the team decided to sack him instead of trading him.

Commenting on the decision, Robert Griffin III wrote on X:
The Titans SHOULD NOT have fired Mike Vrabel. But you know that already. 6 seasons, 4 playoff appearances, an AFC Championship game appearance, and Coach of the Year. Whoever gets him is getting one of the best leaders of men in the NFL today.

Robert Griffin III on X

Owner Amy Adams Strunk cleared the air regarding trading Mike Vrabel

Since a lot of opinions started popping up that the team needed to trade him instead of sacking him because the coach had some remaining years; the owner cleared the air. She confirmed that there is a striking difference between the contracts of the players and the coaches.

The owner said:
Yes, there was. But there’s a bit of misconception about a coach’s contract, say versus a player’s contract. A coach’s contract, you can’t trade them unless they are a willing partner to that trade. So, yes, we thought about it but at the end of the day with league rules the way they are it would have maybe put us back three weeks and you know, 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.

Amy Adams Strunk to Tennessee reporter
Mike Vrabel (Via NFL.com)
Sources revealed, there were some personality problems inside the dressing room. He wanted one-person control on the decisions that were being taken which did not go with the agenda of the team.