[FREE] Mike Vrabel & His Toughest Decision
Mike Vrabel has made a lot of decisions since arriving to Tennessee in 2018. The Titans Head Coach has come to his toughest decision yet.
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Ever since Mike Vrabel arrived in Nashville in 2018, his teams have always found a way to sift through the weeds and find ways to stay competitive against the giants of the NFL.
Year after year after year.
They took on a David role in the classic underdog vs. heavy favorite story, shying away from calling themselves the best, while opting to put on the heavily used theoretical shoulder pads, instead of the new and shiny ones they could’ve worn instead.
It’s a mindset, a strategy that’s worked with great effect, as the franchise has gone through legit periods of success and growth not seen since the great Titans teams of the early 2000s.
Multiple division titles, superstar play at receiver and running back, a defense that could stand toe to toe with the greats and at least come close to being the last man standing, league wide notoriety for their identity and the toughness that was bred as a result.
These feats have brought pride back to a once dormant organization. One that, just 7 years ago, finished with the worst record in football and secured the best consolation prize for officially being the league’s doormat for that season.
That being the #1 pick of course.
Vrabel of course doesn’t want to be in contention for the top pick, he’d rather be coaching in cold January, high stake playoff games with a chance to add on to his short, yet impressive coaching legacy.
However, just 6 games into his 6th official season as head coach of the Titans, it appears Vrabel is facing his most significant challenge as a head coach. While also staring down a future January that doesn’t include the high stress playoff games he probably welcomes with open arms.
Not a “staying out of contention for the top pick” type of bad, but a level of bad that’s enough to make you question whether Vrabel has the gall to drag himself out of this situation.
What is this so-called “challenge”?
Vrabel is in a bit of a helpless situation.
His quarterback — that he’s depended on through thick and thin since 2019 — is aging, has a bad ankle, and has seen his production dip over the last 2 seasons.
Derrick Henry has aged, looks a bit slower compared to years past, is nearing the dreaded 30 year old mark for running backs, and has the most unknown contract future among current notable Titans players scheduled to hit free agency in 2024.
He has no long term building block at right tackle, his receiver room’s only young building block struggles to stay on the field and look threatening whenever he’s on it.
There’s no long term building block at corner, the future of one of the best players in franchise history — Kevin Byard — looks extremely shaky, and Vrabel still has no idea who’ll be his young building block at quarterback.
Ah, also his team is 2-4, is devoid of talent at multiple spots across the roster, might be forced to trade away talents to add to the Titans’ rancid draft capital situation, and the organization is at risk of missing the playoffs for the first time since Vrabel’s first year in town.
I think I covered all of it.
This long list of negativity and dread isn’t uncommon, since multiple teams across the league are in or will be in the same boat sooner rather than later. But for Vrabel, this is unknown territory.
Sure, in 2018 the Titans started slow and straddled their way through most of the year, at least until a hot streak overcame them and almost led them right into the playoffs. But that team was full of holes, had injury issues at quarterback, and were trying to refine their identity.
This year is much different in many ways than one.
One big obvious change is that the Titans…simply don’t have an identity right now. They don’t run the ball nearly as well as they’ve done in the past and they aren’t nearly as good defensively as they hypothetically should be.
Without those two key variables, the Titans’ usual winning formula has burned into ash and is very close to disappearing into thin air. Now that won’t entirely happen, since this franchise has committed to maintaining this identity and will continue to do so until evidence proves they shouldn’t.
But right now there isn’t much positivity, and even worse there isn’t much optimism either.
So where does that leave Vrabel?
How Vrabel responds will be crucial
Whenever a team is going through a rough time, you’ll usually see pieces with themes usually pointing to the question of “how will X respond to this adversity” or something similar.
They’re fair questions, but saturated most of the time.
In this case, it’s a very fair question. Because throughout the majority of his career, all Vrabel has known is winning.
Of the 206 career games Vrabel played, he won 134 of them. The Ohio State teams Vrabel was a part of from 1993-1996 won at least 9 games during every season. Even the Ohio State teams Vrabel was a part of, this time as a coach, from 2011-2013 had very successful seasons except for the 2011 season (if you remember, that was when the whole Terrelle Pyror memorabilia incident occurred).
It’s easy to say a coach or even a player that’s won in the past should be able to deal with sudden drops in form. But in reality, going from so much winning to so much uncertainty and losing can still have an effect on the person in question.
How Vrabel rebounds from such an unknown turn in fate, will be interesting to watch as this season moves along. Remember, Vrabel isn’t a coach that excels at doing what he’s billed excel at, which is lead a defensive unit while handling the strategical portion of things.
He’s a sheriff, a manager, a motivator of sorts.
When you’re not winning, the passion to excel in this role can subside, lessening the impact of the message from an outspoken coach like Vrabel. He’s shown that he can fight through adversity, but this is a different form, specifically one that isn’t going to fade away with a single win.
Instead, it’s one that’s going to fester until certain problems are solved. And unluckily for Vrabel, they’re not quick fix solutions either.
Overview
In all honesty, this isn't some doom and gloom message regarding Vrabel and his ability to wander through the thickness of the fog.
He’s shown he can round up his guys and come out victorious against adversity.
But like previously mentioned, this bit of adversity is probably the toughest he’s faced since becoming a head coach. There’s no easy outs, no loud message that can motivate his troops to do their job with better efficiency.
This is simply a battle where he’ll have to find a new calling card, experiment a bit, and find something that can stick so the rest of the season doesn’t spiral out of control. We saw a glimpse of what that looked like last season when the Titans went on a dreadful losing streak to end the year.
This time, the trouble has kicked in at the start of the season and shows no signs of slowing down.
How will Vrabel respond?
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