[FREE] Mike Vrabel's Commitment to His Staff
With Terrell Williams filling in as Head Coach for Mike Vrabel, let's take a look at Vrabel's commitment to his people.
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Many fans across the league tend to ignore the extra dynamics across an NFL coaching staff.
They usually see the coaches, their roles, and judge whether they’re good at their job or not. On the surface that’s totally fine, since the majority of a coach’s credibility will fall under whether they can effectively do their job according to their assigned role.
Offensive coordinator? Develop a young quarterback with potential, be creative with your play calls and designs, don’t be too robotic, give the ball to your best playmakers, generally put your offense in good positions to win more times than not.
Those are the usual tasks many associate with an offensive coordinator right?
Same with a defensive coordinator, although with slightly more different responsibilities. Same goes for your everyday receivers coach, tight end coach, special teams coordinator, defensive line coach, etc.
You get the idea right?
These select staff members have their assigned duties, with the idea of them all being done correctly to create a harmonious combination of success wherever you turn.
However, these important on field related jobs don’t really tell the full story regarding a staff’s ability to truly collaborate and work together to create special things. In fact, their ability to work together and combine their work on the field can’t exist without a certain element of togetherness and camaraderie.
Even during the midst of some unexpected departures.
Change Sucks
That’s especially evident when you take a look at the staff of Mike Vrabel. Vrabel’s staff has maintained a “business only” environment with virtually no known problems — aside from...the days of Todd Downing — while also navigating the dreaded word that every coaching staff hates to look in the eye.
Change
Change freaking stinks man. Especially in a profession where the wrong combination of people on your staff can cause a part of your foundation to crumble.
Prime example? Let’s take a look back to the 2020-2021 off-season and the years immediately after it.
After the departure of Arthur Smith, as Todd Downing sputtered his handling of an offense that put fears into defenses in years past — by far the best example within this specific issue.
A stagnant offense, points faltering, success slipping away, I believe we remember those days.
If you want to add an extra example, you can look back to the sudden departure of former inside linebackers coach Tyrone McKenzie after the 2019 season. McKenzie was a big reason why the Titans’ trio of young, yet talented — some more than others — inside linebackers (Rashaan Evans, Jayon Brown, and David Long Jr.) were able to play as well as they did during that special season.
But his unexpected departure left some scratching their heads, especially after the subsequent hiring of his replacement (Jim Haslett) didn’t go to plan.
Of course, the Titans were still able to settle their inside linebacker situation, as Long Jr. developed into the 3 down linebacker the team had been looking for. However, if McKenzie had been retained, maybe more than just one good inside linebacker could’ve fallen into the Titans’ lap.
But that’s a story for another day.
The point is, change hasn’t always been kind toward Vrabel’s staff. The damage left behind has been extremely noticeable, much so that concerns have been raised about Vrabel’s ability to manage the chaos and keep the ship upright.
Not because his ability is being doubted, but because managing the negatives regarding this specific problem time and time again, sounds extremely difficult and downright exhausting.
And if you can’t manage that same chaos, you’re going to run into some rough patches more so than not, with potential staff unrest being a possibility.
But that hasn’t been the case for Vrabel, as he’s found a way to confidently navigate himself through constant adversity, while also encountering an unexpected bonus as a result.
Change is somehow…a good thing?
The idea of gambling is to somehow get lucky and run away with your winnings.
Staff changes are kind of like that as well, but the risk is able to be managed if the decision makers involved possess good judgment and the ability to correctly assess the situation in front of them.
Sometimes you’ll get burned and that’s okay, it’s a guarantee that at least one staff hire is going to be a dud.
But if you’re lucky, the majority of your staff hires are going to make you hit the virtual jackpot. The Titans have been able to hit that jackpot a few times over the last few years, as they’ve had to face the idea of hitting on their staff hires, or else face the consequences.
Jim Schwartz’s hiring as a defensive assistant influenced the Titans’ defense in a pretty sizable way, helping Shane Bowen right his own ship as a defensive coordinator. Luke Steckel’s time with the Titans (not necessarily a new hire, but placing him with the tight ends was a good move, also now with the Chicago Bears as assistant offensive line coach) as tight ends coach is notable, due to Chig Okonkwo’s sudden oncoming last season.
Rob Moore helped develop A.J. Brown during his time in Tennessee as well.
Perhaps his most important one though is Terrell Williams, who has remained with the team since he was hired by Vrabel in 2018. Williams has overseen the Titans’ defensive line since then, creating a dominant unit full of experience and younger players that have been molded by Williams himself.
These are just a few too, with others like Chris Harris and Tim Kelly set to receive big chances this year as well.
All of these staff hires have been pluses for Vrabel, and if they go well, they’ll be big parts of any Titans success this fall. Not only that though, they’ll stamp themselves as potential examples of a recent positive trend among Titans staff members.
Which is the opportunity to grow and move yourself onto more prosperous pastures as future coordinators or even head coaches.
Those who’ve stayed are being rewarded
That’s probably the best positive point within this staff.
Vrabel has created a reputation among his staff that it's starting to become an appealing destination for coaches that want to earn their way to the top.
That isn’t to say the Titans are a stepping stone, because they’re far from being one.But it is to say that being able to put staff members in key spots to show off their work, goes a long way towards attracting younger coaching talent that seem on the verge of making more high profile moves.
Chris Harris? He received looks as a defensive coordinator this past off-season. He obviously didn’t receive a job of that sort, but if his guidance can make this Titans secondary put in a consistent shift of positive play this season, those looks he got this past off-season will re-appear.
Tim Kelly can put his hat into the ring of head coaching circles if he can guide this offense to greener pastures. The same can be said for new quarterbacks coach Charles London, who ditched Atlanta for Tennessee in hopes of getting potential offensive coordinator looks in the future.
Even Terrell Williams is receiving some recognition from his own team, as he’ll get a chance to act as head coach during the Titans’ first preseason game on Saturday night.
It’s not all that often that you see a head coach blatantly turn his staff environment into one of openness and revolving doors. But it’s worked for Vrabel, the Titans can only hope it continues to work as they reap the benefits from potential short term coaching stays.
Overview
Maintaining a solid relationship between all of the staff can be difficult, since head coaches can lose their heads or new coaches can make things difficult for existing members.
But the professionalism and attention to detail have reigned supreme, which is why this unique staff reputation has been able to stay intact for such a long time.
As this same method moves forward, it’s important to mention that this method won’t always reap benefits. Constantly changing staff isn’t good for development at times and it can cause some disharmony amongst staff, which can only stain you with negativity.
But it seems Vrabel has kept a tight grip on the chaos this ordeal can bring, which for the Titans, can only hope stays tight for the present and beyond.
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