[FREE] Titans and Uncertainty
The dismissal of Mike Vrabel has put the Titans ownership in very uncertain territory.
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When a head coach is fired, you usually begin these sorts of articles with a quirky punchline, or a statement to sum up the former coach’s tenure.
For this specific case though, there isn’t any of that, but instead questions to go along with very few answers.
The Titans moved on from head coach Mike Vrabel yesterday, with owner Amy Adams Strunk preferring the vision laid out by GM Ran Carthon over the known commodity in Vrabel.
The move itself wasn’t crazy surprising, considering the rumblings surrounding Vrabel’s future had been running rampant for weeks. But the manner of it was, as outright firing Vrabel feels wasteful as opposed to trading him for compensation.
The Titans did come out and say the team didn’t consider trading Vrabel, as it was reportedly “too complicated” — understandable — and “would’ve taken too long” — this so the team can’t fall behind in the race for the upper echelon of candidates.
But even then, letting Vrabel go for absolutely nothing leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouths of fans and onlookers from afar.
Combine that with the presser that came after to address the news — that revealed almost zero information, which wasn’t unexpected — you get even more confusion.
At the end of the day however, it’s no use crying over spilt milk.
We have to move on and realize the big picture facing the organization right now. They’re in a bit of a pickle, due to the move made and ramifications that are sure to follow if this process isn’t successful.
Which makes their next move(s) very important, for the present and for the distant future.
Short term ramifications
The short term ramifications are pretty simple.
The Titans first need to find their next head coach, one that aligns with the franchise’s preferred “collaborative vision”, as well as one that can cool down a fanbase that — majority wise — isn’t too happy and remains far too upset with the move.
Who fits the team’s newfound vision remains to be seen. Maybe we’ll get an idea when head coaching interviews begin and a candidate pool can be established. But that’s the best we can get right now, since the Titans are remaining secretive about their vision for the team moving forward.
Speaking of secrecy, the act of secrecy surrounding this newfound revelation is puzzling to say the least.
When you begin to think of potential reasons why the team remains so mum on the subject, not many — if any — come to mind.
Is it just another act of the team trying to keep everything close to the vest? It could be, but what good would that do in the first place? In reality, all you’re doing is angering a fanbase that’s starving for at least one run of consistent success without all the drama, not worrying signs of dysfunction and instability.
And who would want that? No one, right?
But that isn’t more concerning than the potential of this decision blowing up in the Titans’ face. Vrabel did a lot for this franchise, for this city, and he isn’t someone you can easily replace.
He had his flaws — man did he have a lot — from his refusal to embrace the modernity of the offensive side of the ball, to his blatant refusal to take the lumps that come with the Titans’ current situation, the puzzling widespread injury situation that was potentially tied to his preferred style of play, and the know it all attitude that annoyed plenty.
But his ability to get players to buy in — something that many coaches struggle to do when winning isn’t the norm — is something that can’t be ignored and is one quality the Titans will miss at the end of the day.
You don’t replace something like that with the snap of a finger, which begs the question. How will they? And if they don’t, just what do they risk?
Long term risks?
What they risk is what was mentioned earlier, which is dysfunction and instability.
Make no mistake about it, Vrabel’s firing wasn’t one without fault, and it certainly wasn’t one should he looked upon as wasteful, head scratching, or unnecessary.
Vrabel’s obsession with winning didn’t align with the team’s current situation. His Hail Mary moves to contend this past offseason — bringing in DeAndre Hopkins, not trading older veterans for much needed draft capital — were proof of that.
But when you move on from a proven commodity and get it wrong with your following move, you run the risk of very impactful repercussions.
If you’ve been a fan for a while, you’re familiar with those two terms, as they plagued the franchise for years after the long run of former head coach Jeff Fisher.
The failed era of Mike Munchak, littered with mediocrity and disappointment.
The disaster of an era led by then Titans CEO Tommy Smith and the catastrophic the head coach hire in Ken Whisenhunt, one that almost bled the franchise dry of passion, and sent them into a tailspin not seen since their days in Houston.
We remember those days, whether we want to or not.
And with those days came a cautionary tale. One that plainly read, if you play with fire you’re bound to get burned. And in the Titans’ case, burned very very badly.
That’s why this firing runs so many long term risks.
If the Titans get this next phase nailed down, then these concerns will go by the wayside and we’ll all forget about it during the years to come.
But if they get it wrong — and there’s always a chance it can go wrong — then this franchise will fall into the days of irrelevance and obscurity not experienced since those aforementioned days of Munchak and Whisenhunt.
And if that happens, the consequences will be larger than what they were in the past.
Some may have forgotten, but the Titans have a big shiny new stadium scheduled to open after 2025. They’ll need butts in seats for the opening season and an exciting product to attract game changing events in the future.
If that can’t happen, then this city will lose interest like they have in the past. And unlike the last, the consequences will look larger, because of the limited cash flow owner Amy Adams Strunk has in comparison to her ownership peers.
The Titans have to get this right, they simply have to. Or they’ll be faced with some dire rebounding actions that simply can’t be shooed away.
Overview
This is probably the most important moment of Amy Adams Strunk’s entire ownership tenure.
In the past, her decisions haven’t been on a grand scale of difficulty. Moving on from Mike Mularkey made sense, same with moving on from former GM Jon Robinson.
But this is a different scale of difficult and it won’t be solved without precise execution and maybe a bit of luck.
Who knows if the Titans come out of this unscathed, hell who knows if they’ll come out of this damaged beyond repair.
For now though, all we can depend on is the unknown. And it’ll stay that way until Ran Carthon’s head coaching hire either bears fruit or burns the organization to the ground.
P.S. we won’t know the answer to that for another couple years at least, so hold tight and stick with this ride until the wheels fall off.
Or until the ride ends after a wonderful experience. Who knows!
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