The Tennessee Titans’ head coach in 2023 is Vrabel. Here’s what you need to know about him.
Flowery Branch, Georgia – The Atlanta Falcons revealed on Wednesday, January 24 that they had an in-person interview with Mike Vrabel for the job of head coach.
This is Vrabel’s first interview with the Falcons for the job opening they have right now.
He was fired by the Tennessee Titans on January 9 after six years as head coach. He is 48 years old. A new head coach, Brian Callahan, was hired by the Titans on Wednesday. Callahan was interviewed by the Falcons on January 13 for a job opening they had, and a second meeting was allegedly planned before news of his deal with the Titans came out Monday.
Vrabel names the 14th person who has finished the first interview with the Falcons. They have done a second interview with three of them as of Wednesday.
KEEP TRACK: Follow along as the Falcons look for a new head coach.
Find out more about the person the Falcons are thinking about hiring as their 19th head coach.
March 24 is the date of the interview.
Used to be the head coach of the Tennessee Titans
Highlights Of Resume:
Ohio State University, 2011–13: After a great run as a player in the NFL, Vrabel got his first teaching job as a linebackers coach with the Buckeyes in 2011. Three years later, he became Ohio State’s defensive line coach.
Career: Houston Texans, 2014–17: After being hired as the Texans’ linebackers coach from 2014–16, he worked for an NFL team for the first time. That season, he was made defense coordinator.
Tennesse Titans, 2018–23: Vrabel was Titans’ head coach for six years and took them to the playoffs three times. The Tennessee Titans went to the 2019 AFC title game because of him. This happened after the Titans had a 6-11 season in 2023.
Connected locally: This goes back a long time and involves both teams, but Vrabel was the defensive coordinator for the Houston Texans in 2017 when T.J. Yates was the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons.
Jacksonville Falcons tight end Jonnu Smith played for Vrabel in Tennessee from 2018 to 2020. Smith’s deal with Atlanta has one more year left, according to Over the Cap. Other 2023 Falcons players who have played for Vrabel, like defender Bud Dupree, will be able to sign with any team they want when the market starts in March.
A previous Falcons head coach, Arthur Smith, worked with Vrabel at Tennessee from 2018 to 2020. As of 2019-20, Smith was Vrabel’s offensive coordinator and tight ends coach. Thursday, January 8, the Falcons fired Smith.
Reasons he should be elected: According to Vrabel, he has shown that he can quickly and successfully lead a team to victory. His first season as head coach, the Titans went 9-7. Unfortunately, they didn’t make the playoffs that year, but they did in 2019 with a 9-7 record and made it to the AFC title, where they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, who went on to win the Super Bowl.
That was the first of three straight playoff trips for the Titans. In 2020, the Baltimore Ravens beat them in a wild-card game. The Tennessee Titans lost to the Cincinnati Bengals in the division bracket in 2021.
Falcons Last Made The Playoffs In 2017.
In 2020, when they were No. 2 in total yards and No. 4 in points scored, the Titans’ best offensive season under Vrabel. TN had the best running game, finishing second in rush attempts, yards, touchdowns, and yards per try. Although the Titans were only ranked 23rd in passing yards and 30th in passing tries, that part of their game pretty much carried the team. Notably, the Titans had the second most interceptions and the eighth most receiving scores. The air attack wasn’t a total failure, then.
Under Vrabel, the Titans were at their best defensively in 2018. In terms of points and yards given up, they were third and eighth, respectively. Tennessee had the third-fewest passing scores allowed, the sixth-most passing yards allowed, the tenth-most passing attempts allowed, and the 23rd-most interceptions received. Tennessee had the fourth-most rushing touchdowns allowed, the fifteenth-most yards allowed per carry, the eighteenth-most rushing yards allowed, and the nineteenth-most rushing tries allowed overall.
Overall, those numbers show that Vrabel can put together both a good offense and defense. Actually, those were not the same seasons. Those were the best marks overall, though. Their peers did well, but that doesn’t mean they did well too.
Notable mistakes: Vrabel’s last two years with the Titans ended in losses, with records of 7-10 in 2022 and 6-11 in 2023. Before 2017, the Falcons had a good season. The Falcons’ owner, Arthur Blank, wanted a new head coach who could get results right away. Vrabel’s recent performances can be ignored for now if he can perform like he did in his early seasons in Tennessee. But that’s not likely to happen.
