Sometimes, someone else's mistakes make things easier for you. The New England Patriots are certainly the beneficiaries of the largesse provided by the Tennessee Titans, who graciously broomed Mike Vrabel ultimately into Foxborough.
The Titans, in a moment of sheer bewilderment after a down 2023 season, fired Vrabel, one of the best NFL coaches and personnel evaluators in the business. They hadn't realized that circumstances outside of a coach's control, e.g., not having a top NFL quarterback on hand, can reduce any NFL season to rubble. The Titans' loss was ultimately, and thankfully, the New England Patriots' gain.
It allowed the aimlessly drifting and rudderless Patriots to right their ship and get back on course by hiring the Titans' castoff, and nothing will ever be the same. The Vrabel-led Patriots are on their way back to the playoffs and another NFL title. Schadenfreude lives.
Titans' foolish decision is now already being questioned
Now, Pro Football Network has speculated that Titans Head Coach Brian Callahan may already be on the hot seat. The question can certainly be asked whether the Titans regret sending Mike Vrabel packing and his landing in Foxborough already?
"Last year was Callahan’s first year as the head coach in Tennessee, taking over from Mike Vrabel. However, with a less-than-ideal roster and Will Levis as his quarterback, the Titans managed only three wins.
Primarily an offensive mind, he should be the ideal coach to pair alongside a franchise quarterback in Ward. However, Mike Florio of NBC Sports isn’t sure if Callahan will have a job for much longer, depending on next season."
OOPS! That kind of random speculation can't be looked upon as a job security, reinforcing one for Callahan. It only took one year, or one strike, to get Patriots' Jerod Mayo out the door. Two strikes could be an out for Callahan if the Titans' slide continues. Such are the rigors of being an NFL head coach. (although the massive salaries and contract length have to be of some consolation!!)
The Titans aren't alone in boneheaded decision-making
The oft-erring Patriots are no strangers to faux pas themselves. When you broom the best quarterback and NFL player ever, essentially after he won the 2018 Super Bowl, you're no decision-making geniuses either. That was a gaffe of historical proportions by owner Robert Kraft.
Kraft followed that monumental miscue up with hiring a head coach he had committed to years earlier (a noble personal gesture since he promised it to him years earlier, the real mistake), who had no experience either as a head coach or even as a coordinator. The results were predictably disastrous.
Yet, the Titans' gaffe allowed the misguided Kraft to actually make one of his rare sound decisions in recent years, when he did what he should have done in 2024 after the Titans fired Vrabel. Whatever. He finally, but belatedly, hired Mike Vrabel in January of 2025. The Pats now have Vrabel firmly in charge, and it's made a world of difference.
The moral of the story is, when you have a good thing, e.g., a great coach on hand, don't make a knee-jerk reaction to short-term adversity. Look at the history and consider the long-term implications. And if you're an NFL franchise, look at whether you have a top NFL quarterback on hand. That is usually the determining factor for success. The Titans didn't. The Patriots do. So much for sending a former NFL Coach of the Year (2021) out the door after one poor season.
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