By Canadian Press

Tennessee Titans fire coach Mike Vrabel after back-to-back losing seasons

Jan 9, 2024 | 11:56 AM

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have fired coach Mike Vrabel after six seasons with the franchise having won only six of the past 24 games, including blowing a third straight AFC South title in the 2022 season finale.

Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement that she told Vrabel of her decision Tuesday morning. She said it was a decision “as difficult as any I’ve made.”

Strunk said she believes teams best positioned to win must be aligned and collaborate across the board. The Titans started that shift a year ago, hiring Ran Carthon as the franchise’s first Black general manager and expanding its analytics staff. More changes were needed to “fully achieve our vision.”

“As I continued to assess the state of our team, I arrived at the conclusion that the team would also benefit from the fresh approach and perspective of a new coaching staff,” Strunk said.

The announcement came a day after the Titans cleaned out their lockers with Vrabel not speaking to reporters. It was the first time in the franchise’s 27 seasons in Tennessee the head coach did not talk to reporters since the team moved to the state from Texas.

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Hired in January 2018, Vrabel went 56-48 overall, including a 2-3 record in the playoffs.

He led the Titans to the AFC championship game in the 2019 season as part of three straight playoff berths. Tennessee lost at home in a wild-card game after the 2020 season and as the AFC’s No. 1 seed capping the 2021 season.

The Titans contended for a playoff spot in the season finale of his first five seasons until they were eliminated from postseason contention for this season in December. Vrabel wound up coaching a team that used the most players in the NFL in each of the past three seasons because of injuries.

Vrabel signed a contract extension after a 2021 season where he won the AP NFL Coach of the Year award. He said last week that “of course he wants to be here” in 2024, but used an expletive to make clear that losing stinks.

Strunk fired general manager Jon Robinson on Dec. 6, 2022, in the midst of the team’s seven-game slide to blow a third straight division title. She hired Carthon in January 2023, though he had few resources to fix the roster.

The Titans go into this offseason with the seventh overall draft pick, the second-most salary cap space in the NFL and believe they have their quarterback after Will Levis went 3-6 as a rookie.

Strunk said she will never shy away from having “unapologetically high expectations” for the team her late father founded in 1960. She called this offseason as important as any in the franchise’s history.

“Our vision is not simply to produce more wins than losses, it is to regularly compete for championships,” Strunk said. “We will meet the moment.”

The Titans wrapped up Vrabel’s sixth season with a 6-11 record in his first year with Carthon. They beat Jacksonville 28-20 on Sunday to deny their oldest division rival a second straight AFC South title.

Tennessee breaks ground on a new enclosed stadium expected to cost $2.1 billion sometime this spring, which is set to open for the 2027 season. That only adds to the pressure of making the right decisions from top to bottom moving forward.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press