Titans Already Firing Brian Callahan Proves They Never Should've Fired Mike Vrabel

The Tennessee Titans should have never fired Mike Vrabel.

Sure, hindsight is always 20/20. But after firing head coach Brian Callahan after a 4-19 start to his career in Tennessee, the Titans do not need any more proof that letting Vrabel out of the building was a mistake.

As the Titans looked towards a rebuild, Vrabel was surprisingly fired in 2023 after having just won the NFL Coach of the Year award in 2021.

The Titans were looking towards life after quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Even though the team won 12 games in 2021, it was clear that Vrabel’s leadership and defense was carrying the Titans, not their aging quarterback.

After Vrabel was fired, he spent last season with the Cleveland Browns as a coaching advisor. However, because Cleveland was so inept offensively, Vrabel had to step in and serve as an offensive line coach for the back half of the season.

Upon that contract expiring in Cleveland, Vrabel instantly became one of the hottest coaching candidates in the NFL. Once the Jerod Mayo experiment went sour in New England, the Patriots quickly scooped up Vrabel as their next head coach.

And he’s been off to the races.

Vrabel’s signature win in New England was when the Patriots marched into Orchard Park and upset the Buffalo Bills in primetime a few weeks ago. Second-year quarterback Drake Maye has made strides thus far, looking to be the long-term answer after Mac Jones proved unable to fill the massive shoes left behind when Tom Brady left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England’s success is proof that Vrabel was never the issue in Tennessee. He’s a natural-born leader of men. While the Titans were heading into a rebuild, they could have stuck beside their coach, supporting him with a quarterback that could compete with the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in the AFC.

Instead, they fell victim to being prisoners of the moments. They fell in love with a younger, hot shot offensive coordinator in Callahan who had Cincinnati’s offense humming for years.

In Callahan’s first year as a head coach, the Titans were the worst team in the NFL. That earned them the No. 1 overall pick and the rights to select Miami quarterback Cam Ward to turn the franchise around.

But Ward has struggled in the first six games. The Titans are 1-5. Quickly, the Titans realized that Callahan was unable to work the same magic on Ward that he worked on Joe Burrow during their time together with the Bengals.

The Titans will host their old coach, Vrabel, and the Patriots on Sunday at Nissan Stadium. But it’s Vrabel who already has the last laugh against his former team before the game is even played.