Titans Hire Texans DC Mike Vrabel As Head Coach

The Tennessee Titans announced Saturday that they’ve hired Texans DC Mike Vrabel as their new head coach.

• According to Adam Schefter, Vrabel receives a five-year contract from the Titans to be their head coach.

“I am excited to have Mike Vrabel joining our organization as our new head coach,” said Titans Controlling Owner Amy Adams Strunk said. “In the interaction between Mike and Jon (Robinson) during the interview, you could see their connection right away from the history they have with one another – seeing the game in a similar way and talking the same language. Mike has a commanding presence and a deep knowledge for how he will attack this head coaching opportunity. Throughout his football career, he has played for, been mentored by and coached with successful teams and organizations. He knows what it takes to reach that level of sustained success – he has seen it first-hand. We have a chance to build on the solid foundation that we established over the past couple of years and I believe Mike is the right person to continue that progress.”

“This is an incredible opportunity and one I have been preparing for my entire football life,” said Vrabel. “I want to thank Amy, Jon and the entire Titans organization for putting their faith in me. I am excited to get to work and that work starts now. We want to build a culture around winning, competitiveness and toughness. Everything we do is going to be geared towards winning and being physical. We want to prepare our players so they know what to do, which will allow them to play fast and aggressive.”

“I have always had a great deal of respect for Mike as a player and as a coach,” GM Jon Robinson said. “I saw him up close as a player for the Patriots and saw how he prepared himself to be successful on a daily basis. He was the ultimate team-first player and he embodies that same mindset as a coach. He is intelligent, energetic, detailed and a leader whose deep passion for this game will resonate with our players. As a coach, I have seen him develop talent at both the college and NFL level, and put players in position for them to be successful. I am excited to get him in front of our team and watch us grow together as a team.”

The Titans’ search was surprisingly quick, as they only interviewed three candidates including Vrabel, Panthers DC Steve Wilks and Rams OC Matt LaFleur.

Robinson stressed that he wanted to bring a leader of men to coach the team, and he wasn’t looking to hire an offensive-minded head coach to work with QB Marcus Mariota, as many assumed.

Vrabel, 42, began his coaching career with Ohio State as their linebackers coach back in 2011. After the years with the Buckeyes, Vrabel was hired by the Texans as their linebackers coach and promoted to defensive coordinator last year.

In 2017, the Texans ranked No. 20 in yards allowed, No. 32 in points allowed, No. 13 in rushing yards and No. 24 in passing yards.