NASHVILLE — Mike Vrabel was fired by the Tennessee Titans in January 2024 after six seasons in charge, and when Nashville’s NFL franchise hired Brian Callahan a couple weeks later, the team’s former head coach offered congratulations to his successor.
Vrabel also texted him this past week, when Callahan was fired six games into his second season in Music City.
“I just remember all those coaches or people that reached out after I was let go,” Vrabel said. “I think that that’s important because nobody texts when you lose, they all text when you win. So it’s a good reminder.”
Vrabel returns to Nissan Stadium on Sunday to face the club that gave him his first head coaching job. His time in Tennessee yielded three playoff berths, two AFC South Division titles, an appearance in the league championship game and a 54-45 record, but it ended after back-to-back losing records that began a run of what will be four consecutive years of the Titans missing the playoffs unless they pull off a major turnaround this fall.
With the New England Patriots 4-2 and sitting atop the AFC East in his first season as head coach of the team he won three Super Bowls with as a linebacker two decades ago, this is Vrabel’s opportunity to remind Titans fans and ownership what they lost by firing him. Being on the other sideline will be a little different.
This is the third straight road game for the Patriots, whose 25-19 triumph against the New Orleans Saints last weekend was both their third consecutive victory and their fifth one-possession game of the season, with the exception a 42-13 win against the Carolina Panthers on Sept. 28 to start their winning streak.
Vrabel and his team face a franchise in turmoil.
“There’s a lot there to unpack outside of the interesting fact that I used to coach in Tennessee,” said Vrabel, who spent last year as a consultant for the Cleveland Browns before being hired in. January to replace Jerod Mayo, another former New England linebacker (and assistant coach) who went 4-13 in his lone season as head coach of the Patriots.
Mayo replaced Bill Belichick, whose 24 seasons in New England produced six Super Bowl titles, the last one in the 2018 season.
Not only was Callahan fired Monday after a 1-5 start to this season left him 4-19 overall as Tennessee’s coach, the Titans have lost 30 of their past 40 games in a skid that started under Vrabel. Mike McCoy, hired by Callahan in the offseason as a senior offensive assistant, will make his debut as Tennessee’s interim coach, his first time leading an NFL team since being fired by the San Diego Chargers at the end of the 2016 season after a four-year run as their head coach.
McCoy isn’t worried about keeping his players focused with the Titans looking for their first home win since beating the Patriots in overtime on Nov. 3, 2024. Tennessee is home after its own three-game road swing, which was capped by a 20-10 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders the day before Callahan was fired.
“This is the NFL,” McCoy said. “We all have a job to do.”
The Patriots intend to follow Vrabel’s approach of ignoring all the attention on the coach’s return to Tennessee. Vrabel had similar responses during his time as Tennessee’s coach when asked about facing teams he formerly played or coached for.
“He’s not treating it like a big deal, so it’s kind of bleeding into us,” Patriots quarterback Drake Maye said. “We’re treating it like another week, another opponent, and treating it the same. The way he’s handling it is the right way.”
For the Patriots, treating it like another week would be a good thing based on their results in the first third of the regular season, having already matched their win total for each of the past two seasons while making it a priority not to look ahead.
“We’re not really worried about the ‘he say-she say,'” New England safety Jaylinn Hawkins said. “I call it poison. It reminds you of poison. We’re not getting too high or too low. We’re trying to stay ready.”
It’s also why Vrabel doesn’t want his team motivated to win in Tennessee because of him.
“We’re not trying to win one for the Gipper here,” Vrabel said. “We’re just trying to make sure these guys are focused on improving.”
As for the Titans, they’ve placed a lot on the shoulders of quarterback Cam Ward, and now the overall No. 1 pick of this year’s draft is working with a new head coach. Ward might have to do even more against the Patriots, who rank fourth in run defense with an average of 83.5 rushing yards allowed per game with an allowed average of 3.46 yard per carry that ranks third. New England is also the only team this season that did not surrender 50 yards to a running back through the first six games.
However, Tennessee’s hopes for improvement in the passing game will be made more difficult by the absence of Calvin Ridley, the veteran player whose 290 receiving yards and 35 targets lead the team, although his 16 catches are third for the Titans this season, behind tight end Chig Okonkwo (23 for 218 yards) and fellow wide receiver Elic Ayomanor (17 for 196). Ayomanor has also caught two of Ward’s three touchdown passes, with the other going to tight end David Martin-Robinson.
Ridley did not practice all week due to a hamstring injury that occurred in the first half in Las Vegas, and the Titans will also be without receiver Bryce Oliver (knee) for a fifth straight game.
On defense, Tennessee also may be lacking depth at edge rusher as Arden Key (quadriceps) will miss a second straight game, rookie Femi Oladejo (leg) went on injured reserve Wednesday after getting hurt against the Raiders, and Dre’mont Jones (knee) did not practice Thursday or Friday.
“It’s the next man up mentality that we’re going to have here,” McCoy said. “You always tell everybody on the team, regardless of what your role is, you’re always one snap away.”
The Titans at least get back kicker Joey Slye, who was out against the Raiders due to a calf injury that happened while he was warming up a week earlier for Tennessee’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. Despite being limited that day, he managed to make a 29-yard field goal as time expired to cap a wild 22-21 comeback win against the Cardinals.
Tennessee waived Matthew Wright, who filled in for Slye against the Raiders, from the practice squad Friday.
The Titans also may get defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat back from injured reserve, which would help three-time Pro Bowl selection Jeffery Simmons, who is off to the best start of his career despite having faced plenty of double-team blocking.
Simmons, a first-round pick in 2019, is just the third tackle in the past 17 seasons with at least 4 1/2 sacks and eight tackles for loss in the first six games, joining Geno Atkins (2012 and 2018 for the Cincinnati Bengals) and Aaron Donald (2015 for the St. Louis Rams).
And as a team captain, Simmons knows McCoy will need support to start his new role on the right foot — preferably with a win.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re doing our part of helping him out as leaders and captains to keep this locker room together,” Simmons said. “And making sure … (we’re) ready to go play against a good football team that’s coming in here, I’m sure, that’s going to try to embarrass us at home.”