How Titans coach Mike Vrabel plans to earn respect from his players
On the day before Mike Vrabel was introduced as head coach of the Titans, a private jet from Boston touched down in Nashville.
The former All-Pro linebacker emerged, along with his son Tyler, fresh from a trip to Massachusetts, where the teenager is committed to play left tackle at Boston College. Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan was among the first players they encountered at the team’s practice facility.
“Hey, I’ve been following your son,” Vrabel recalled Lewan saying, before the Pro Bowler turned to Tyler. “I’ve been watching those Hudl highlights.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Vrabel said.
Mike Mularkey, who was fired as Titans head coach last week, may have failed to reach the organization’s lofty goals and fallen short when it comes to maximizing players’ skill sets, despite guiding the franchise to back-to-back winning records and its first playoff victory in 14 seasons. But he and general manager Jon Robinson certainly succeeded in developing a strong locker room culture, overhauling the roster while instilling a sense of toughness, selflessness and a winning attitude.
Vrabel, with only four years of experience as an NFL assistant, has a difficult challenge in his first season as a head coach. But his playing experience should command respect from the players.
“I don’t think I have to go ahead and do anything special,” Vrabel said. “When I stand in front of these guys (when players report) on April 2 and they look at their head coach, I will have been every single one of those players in those seats. I will have been the rookie that got drafted, that was having a tough time, that maybe wasn’t developing as fast as the coaches would have liked. I will have been the core special teams player. I will have been the starting linebacker that was expected to make some plays because he was a high-priced player. I’ll have been the aging veteran that needed to be a great leader, or I’ll have been the team captain. So I’m going to have a great opportunity to share my story, and what I’ve been through in each one of those experiences.”
Vrabel, a third-round draft pick out of Ohio State in 1997, played 14 seasons with the Steelers, Patriots and Chiefs, winning three Super Bowls along the way.
He didn’t start a game in his first four seasons in Pittsburgh, but developed into an All-Pro in New England. He not only starred as a linebacker – but caught 12 touchdowns as a tight end, including one during the Patriots’ 24-21 victory against the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX.
Vrabel finished his playing career with two seasons in Kansas City, before returning to Ohio State as an assistant coach, starting the second phase of his football career where the first began.
“I’m not going to do anything special,” Vrabel said. “I’m just going to tell them who I am and say, ‘Where are you at in your career? This is what we need to do to make you better. Here’s what I see. This is what you do well. This is what you don’t do well. And we’re going to work together to fix whatever you don’t do well.’”
Reach Jason Wolf at jwolf@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter at @JasonWolf and on Instagram and Snapchat at TitansBeat.