Does Vrabel Have The Easiest Road to Becoming Coach of the Year?

Mike Vrabel took over a Tennessee Titans team that is loaded with talent and superstar potential. Does he have the easiest road to Coach of the Year?

Typically when an NFL team fires their head coach, the team has a bad-to-mediocre record and the coach has failed to push his players to their potentials. For the Tennessee Titans, they were 9-7 and two games into the playoffs when they fired Mike Mularkey.

It was a surprising move, to say the least. Whether the Titans should let Mularkey walk or keep him split the fanbase in half. It was not the record, or players not reaching potentials, but a combination of Mularkey’s tired offensive system and unwillingness to protect quarterback Marcus Mariota that ultimately got him fired.

So, the Titans became one of the only NFL teams in history to win a playoff game and fire their head coach. They then made a quick hire of Mike Vrabel.

Vrabel has no head coaching experience, but has played for the New England Patriots and was defensive coordinator for the Houston Texans. General Manager Jon Robinson hired him mostly because of his ties to the Patriots and his ability to command attention and display leadership.

This situation is much like picking a playoff-caliber team on EA Sports Madden’s Franchise Mode. In this case, the Titans are that talented, playoff-caliber team, and Vrabel selected them.

Vrabel has a quarterback who has troublesome speed, great football instincts, and improving accuracy. He has an offensive line with top-5 potential and two of the talented tackles in Taylor Lewan and Jack Conklin. A secondary with All-Pro safety Kevin Byard and two Super Bowl-winning cornerbacks in Malcolm Butler and Logan Ryan.

I could go on and on, and I will. He also has a defensive line and linebacker crew that was amongst the top of the NFL in getting to the quarterback. Add to that a guy like Harold Landry, who worked wonders in college getting after the QB.

All that to say, Vrabel has a wonderful team to work with. However, with a wonderful team, you need wonderful coaches. That is why Vrabel went out and found guys like Kerry Coombs, Dean Pees, and Matt LeFleur who all have great resumes in the NFL and/or college football.

Let’s pinpoint  two: Vrabel and LeFleur. They are both new to their roles. Although some may look at that as a red flag, there is also some good in it.

Let’s revisit Mike Mularkey‘s situation really quick: Mularkey was already set on his offensive system with his buddy, offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie. He was unwilling to change his system as Titans’ fans and ownership desired.

With a new head coach and offensive coordinator, the Titans can now implement a system around their players. That will enable them to add bits and pieces of what Mariota ran in college to the offense.

Kind of like they are planning to do with Derrick Henry, running the same scheme he ran in college.

Do not forget about Kerry Coombs on the defensive side. He has produced solid cornerbacks out of Ohio State in his time there. He has 35 years of experience, and spent six of those with the Buckeyes.

Coombs was a big reason for Ohio State’s defensive success. He has produced many first-round caliber corners, such as Marshon Lattimore, Eli Apple, Bradley Roby, and Gareon Conley.

He was a legendary recruiter for Ohio State, and the Titans hope he brings that same knowledge and wisdom to Nashville.

Dean Pees’ success as defensive coordinator combined with Kerry Coombs, adding onto that Mike Vrabel’s defensive mindset as a head coach, should take care of that side of the ball.

A new coach coming in, implementing a system around his players, with a roster like the Tennessee Titans’ is extremely exciting.

It is quite overlooked in the NFL, but Vrabel has a diamond in the rough right now, and if he takes the right steps he could very well be NFL Coach of the Year in 2018.