By dismissing the sixth-year coach on Tuesday, Tennessee delivered what was arguably the biggest surprise of the coaching carousel. A peek inside the GM searches for the Chargers, Panthers, Commanders, and more is also included.
• On Tuesday, the Tennessee Titans unexpectedly let go of sixth-year coach Mike Vrabel.
Vrabel’s Tennessee record was 54–45. He built a programme with a verifiable identity that was easy to understand even for the most casual football observers—right up until Sunday’s upset win over the Jacksonville Jaguars that cost the Jags the division. He won the AFC South twice, made the playoffs three times, and advanced to the AFC title game in 2019.
The next logical question is: Why would the Titans abandon Vrabel?
It’s difficult to respond to that question. In NFL circles, there has been a lot of speculation over the past month that he would leave. This has nothing to do with his relationship with first-year general manager Ran Carthon, in my opinion, even though their 2023 season—which was a roster reset with key players Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill in contract years—seemed to be going well.
The main issue here, in my opinion, is that Amy Adams Strunk, the owner, has a reputation for being impulsive and easily agitated. She has obviously been unable to find the ideal organisational structure up until this point.
History can tell the story.
2016 saw her retain interim coach Mike Mularkey while hiring Jon Robinson as general manager. Following two successful seasons and the team’s first playoff victory in 14 years, Mularkey was fired when he took issue publicly with the organisation for disclosing information that raised doubts about his employment status. Then, Vrabel, a New England Patriot like Robinson, was employed by Strunk. Then, in December of last year, she abruptly ended Robinson’s career while the squad was winning the AFC South title for the third time in a row (7-5).
People in the building believed that one was searching for a more transparent, amiable, and creative work environment; this belief was reinforced by her choice to search the progressive 49ers for her next general manager in Carthon. And now that she’s begun to form that vision of once more chasing the appropriate structure, she’s constructed one that doesn’t really suit the head coach she’s consistently claimed to have loved.
This isn’t about Vrabel or Carthon, in my opinion. It has to do with Strunk. Vrabel enjoys working with personnel and comes from teams (the New England Patriots, the Ohio State Buckeyes under Urban Meyer, and the Houston Texans under Bill O’Brien) where the head coach had a significant, if not complete, say in player selection. Given what Strunk performed the previous year, it makes sense that Vrabel reasonably expected a bit more of that. Undoubtedly, this would also clarify why Vrabel might not have been as well-suited in a more sophisticated front office.
Put another way, looking back with the benefit of hindsight, it appears like the owner and coach had quite different ideas about where things were headed when the change occurred a year ago.
However, for the time being, it does give the impression that Strunk is taking the wind in her hair and that the Titans are directionless. She kept a head coach she truly likes, who has established himself as one of the best in the league, but she set up her team in a way that didn’t work for him.
Where Vrabel played, the goal was to construct a team, not only acquire talent.
With her next coach, Strunk would be smart to take that advice.
• The other question here: Why not trade Vrabel?
One more pertinent and reasonable query. In my opinion, the reason for this is that having a head coach in place makes it extremely challenging to comply with the Rooney Rule.
Assume that Vrabel is being traded by the Titans to the Patriots. In that case, New England would have to conduct in-person interviews with two diverse candidates first. The issue is that you can’t conduct those kinds of interviews with men who are actually employed by NFL organisations until after the divisional round, as of this year. The Patriots would therefore have to wait until the fourth week of January, or interview two candidates, such as Herm Edwards and Marvin Lewis, which would draw intense league scrutiny.
Therefore, until then, Tennessee would not be able to begin its coaching search. What about the Patriots after that? Bill Belichick is still employed by them. Thus, Belichick would have to be fired in order to carry out the interviews. Additionally, they would encounter the same timetable problems as the Titans if they attempted to trade Belichick.
Once more, I don’t believe Tennessee made the correct decision in terminating Vrabel. Regarding moving on without waiting for payment, however, I see the advantage of doing so instead of holding things out.
• In case anyone was curious about how things had gone in Nashville this week, Vrabel and Carthon met with players on Monday to discuss their exit, then on Tuesday morning, Vrabel and Strunk had a one-on-one meeting. As far as I can tell, there was no actual back and forth. Strunk accepted Vrabel’s choice and left it at that.
I tweeted that the best way to sum up the emotions around the team facilities would be “stunned.” The rationale behind this, I anticipate, will be evident in the interest other teams have shown in Vrabel. And as a head coach, he fulfils a lot of requirements, which is why. Since he was once a player, he can connect with almost everyone in the room. He is an effective leader. In addition to being a skilled coach in all three phases, he is also knowledgeable about situational football and the rules, which enable his players to use those advantages against a rival.
If Belichick is in the process of being traded, I’ll wager that Vrabel’s former team in New England will show interest. The Pats won’t be the only team, I’d wager as well.
• The Panthers’ initial roster for general manager interviews is intriguing since it has five more players from the analytics, cap, and operations departments than from the scouting department (four). This suggests that, like Washington, Carolina may be experimenting with a less conventional arrangement.
In light of this, there have been rumours in these circles for the past week indicating that owner David Tepper is seriously considering teaming up incumbent assistant general manager Dan Morgan with one of the operations side guys, such as Mike Greenberg of Tampa, Brandt Tilis of Kansas City, Alec Halaby of Philadelphia, Khai Harley of New Orleans, or Nick Matteo of Baltimore.
The Panthers have hired Mike Forde’s company, Sportsology, to help them identify a top executive and coach, which further supports the notion that such a setup would be taken into consideration. Forde is a former executive of Chelsea FC.
Additionally, there is proof that Carolina is cognizant of the impression that its positions are unappealing, as seen by the fact that, prior to formally submitting applications, it followed up with applicants to ensure they would agree to interviews. This clarifies, among other things, why the team would be hesitant to submit a slip for a player such as Dallas Cowboys Vice President of Player Personnel Will McClay, who is content in his position and has previously declined requests—even after the Panthers contacted Dallas and essentially performed what the slip would have done by requesting him.
• McClay’s case is worth examining.
He is without a doubt one of the best general manager prospects available, and he has a remarkable track record of adding both high-end and low-end players to the Cowboys squad through the draft and free agency. Having worked with coaches like Mike McCarthy and Jason Garrett in the past, he also had a coaching career.
In addition, the Jones family has given him a general manager-type position, which has made his stay worthwhile. He and his family are at ease in Dallas, where he has resided for a considerable amount of time. It has enabled him to be selective about the chances that have been presented to him.
I think McClay will eventually go to try his hand at being a great general manager. However, there can be this dread of getting shot down at this point, especially with owners who are sensitive to the concept that their jobs might, again, not be the most wanted (and there are a lot of jobs like that on the market, else they wouldn’t be open). For this reason, an owner may choose to make a request over the phone with another owner rather than formally submitting a slip that is ultimately sent to the league.
• The Chiefs assistant general manager Mike Borgonzi, Browns assistant general manager Glenn Cook, and 49ers assistant general manager Adam Peters conducted interviews with owner Josh Harris and consultants Rick Spielman and Bob Myers in Miami on Tuesday as part of the Commanders’ search for a president of football operations.
The person who takes that position will contribute to the completion of the organisational hierarchy. Presumably, it will resemble certain baseball or basketball teams, where the president of operations is in charge of the general manager and head coach (or manager, in baseball parlance). And to some extent, similar arrangements have been in place in the past, led by former coaches like Bill Parcells in Miami, Mike Holmgren in Cleveland, and Tom Coughlin in Jacksonville.
This time around, the Commanders likely consider the top position as far less of an emeritus post than the Dolphins, Browns, or Jaguars did, according to the interview list. However, the fundamental idea behind those was that you would have an extravagant gentleman who would tie everything together; in my opinion, however, the Commanders will have a younger, more involved guy doing some of the same things.
• The Los Angeles Chargers released a large number of slips on Monday and Tuesday, apparently extending their search for a general manager and head coach as far as they had promised.
It makes sense to move so swiftly, since it enables the Chargers to evaluate a wide range of concepts and learn from a wide range of organisations in an endeavour to, to use their own words, “reimagine” their football operation. But, if the aim is to go big-game hunting, it also permits the squad to comply with the regulations of head coach searches.
And perhaps you have noted that there is now a certain coach available, whose season ended on Monday night.
Wilson really doesn’t have to do anything, and he’ll become a free agent. Which, based on how the last month was received by his camp (the word “disrespect” was used pretty liberally) is the result he’d want, and the one that Denver has already put in motion.
The reason why? Because if Denver keeps him on the roster into the fifth day of the league year in mid-March, then his $37 million injury guarantee for 2025 vests, becoming fully guaranteed. And the whole ask on Halloween, from the team to Wilson, was to push that date back. So, the call has been made to pay the $39 million he’s owed (minus offsets) for 2024 and get out of the deal, rather than be responsible for $76 million the next two years.
• T.J. Watt’s absence for this weekend is a big one. But as the tougher ones go, I wouldn’t underrate what losing Andrew Van Ginkel will mean for the Dolphins, either. Already without Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb, having to face Patrick Mahomes while missing another edge rusher is not ideal. (As if going into Kansas City with a forecast calling for temps to drop below zero won’t be difficult enough for a team from Florida.)
• Still waiting for the white smoke to emerge from the chapel in Foxboro.
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