Bad News For The AFC South, Mike Vrabel Signed An Extension And Will Be In Nashville For A Long, Long Time.
Tough day to be another team in the AFC South as news has come out that the Titans have signed General Manager Jon Robinson and Head Coach Mike Vrabel to extensions that will keep them in two tone Titan blue for a long time. It wasn't reported how long the extensions are, but they're both well deserved. Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk said she is proud that Jon and Mike will be leading the team "for years to come", so its not just a one or two year extension.
Since becoming the Titans coach in 2018 the Titans have been one of the best teams in the AFC with 43 wins (including playoffs) over that time. Two 9-7 years to start out Vrabel's coaching career followed by an 11-5 and a 12-5 record, could be worse. He's lead Tennessee to one AFC championship game in that time, two division titles, and the #1 seed in the AFC this past year. Obviously things went south for the Titans this season in the playoffs with a one and done to the Bengals at home, but it was still a hell of a year and Vrabel proved himself to be one of the best coaches in football. They used a record number of players this season, missed Derrick Henry for 9 games, AJ Brown for 4, and Julio Jones for 7. Pulling guys off the street to help win a division and capture the #1 seed isn't something you see everyday, but Vrabel showed how good of a coach he was with some of the moves he helped make.
He's a hell of a coach, and I fully expect him to be named Coach Of The Year in a few days, that isn't the hardware he's looking for but it's nice to see him get his recognition. He truly is one of the best coaches around and he's by far one of the smartest. You look at some of the stuff he does with the clock, what he did in New England a few years back, the play he had vs the Texans in 2019 (watch this if you haven't seen it), he knows it all. Next thing to do is take the Titans to the next level, and he's the guy for the job. Plus he's maybe the most beloved coach in football. Guys love to play for him, he makes it very easy to pull for him. Also, how rare is it that the biggest stoolie on a football team is the head coach? Vrabes loves himself some Barstool.
Jon Robinson also getting an extension is great news for the Titans and their fanbase. He's done a fantastic job building this team up. He's had some fantastic drafts, done some great dumpster diving, made some huge trades for the team, he knows how to assemble a team. These two guys were made for each other and both deserve these extensions. So happy these two are staying in Nashville. He inherited a team that won 5 games in 2 seasons and hasn't had a losing season since. A total roster overhaul in a short period of time like that is rarely seen in the NFL. 62 wins under his reign in the 6 seasons since he got here says something, this was a team that was absolute garbage in the mid-2010s, he's turned them into contenders very quickly. And how many other GM's are out there doing what he's doing in that video above? Playing QB for the Rbs while they work on their receiving game, you kidding me?
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Look at the names of the guys he has helped draft, Derrick Henry, Kevin Byard, Jeffrey Simmons, A.J. Brown, and Harold Landry. He signed a stud in Roger Saffold, and he's made trades to bring in guys like DeMarco Murray in 2016, Ryan Tannehill to be a backup which turned into an AFC Championship run, and Julio Jones. The guy knows how to pick 'em. While the rest of the AFC South is trying to figure out who their QB is going to be, or who their head coach is, the Titans seem to have stability at the top of their tower with a hell of a roster in place. Now lets see if they can bring some hardware home next season.