As Vrabel returns, Patriots and Titans are on different paths

THE FIRST DOMINOES began to fall in January of 2024.

Two days after the regular season concluded, with the Tennessee Titans finishing 7-10, Mike Vrabel was fired as the Titans' coach after six years. Vrabel's teams posted a 56-48 record (including playoffs), with back-to-back AFC South titles, three playoff berths and a trip to the AFC Championship Game in the 2019 season -- but the 2023 season hadn't gone to plan.

As for New England, two days later marked an end of a 24-year era that included six Super Bowls. It was on that day that Bill Belichick, the coach for whom Vrabel played for from 2001 to 2008, agreed to a mutual parting of ways with the Patriots.

Those 48 hours ultimately paved the way for Vrabel's return to New England ... but not until a year later.

Eight NFL teams hired new head coaches entering 2024, but Vrabel went unhired.

Instead, he landed with the Cleveland Browns as a consultant. That move was due, in part, to Patriots owner Robert Kraft previously agreeing to a succession plan with then-Patriots assistant coach Jerod Mayo to succeed Belichick, as a team source said there was also an internal conversation about Vrabel's unexpected availability.

But then the Patriots went 4-13, and Kraft quickly fired Mayo about an hour after the 2024 regular-season finale. Kraft officially hired Vrabel -- who also interviewed with the Chicago Bears and New York Jets for their coaching jobs -- one week later.

The Patriots (4-2) have risen quickly under Vrabel, winning three in a row for the first time in three years entering Sunday's game (1 p.m. ET, CBS) against his former team. The Titans (1-5), however, are currently on a very different path. After a rough start to the season with the 2025 No. 1 pick, Cam Ward, struggling to find his stthey fired Vrabel's successor, Brian Callahan, on Monday. Callahan went 4-19 in his first stint as a head coach.

Given the stark trajectory of the two teams, Vrabel's return to Tennessee has naturally sparked emotions among the Titans' fanbase. In New England, it's mostly elation at how quickly he's helped turn things around.

"I'm grateful for another opportunity and being here," said Vrabel, who hired 11 members of his former Titans coaching staff in New England, and has five former Titans players on the roster. "I love coaching, love being here. ... You just hope that if you get another shot, another opportunity, like we tell our players, be ready for it and take advantage of it."

LIKE VRABEL, THE Titans are downplaying his return to Nissan Stadium. They are shifting focus to simply winning the game with interim coach Mike McCoy now running the show.

"Our focus is on pouring everything we can into Mike McCoy and giving him every opportunity starting this week," Titans president of football operations Chad Brinker said. "We got the Patriots coming to town and have to do everything we can to help him so we can go out there and win a football game."

Vrabel's final two years in Nashville were taxing. Things seemed to be going their way after earning the AFC's No. 1 seed in 2021. But after a 7-3 start the following season, the bottom fell out -- with the Titans finishing on a seven-game losing streak and missing out on the AFC South division title and the playoffs with a heartbreaking loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the season finale. Tennessee would go on to finish 6-11 in 2023, which landed them in the basement of the AFC South.

During that stretch, Vrabel encouraged players to take part in various activities on Wednesdays that focused on being in a good place mentally. He'd always tell them to make sure they really meant it when they asked someone how they're doing and to actually listen to their answer.

Third-year running back Tyjae Spears was a rookie in Vrabel's final year, but that one season left an impression on him.

"We had a really good relationship," Spears said. "He always said encouraging things to me and always checked on me. He always tried to keep us in the right mental space."

There are a total of 14 players currently with the Titans who played for Vrabel when he was in Nashville, including 10 on the 53-man roster, two on the practice squad and two on injured reserve -- so this game will mean a lot to some of the guys who played for him.

Safety Amani Hooker was drafted in Vrabel's second season (2019) and signed a three-year, $33 million contract extension in 2022. Hooker is looking forward to his first opportunity to play in front of his former coach, which will be a full-circle moment for him.

"It's exciting," Hooker said. "He always talked about putting good s--- on film because you never know who around the league is watching. This week he's watching my film, my tape, so hopefully he can say that's a guy we have to look out for."

Hooker said winning this game is important for many of the players who were with Vrabel because of "bragging rights." It's not just Vrabel, as Hooker pointed out -- stating there were several from the organization that are now in New England that were a part of their glory days.

But change became a constant in 2022, as Tennessee has now fired two coaches and two general managers since. It started with general manager Jon Robinson during the 2022 collapse and continued after the next season with Vrabel. Robinson's replacement, Ran Carthon, was fired in January after two seasons, and the latest move came this week.

Defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons has been there through it all, and he was one of the players Vrabel frequently pointed out as an example of how to be a pro. But Simmons, a former first-round pick in Vrabel's second season, will put everything aside this week as he knows what kind of game to expect against a Vrabel-led football team.

"I know our relationship off the field, but I couldn't care less about the relationship when it comes down to Sunday," Simmons said. "They're going to fight for him, maybe try to help him try to do a little extra and get a win for him. Our mindset is not to let that happen. So we have to fight."

IN OCTOBER OF 2023, Vrabel was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame and said: "I don't want you to take this organization for granted. I've been a lot of places; this is a special place with great leadership, great fans, great direction and great coaching. Enjoy it, it's not like this everywhere."

NFL Network's Ian Rappaport reported at the time that Vrabel's remarks rankled Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk, as did Vrabel sitting in the owners box with Kraft for a game the next day (on the Titans bye week), which paved the way for his firing.

Vrabel didn't know he'd one day be the one leading New England to the top of the AFC East standings in 2025.

When wide receiver Stefon Diggs was asked about Vrabel's leadership, he almost seemed to surprise himself with the answer.

"I don't know how he does it. He got to me to buy-in, I'll tell you that," Diggs said with a smile. "I just think you respect him as a coach. Also him being a [former] player kind of adds another layer to it. He practices what he preaches, he's going out there grinding, he's pushing on guys. He's preaching maximum effort and he shows you our success is a direct correlation from our practice and how we grind.

"So, when you buy into the process and see the results, you're like, 'Damn, it does work.'"

Vrabel, 50, has made it clear what he wants the Patriots' identity to be: 1. Effort and finish; 2. Ball security and ball disruption; 3. Technique, details and fundamentals; 4. Making good decisions.

He set the bar high, saying the team goal is to win the AFC East, host home playoff games and compete for championships.

The clarity in which Vrabel communicates those objectives is similar to his weekly game plans.

"He casts vision as well as anyone I've ever met," said wide receivers coach Todd Downing, who was Vrabel's offensive coordinator in Tennessee. "He has a great knack for identifying for how you're going to go win a game, painting that picture for the team and demanding accountability they go and produce that. That's a pretty special thing. It's not common."

The result has been a surprising start, which has the Patriots tied with the Buffalo Bills atop the division -- where they hold the tiebreaker after a Week 5 upset over them.

"If we keep playing like this, we'll have a real shot when the playoffs come," quarterback Drake Maye said. "But that's a long way away."

The focus now is on Tennessee, as the two teams that set the coaching dominoes in motion face off Sunday.

"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, and I think they are. I think they're locked in, and hopefully we can get them as prepared as we possibly can."