Mike Vrabel is going to take a very hands-on approach to his new job as head coach of the Tennessee Titans, especially as it concerns the team’s defense.
On Monday during his introductory press conference, Vrabel told media in attendance he will be calling all the plays on defense. He also said he’s going to have an influence on whatever’s called on both sides of the ball.
Vrabel said he will call the defensive plays and says he will have influence on whatever is called.
— Terry McCormick (@terrymc13) January 22, 2018
Vrabel: I'm the head coach, I can call whatever play I want, right? If I want to throw a shot, we're going to throw a shot. #Titans
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) January 22, 2018
Now we know why Dick LeBeau was let go on Monday.
The new head coach also made it clear that one of the reasons he landed this job is that the team brass trusts him to hire the right offensive coordinator to develop young quarterback Marcus Mariota.
Vrabel on OC: “Amy’s going to trust me to hire the right guy for Marcus, Jon’s going to trust me to hire the right guy for Marcus otherwise I wouldn’t have been hired.”
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) January 22, 2018
It’s been widely rumored that he’s going to hire Ohio State offensive coordinator Ryan Day, who played for and coached with Chip Kelly. That’s an interesting idea, because Mariota would likely be going back to his roots with many of the same concepts he loved at Oregon. However, it’s also risky, because Day is extremely inexperienced.
Vrabel is also inexperienced when it comes to calling plays. He was Houston’s linebackers coach for three years before becoming the team’s defensive coordinator in 2017. So, he only has one year under his belt calling plays during games.
It’s going to be fascinating to see how Vrabel and his staff performs in Tennessee.