Patriots’ Mike Vrabel Reached Out to Fired Titans Coach

Week 6's New England Patriots vs. Tennessee Titans game has a lot of build up to it for a lot of different reasons.

The first one is the obvious one: Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel's return to Nashville to take on the team he once helped emerge as a brief powerhouse in the AFC. Under Vrabel, the Tennessee Titans went 56-48.

Since letting him go, they've gone 4-19.

In 2019, Vrabel beat the Patriots in Tom Brady's last game under center for New England in a AFC Wild Card game. A few weeks later he would get them within reach of the Super Bowl, only to fall to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship.

Vrabel would also win Coach of the Year in 2021. Two years later, the Titans fired him.

The Titans also fired his replacement this week, Brian Callahan. A move that some argue makes the Titans even more vulnerable then before going into their game against the Patriots.

Vrabel was asked about the Titans firing Callahan this week, and it turns out that he reached out to the coach he was about to play against this week via text.

"I don't want to see anyone who shares a job with you to get let go," Vrabel said of reaching out to Callahan on Wednesday. "That's a tough feeling with family and school, whether it's college or pro. There's a human element to this that I don't want to forget. I remember all of those coaches and people who reached out to me after I was let go. I think that's important. Nobody texts when you lose, but they all text when you win. That's a good reminder."

Vrabel seems to know how much it stings to fall out of favor with Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk. He's been in the same shoes as Callahan before.

MIke Vrabel as the Titans head coach — Tennessee Titans Head Coach Mike Vrabel runs his team through warmups before their game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas., Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. Vrabel was fired by owner Amy Adams Strunk Monday after having two losing seasons back-to-back. | Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

In the meantime, the Titans will have Mike McCoy as their interim head coach. This move can potentially add some adjustments into Vrabel's game planning come Sunday, but in the end, Vrabel knows it's going to come down to who preforms on the field.

"We'll have to be prepared for whatever it is and try to execute the keys and the things we feel are important each and every week," said Vrabel. "We can watch tape and understand the players and their play style, and however they call the game is how they'll call the game."

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