Amy Adams Strunk just made the cardinal sin of sports ownership

- With the firing of head coach Mike Vrabel on Tuesday, Tennessee Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk made one of the biggest mistakes a professional sports owner can make. 

Strunk contradicted previous decisions she made that altered the direction of her organization, and now prematurely pulled the plug on what Vrabel was building. That feels more reactionary than anything else and it doesn't give me much confidence that the Titans have a sense of direction moving forward.

The future of Titans football now rests on the shoulder of GM Ran Carthon. But just 13 months ago, we all said the same thing about Vrabel.

Choosing Vrabel over Robinson

When the Titans fired longtime General Manager Jon Robinson last December, the team was 7-5 and leading the AFC South. Despite the obvious roster holes that existed, Tennessee was well on the way to winning a third consecutive division title.

But even on track to make the playoffs, it wasn't hard to see that the Titans were heading in the wrong direction. That later came to fruition when Tennessee ended the season on a seven-game losing streak and choked the division away.

Amy Adams Strunk made the difficult decision then to move on from Robinson and give Vrabel "more control" in the future. In Strunk's eyes, the blame for a regressing roster fell on Robinson, and the organization was looking to raise their standards with a new stadium coming down the pike. 

It was a move that showed a commitment to Mike Vrabel and his vision as Tennessee's future. Vrabel over Robinson. That was the message. It's a move I supported at the time that has now been directly contradicted.

When Ran Carthon got the job as Titans GM, he made it clear that his goal was to acquire the players Mike Vrabel needed to succeed. His job was to "collaborate" with Vrabel to build a winner. Tennessee was Mike Vrabel's show...until it wasn't.

Pulling the plug

The Titans had their fair share of roster problems following the 2022 season. Mind you, many of these problems stemmed from failed first round draft picks under Jon Robinson and the infamous trade of star wide receiver A.J. Brown. Tennessee missed on Caleb Farley. They missed even bigger (literally) on Isaiah Wilson. The secondary and offensive line have been consistently problematic as a result.

Fixing all of those issues in one offseason was never realistic. Tennessee had just three of the first 140+ picks in the 2023 NFL Draft and limited cap space to work with. They were forced to cut veterans like Taylor Lewan, Ben Jones, Bud Dupree, Robert Woods, and Zach Cunningham because of cap constraints. In free agency, the Titans went bargain bin hunting, and were relatively succesful.

The Titans added defensive contributors Arden Key, Azeez Al-Shaair, and Sean Murphy-Bunting on team friendly deals in free agency. They got good value on offensive linemen Daniel Brunskill and Chris Hubbard. They may have found a franchise quarterback in Will Levis and got positive early returns from Peter Skoronski and Tyjae Spears.

It should be no surprise to anyone, Strunk included, that the Titans weren't in contention this season. The roster wasn't good enough yet, but with the cap space and draft capital the Titans have at their disposal this offseason, Vrabel was finally going to have the opportunity to complete his vision and fill all of Tennessee's roster holes...And ownership pulled the plug before giving him the time to fix things.

Hence why this firing feels more reactionary than calculated. Last December, it was a roster problem, now it's a coaching problem? Firing Vrabel is completely premature and contradictory to the direction you had already committed to. That's a common mistake among sports owners that is often regretted in hindsight. Continuity matters. Culture matters. Without Mike Vrabel, the Titans may not have either.