Patriots' Mike Vrabel addresses rumor about dismissal from Titans

Shortly after Tennessee Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk parted ways with head coach Mike Vrabel in January 2024, a report indicated that Vrabel upset people within the Titans via comments he made when he was inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame in the fall of 2023. 

Vrabel is now head coach of a Patriots team that improved to 4-2 on the season via a 25-19 win at the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. During a Monday appearance on Boston sports radio station WEEI, Vrabel was asked if what he said during the Hall of Fame induction caused "issues" and "irked" his then-bosses in Tennessee. 

Mike Vrabel knows one reason he lost Titans job

"I don't know," Vrabel responded, per Tom Carroll of Audacy. "You'd have to ask the owner. I know losing irked the owner, or losing irked me. So like John Cooper used to say at Ohio State, 'Winning takes care of everything.' And we didn't win enough games in Tennessee."

In October 2023, Vrabel urged people associated with the Patriots to "not to take this organization for granted." He also said that "it’s not like this everywhere" and noted that the Patriots had "great leadership." 

Vrabel went 54-45 across his six regular seasons with the Titans, and he won the Associated Press Coach of the Year Award for the 2021 campaign. He guided Tennessee to the AFC Championship Game held in January 2020, but he later endured back-to-back losing seasons before he was shown the door. 

As a player, Vrabel earned three Super Bowl rings with the Patriots from 2001 through the 2008 season. Thus, it made sense that some viewed him as a potential replacement for Bill Belichick in New England even before the 2023 campaign wrapped up. However, Vrabel served as a consultant with the Cleveland Browns last season until he interviewed for the Patriots gig. 

How will Mike Vrabel feel about facing Titans? 

On Oct. 19, Vrabel's Patriots will play at a 1-5 Titans side that could be one loss away from making yet another coaching change. On Monday, Vrabel was asked about going up against his former employer for the first time since his dismissal. 

"Well, I think it's going to feel different, [but] it can't be different," Vrabel explained. "It has to be the way we prepare, the way that we try to put together a game plan. But I mean, I think it's gonna - we have to recognize the obvious, having spent time there. So [there’s] a lot of people on the other side that I know that I coached or worked with."

As of Monday afternoon, ESPN BET had the Patriots as 7.5-point favorites over the Titans.