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Mike Vrabel is gone from the Tennessee Titans, and it has shocked Taylor Lewan.
On Tuesday, the Titans stunned the NFL fanbase by firing their head coach after six seasons. Under him, they made the playoffs thrice, going as far as the AFC Championship game in 2019-20.
Lately, however, they had been in a slump, losing more games than usual and missing back-to-back postseasons. Still, their former three-time offensive tackle thinks that something other than the coaching had been bothering the team, as he said on Rich Eisen's eponymous show:
"That is nuts. I knew there was some clamoring going on on the inside. I talked to a couple guys. And I was like, as the season was unfolding, it was very clear that Vrabes was not the problem, [but] the talent. It just wasn't a team that was filled with enough talent to be truly competitive in the NFL at that point.
"You could point a lot of fingers, but I didn't think the finger you could truly point out was Vrabel... I love Amy, and I love that franchise. I think they just made a mistake."
Titans GM Ran Carthon denies reports of falling out with Mike Vrabel after HC's ouster
The end of the Mike Vrabel era can arguably be traced back to Week 13 of the 2022 season.
In that week's game in Philadelphia, wide receiver AJ Brown, who had been traded to the Eagles during the offseason, humiliated his former team with eight receptions for 119 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-10 rout. Two days later, the Titans fired General Manager Jon Robinson, who had assembled most of Vrabel's roster.
In 2023, Ran Carthon assumed the role, from the start, it soon became clear that the team was trending downward. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill struggled and was eventually benched for rookie Will Levis, while wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins failed to get adequate support from the rest of the WR corps.
That has led to speculation that Carthon and his head coach disagreed over their vision for the team's future, but he refuted the notion in a Tuesday presser:
"I will say that Mike and I have never had any issue regarding whether it's personal or professional. We worked well together and had a good relationship... I consider him a friend and I feel that we'll be that way moving forward."
No confirmed list of candidates has so far emerged, but potential options include Las Vegas Raiders interim HC Antonio Pierce, Vrabel's former New England Patriots mentor Bill Belichick and Michigan Wolverines champion Jim Harbaugh.
