SAN FRANCISCO — Just over two years ago, Mike Vrabel was fired by the Titans.
During his six years in Tennessee, Vrabel went 54-45, winning two AFC South titles and once making the AFC Championship Game. However, following a 6-11 season in 2023, Vrabel was dismissed by Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk. That winter, Vrabel was frozen out of the head coaching hiring cycle, and spent a year as a consultant with the Browns.
Twenty-five months after his ouster in Tennessee, Vrabel’s Patriots are AFC Champions, readying for a date with the Seahawks in Super Bowl 60.
At a Tuesday press conference at the Santa Clara Marriott, Vrabel was asked whether he feels any measure of redemption after the way things ended with the Titans.
“No,” Vrabel replied. “I’m grateful for the opportunity (with New England). Whether it’s a player that gets released and then picked up by another team or it’s a coach that somebody moves on from or fires, I think you just are grateful for the opportunity that you have the next time and you try to do everything that you can not to let that happen.”
Though it was his first time being fired as a coach, Vrabel said he could still relate to the dismissal because of something that happened during his playing days.
“As far as emotions go, I think there’s plenty of emotion, whether that’s being traded to Kansas City as a player or that’s being fired as a coach,” Vrabel said. “There’s a lot of emotions that you go through, and sometimes that takes a little longer to get over than others.”
Since moving on from Vrabel, the Titans have gone 6-28 and already fired his replacement, Brian Callahan.