Mike Vrabel has proven to be one of the most hands-on head coaches in the NFL during his time with the Tennessee Titans, and it’s a quality that has surprised even general manager Jon Robinson.
We’ve seen plenty of examples of Vrabel being more involved than most head coaches, as he regularly takes part in drills and physically bangs bodies with players.
But his hands-on approach is more than just about that.
As Robinson explained, Vrabel spends equal time paying attention to the offense and special teams as he does the defense, which has been somewhat of a surprise to the Titans’ GM, per Paul Kuharsky.
“I think that he has been knew he was a hands-on coach but been even more hands on,” Robinson said. “And he loves football so much he spends as much time on the offensive side and in the kicking game as he does on defense. A lot of times when you got a defensive player who’s been a defensive coach you expect him to spend most of his time on the defense.
“Well, he had Dean (Pees) he’s entrusted some coaching staff on the defensive side. And he spent a lot of time on offense and special teams and now that that side is going good, you know, he just kind of bounces around and he’s been really, really more hands on than I expected him to be.”
After the Titans didn’t name a replacement for defensive coordinator Dean Pees, who retired after the 2019 campaign, Vrabel looks primed to take on even more responsibility in 2020.
At the very least, Vrabel will have a bigger say in the defense, and at most he could end up calling the plays, something he has experience doing as a former defensive coordinator.
That doesn’t come without some concern, though. There’s a thought he could have troubling juggling defensive play-calling duties on top of the rest of his responsibilities as head coach.
However, Vrabel has a great support system to help him out, which includes former NFL head coach and new Titans inside linebackers coach, Jim Haslett, as well as outside linebackers coach Shane Bowen, who Vrabel basically called his right-hand man for the upcoming season.
With plenty of help, a positive track record and more experience under his belt after two seasons as head coach, Vrabel more than deserves the benefit of the doubt that he can get the job done no matter how much is on his plate.
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