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The Tennessee Titans' head
man was one of the top vote-getters among those asked which coach they would
like to play for.
February 7, 2022
Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports
Mike Vrabel is a popular coach among
the league’s top players.
According to an anonymous survey taken
by The Athletic at
the Pro Bowl, Vrabel was named one of the coaches players most wanted to play
for.
One of the questions in the “Pro Bowl Confidential” asked 20
players – a small mix of AFC, NFC, offensive, defensive and special-teams
standouts – which coach they’d most like to play for. Vrabel, who coached the
AFC players at the Pro Bowl this year, earned three of the 20 votes. He
finished in second place, one behind Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin (four votes).
A couple of other coaches with Titans ties figured in the voting
as well.
Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur, who served as the Titans’ offensive
coordinator for a year under Vrabel, finished third behind Tomlin and Vrabel
with two votes.
In the most unexpected development from the survey, one player
gave his vote to former Titans head coach Jeff Fisher, who was recently named
head coach of the United States Football League’s Michigan Panthers.
In
the previous Pro Bowl Confidential survey, which was taken following the 2019
season, Vrabel received two of the 32 votes. He trailed Kansas City’s Andy Reid
and Seattle’s Pete Carroll in that survey as both of those coaches received
four votes.
Indianapolis Colts
linebacker Darius Leonard went on the record last week with praise
Vrabel following a Pro Bowl practice. Leonard has seen plenty of
Vrabel over the years, as the Titans and Colts – AFC South rivals – have met
eight times since he was drafted by Indianapolis in 2018.
“I’m so glad you asked me
about coach Vrabel, man,” Leonard told the Titans’ website. “Ever since I’ve
been playing against him for four years, I had the utmost respect for him, and
it wasn’t even how he coached. It was more so how he talked to his players, how
he interacts with his guys. When his guys are on the turf hurt, he’s the first
one out there to check up on them, and that, as a player, that’s what you want
to see from a coach.
“Now being out here (at
the Pro Bowl) with him, seeing how he carries himself, seeing how he has fun
with his guys, I have nothing but respect for coach Vrabel, man, and he’s a
hell of a coach. That’s why they’re having the success they’re having over
there in Tennessee.”
Vrabel was recently
named Coach of the Year by the Pro Football Writers of
America after guiding the Titans to a 12-5 regular-season record, which
included the team’s second straight AFC South title. The
Titans lost 19-16 to the Bengals in the divisional round of the playoffs.
He also is a leading contender for this year’s
official Coach of the Year award, which will be presented this
week during the NFL Honors program.
In four years as head coach,
Vrabel has led the Titans to a 41-24 record and three consecutive postseason
appearances.
