NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The moment Titans fans have dreaded has arrived with Mike Vrabel returning to Nashville for the first time since he was fired after the 2023 season.
Vrabel will not be facing his replacement, instead he will be facing Brian Callahan’s replacement. Mike McCoy was named the Titans interim head coach Monday after Callahan was fired following his 19th loss in 23 games as the Titans head coach.
Vrabel avoided any statements of vengeance and focused on doing what he enjoys.
“What I’m grateful for is another opportunity and being here. I love coaching, love being here and everything else. I’m just grateful for Kevin [Stefanski] and Andrew [Berry] and the Haslams for having me in Cleveland. And you just hope that if you get another shot, another opportunity, like we tell our players, be ready for it and take advantage of it,” Vrabel.
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The Patriots are off to a hot start in their first year under Vrabel leading the AFC East at 4-2 behind second year quarterback Drake Maye.
Meanwhile in Nashville, Mike McCoy is also getting a second chance after being named interim head coach Monday. McCoy went 27-37 in four years as head of the San Diego Chargers and joined the Titans this season as an offensive assistant. McCoy said he never imagined this scenario when took the job, “I never thought that this was going to happen here. Would it be a goal of mine to say one day again I’d be a head coach? Sure, that’s what everyone wants. I’m a leader. I love to lead. I love to work with the players, work with coaches, work with the entire organization. We got great people here in the organization. There’s so many good people, not just, I’m not talking the coaching staff and the players. I’m talking the entire organization as a whole. Like I said, I love coming to work every day. It doesn’t matter who it’s with, what department it’s with, we got great people here. And that’s what I love, being a part of that and being able to lead everybody.”
McCoy acknowledged he understands the frustrations of the fans at this point and simply vowed they will do everything in their power to fix things. First and foremost that means getting the worst offense int the NFL going.
NFL Offense Yards Per Game
1. Dallas Cowboys– 387.5
2. Atlanta Falcons– 378.8
3. Buffalo Bills– 378.3
16. New England Patriots– 336.0
32. Tennessee Titans– 232.3
“Every game, it’s been something different” McCoy said Monday. “You look at that, and that’s like you put a game plan together, and the things that work, things that don’t work, we’ve got to execute better. That’s everybody. That’s all 11 guys on offense going out there and doing their jobs better. It’s not any one person. It’s everybody’s in it together. If we all just eliminate a couple mistakes here and there in a game at different times, and we all play better, we’ll have better results.”
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The better results have to start with rookie quarterback Cam Ward and McCoy emphasized they will stress “players over plays” and focus on “what does Cam do best.” He would not elaborate on what those things are for obvious competitive reasons but expectations are they will likely including things like RPO’s, playing with tempo, play action and emphasizing the middle of the field.”
Cam Ward 2025 Statistics
- 1,101 Passing Yards
- 55% Completions
- 3 Touchdowns
- 4 Interceptions
- 25 Sacks
The story for the Patriots has also been their young quarterback, but Maye has been on fire in year two averaging over 250 yards a game while throwing 10 touchdown passes and only two interceptions. The Titan defense will be aided by the return of T’Vondre Sweat as they first try to shut down a Patriots run game averaging only 91 yards per game. If they can make New England one dimensional they can set their sights on Maye led by Jeffery Simmons and his 4.5 sacks.
Injuries are once again a problem for the Titans who will be without Calvin Ridley and Bryce Oliver at wide receiver and Arden Key at outside linebacker.