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Tennessee Titans on NFL coaching power ranking

By Will Lomas

NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 11: Head coach Mike Vrabel of the Tennessee Titans watches the fourth quarter against the New England Patriots at Nissan Stadium on November 11, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 11: Head coach Mike Vrabel of the Tennessee Titans watches the fourth quarter against the New England Patriots at Nissan Stadium on November 11, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images) /
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After a solid rookie campaign, where does Tennessee Titans HC Mike Vrabel land?

The Tennessee Titans have a good head coach in Mike Vrabel, and I think people are going to see that as the 2019 season goes along.

To start the season, Vrabel ended up ranking a little lower than expected, but I will explain why that is fine.

Let’s take a look at the 2019 NFL head coach power ranking:

"20. Mike Vrabel, Tennessee Titans“Vrabel’s squad displayed its coach’s head-strong resilience, often seen during his days with the Patriots. Take, for example, the win over the Eagles in Week 4, when the offense converted three fourth downs on the final drive to win the game in overtime. Vrabel will move up this list if he can coax more from Marcus Mariota, and move this team into double-digit-win territory.”"

So, first of all we need to remember that these lists are a lifetime achievement award not a live look at where these coaches should be ranked as of today.

Whether or not they know it, people are biased in these rankings to go with the known commodity or the hot hand. If you don’t fall into either of those categories you end up lower on the list even though you are probably deserving of a higher spot.

For example, Jon Gruden did (and this is no exaggeration) everything wrong in 2018. He:

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-let his QB get hit too often

-traded two All-Pro caliber players

-drafted a rookie to play offensive tackle only to give up on him and switch him to the other side this year

-got the GM Reggie McKenzie fired after he had finally rebuilt the Oakland Raiders roster into something to be proud

The list goes on, but you get the point.

However, falling as flat on his face as he could have in 2018 Gruden was ranked as the 15th best coach on that list.

Now sure, a big reason for that high ranking is because Mike Mayock (new Raiders GM) was a long time employee over at NFL.com/NFL Network and he was amazing at it. The team that he went to was never going to get criticized about anything, unless it was something that Mayock didn’t mind being criticized.

But the other reason he is so high is because he was a good coach for a stretch back in the early 2000s and he is a popular guy. Lifetime achievement award.

As far as the coaches hired in 2018 he was behind just Matt Nagy and Frank Reich, both of which fit that “hot hand” mode. Nagy somehow made the Bears offense interesting and Reich’s short pass/tight end offense kept Andrew Luck from being injured again as they managed to just squeak by the Blaine Gabbert-led Tennessee Titans and into the playoffs.

Don’t be too concerned about Vrabel being lower on this list and all things considered it is not a bad place to be. It is rare that rookie head coaches start out as strong or stronger than Vrabel did in 2018 and with a better roster and a better understanding of the game, improvement is on its way.

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