Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman praised head coach Mike Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans.
The Tennessee Titans caught the attention of many people during their improbable run to the AFC Championship Game in 2019, but before ever making it there Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman had his eye on head coach Mike Vrabel.
Before taking the head coaching position with the Titans, Vrabel was the defensive coordinator of the Houston Texans and he was someone that Aikman had a high opinion of before he was hired by Tennessee.
In fact, Aikman says Vrabel was the only coach he would have recommended the year he got the Titans gig, per Jim Wyatt of Titans Online.
"“I’m asked from time to time when these head coaching jobs come open is to who I recommend, and that year the only guy I was recommending was Mike Vrabel.”"
Aikman explained that he got a chance to watch Vrabel while broadcasting Texans games and thought he was “very smart” and “loved his pedigree” from his time as a player with the New England Patriots.
As for what he thinks of the Titans overall in 2020, he had this to say:
"“I’m not surprised by anything that’s happened, and they’ll be back… they were in the championship game and they’ve got a bullet going into next year. I like them.”"
That’s pretty high praise from a three-time Super Bowl winner and a guy who watches a ton of football as an analyst for FOX.
Expectations should be pretty high for the Titans in 2020.
Following a 2-4 start, Tennessee reeled off seven wins in its last 10 regular season games to make the playoffs, and then went on to pull off upset wins over the Patriots and Baltimore Ravens in the wild card and divisional rounds, respectively.
The important thing now is that the Titans bring back as many of their key players who are impending free agents as possible — like Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill — to keep the core together.
If Tennessee can do that, while also adding the pieces necessary to address some of the biggest weaknesses this roster has, this team should be back competing for a title once again next season.