As an NFL head coach, you have to make and sustain connections, but those connections are hurting the Tennessee Titans badly right now.
When you lose every game for an entire month, things start to look pretty bleak. Even worse, every Tennessee Titans fan could see these results from a mile away.
In fact, if you just remember back to the biggest complaints about the 2021 roster, you can see that Mike Vrabel didn’t make any changes that should have inspired confidence.
Everyone has talked about Todd Downing and how Mike Vrabel gave him a second chance to run the offense despite a steep decline in production. Unfortunately, that isn’t even the worst second chance that Mike Vrabel handed out last year.
Tennessee Titans injuries start at the top
Mike Vrabel isn’t in charge of the training program or in charge of managing the rehab of the players on the Tennessee Titans roster. However, he gave everyone a glimpse into the process today:
Mike Vrabel today on the Titans’ ridiculousness with injuries for a second straight season. He said the team has “changed a lot” in its approach to injuries: pic.twitter.com/Oeg3dvE0gj
— Ben Arthur (@benyarthur) December 19, 2022
Strength and Conditioning Coach Frank Piraino is mentioned by name in this quote as the guy who is supposed to go around and monitor practice reps and keep track of everyone to make sure they are keeping in line with what his staff wants.
While some things have to be attributed to the game itself being physical and violent, when you look at the Tennessee Titans’ injuries compared to the rest of the NFL, it is startling just how poorly this team has managed those things.
After last year’s team was riddled with a historic number of injuries, Frank Piraino was given a second chance. He was asked to make some changes and to come up with a better system for 2022.
Guess how well that worked out?
While Todd Downing is hard to watch and definitely underwhelming in the job he has, even he hasn’t managed to be the worst OC in NFL history. Given how little physical improvement we have seen from players since he was hired and back-to-back seasons as the most injured team in the NFL, Piraino has a strong case to be called one of the worst Strength and Conditioning Coaches in NFL history.
As the Tennessee Titans season nears the end of its downward spiral, the question isn’t “who” will be fired, it is “how many people” will be fired. Mike Vrabel is safe and Shane Bowen is probably safe as well, but everyone else should have to give a detailed example on why they deserve to keep drawing paychecks from this franchise.