For a long time, Tennessee Titans fans had to defend the way that Mike Vrabel wanted to run the team's offense.
People would say things like, "They aren't running it just to run it, they are doing it because they have Derrick Henry. If they had better receivers, they would pass it more often." Then when the time came for the Tennessee Titans to add proven veterans in free agency, they would nickel and dime their way through March and April focusing on backup linemen, special teams linebackers, and journeymen tight ends.
Under Mike Vrabel and Jon Robinson, the biggest free agent wide receivers that they added were Julio Jones, Eric Decker, and Robert Woods. In the last 12 months alone the Titans have signed:
-DeAndre Hopkins who just had a 1,000-yard season with the Titans
-Calvin Ridley who just had a 1,000-yard season and led the Jacksonville Jaguars in receiving yards
-Tyler Boyd, the slot expert who hasn't had a season with less than 650 yards since Brian Callahan was hired
If that feels different, it should! This Titans team is being built to pass the ball first and then run the ball when the situation presents itself.
Case in point, Mike Vrabel was the Titans head coach from 2018-2023 and Brian Callahan was the Cincinnati Bengals OC from 2019-2023, look at this graphic that shows the different approaches on early down play calling.
sometimes i don't think we fully appreciate just how pass heavy KC has been during the mahomes era pic.twitter.com/V5lkfEJlHH
— Denny Carter (@CDCarter13) May 14, 2024
The Bengals called the second-most early down pass plays, while the Tennessee Titans were the 32nd-ranked team in that category.
Mike Vrabel wanted to suffocate opponents in low-scoring games with low variance and clock management, while Brian Callahan was more interested in scoring points in the most effective way. The Titans haven't scored 30 points in a game since 2021, so this will be like a breath of fresh air for fans who have had to stomach watching this offense.
Tennessee Titans fans are in for an exciting experience this season because they will get to see more 11 personnel than they have in a long time and it won't feel like the team has already lost if they go down by two scores at any point in the game.
The next time someone argues with you that the Titans offense won't be that different and that people are exaggerating when you bring up how run-heavy the Titans were under Mike Vrabel, just pull up this article and show them the chasm between what Vrabel wanted to do and what Callahan has done successfully for years.