The Tennessee Titans have hired Houston Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel as their new head coach, the team announced Saturday.
"Mike has a commanding presence and a deep knowledge for how he will attack this head coaching opportunity," said Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk. "Throughout his football career, he has played for, been mentored by, and coached with successful teams and organizations. He knows what it takes to reach that level of sustained success – he has seen it first-hand. We have a chance to build on the solid foundation that we established over the past couple of years, and I believe Mike is the right person to continue that progress."
Vrabel, 42, takes over a Titans team that made it to the divisional round of the playoffs under the guidance of Mike Mularkey. Mularkey appeared to have saved his job after a wild-card win over the Kansas City Chiefs, with the Titans saying he would be the coach moving forward.
However, Tennessee opted to part ways with Mularkey after being blown out by the New England Patriots, and has now put its future into the hands of a man with just one season as an NFL coordinator on his resume.
The Texans finished 20th in total defense in 2017 and dead last in points allowed, though Vrabel was forced to contend with injuries to key contributors J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus.
The former linebacker spent 14 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Patriots, and Chiefs, winning three Super Bowls with New England. Vrabel and Titans general manager Jon Robinson have a relationship dating back from their time at the Pats, where Robinson was a front-office executive.
Vrabel was promoted to defensive coordinator in Houston this past offseason after spending the previous three seasons as linebackers coach. Before that, he served as defensive line and linebackers coach at Ohio State.
