When Robert Kraft decided to fire Jerod Mayo after just one season as the Patriots' head coach, there was one man that nearly every fan hoped he would hire next: Mike Vrabel. Although some were concerned about bringing in another former player, one who was fired as a head coach with the Titans just one year before, those worries are clearly long gone, given how well the 2025 season has gone.
The Titans, on the other hand, haven't been as lucky. The guy they hired to succeed Vrabel, Brian Callahan, lasted only five games into the season, posting a 4-19 record over the year he was in charge.
Now that the Patriots are going to the AFC Championship and the Titans are at home, their decision to get rid of Vrabel after six years has come into the spotlight again. You'd think their fans would still be upset about it, given how successful he's been in his first year with New England.
But that's not the case, strangely enough, and it's probably fair to suggest they'll soon regret their good riddance farewell to their former head coach.
Titans fans surprisingly don't miss Mike Vrabel despite his success with the Patriots
In a Twitter/X post after the Patriots won their divisional round against the Texans, Chad Withrow, host of “Hot Mic w/ Hutton & Withrow” in Nashville, revisited Vrabel's firing and received a shocking response from Titans fans.
Not only did most disagree with his statement that firing Vrabel was the wrong decision, but most responses still believe the Titans made the right choice, suggesting the Patriots' "easy schedule" is the only reason for Vrabel's first-year success.
The Titans fired a coach that is a win over a back-up QB away from the Super Bowl in Year One.
— Chad Withrow (@TheChadWithrow) January 19, 2026
Is there a single person that still believes firing Mike Vrabel was the right decision???
It's no secret that the last two seasons in Tennessee weren't Vrabel's best, but the roster lacked the talent to accomplish much.
The higher-ups made some questionable trades in the years leading up to his departure, most notably WR AJ Brown, whom Vrabel vehemently opposed, and that inevitably led to a decline for the Titans.
And while fans might think it was the right decision at the time, the team looks to be in a worse spot now than they were when Vrabel was still calling the shots. They might be hiring Robert Saleh to take over for the 2026 season, but he's far from a sure thing, too, considering his failed tenure as the Jets head coach.
We'll have to see how that goes, but it's beyond clear that the Patriots found the right guy for the job, and maybe Titans fans aren't ready to accept that maybe a mistake was made in letting him go.
At least New England is the beneficiary of that decision.