The Tennessee Titans were a perennial playoff contender with Mike Vrabel manning the sidelines, but they wanted more. So, they axed him after the 2023 season.That decision proved costly considering the Titans have not been close to the playoffs since and Vrabel is now in the Super Bowl with the New England Patriots.Perhaps it is destiny for Vrabel and the Pats. Vrabel was an All-Pro linebacker in New England. But for Titans fans, it’s obviously fair to wonder, “What if?”CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM That’s what former Titans Pro Bowl tight end Delanie Walker is thinking.”We are kicking ourselves. The whole state of Tennessee is kicking itself to see what Mike Vrabel has done in being able to play in a Super Bowl,” Walker said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital. “He did it here, so we knew what kind of caliber coach he was.”Walker’s final two NFL seasons were Vrabel’s first as a head coach. Vrabel was Walker’s fourth coach while he was in Tennessee, but something about him was different from Mike Mularkey, Ken Whisenhunt and Mike Munchak.”This is a big thing, honestly. A lot of coaches have this issue, and that’s being honest with players. Some coaches, they will tell you one thing and do another. They lie to you in your face and go upstairs and say, ‘Can we cut him?’ Mike Vrabel doesn’t lie. He played, so he gets it,” Walker said.”Every coach who’s played this game, look how successful they are in the NFL? They understand it, they knew how they felt when they played, so they don’t want to treat a player like that. That’s how Vrabel was. Vrabel was honest. Never lied to us. Just told us how it was to our face. Yeah, sometimes, it’s hard to swallow, but most players like honesty, so we’ll go out and sell out for you because we know you got our back.”BILL BELICHICK’S HALL OF FAME SNUB IS ‘ASININE,’ ROB GRONKOWSKI SAYSDuring Super Bowl week, Walker’s former teammate, Taylor Lewan, echoed similar sentiments on radio row.”He’s in the Super Bowl. Yes, the Titans made a massive mistake letting Mike Vrabel go a couple years ago,” Lewan said. “You see the reflection of what their record was when Mike Vrabel wasn’t there versus when he was there. And I’m sure there’s a lot of Titans fans that wish he was still on the team.”Walker even joked that Vrabel’s time with Tennessee was “the Patriots Way of the South.””That’s literally what it was. He literally brought the Patriots Way. We all used to say that,” Walker said with a laugh. “Can’t talk to the media without talking to the coach, can’t disclose injuries. I don’t have a problem with it. Sometimes you need that structure to hold guys accountable, and that’s why we were successful when he came.”Lewan mentioned the culture Vrabel brought as well, labeling Vrabel a “lovable a–hole.””I thought he was an a–hole in 2018. A lovable a–hole, but he is an a–hole. He was definitely very, very difficult on us in his first year in 2018. And then, as his cultu
Former Titans stars say team made major mistake letting Mike Vrabel go: ‘State of Tennessee is kicking itself’
