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SAN FRANCISCO – The Tennessee Titans were a perennial playoff contender with Mike Vrabel at the helm, but they wanted more. Then, he was fired after the 2023 season.
That decision proved costly considering the Titans haven’t been close to the playoffs since and Vrabel is now in the Super Bowl with the New England Patriots.
Maybe it’s the fate of Vrabel and the Pats. Vrabel was an All-Pro linebacker in New England. But for Titans fans, it’s obviously fair to ask, “What if?”
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New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel celebrates after the AFC championship game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High on January 25, 2026, in Denver, Colorado. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
That’s what former Titans Pro Bowl tight end Delanie Walker is thinking.
“We’re kicking ourselves. The entire state of Tennessee is kicking itself to see what Mike Vrabel has done to be able to play in a Super Bowl,” Walker said in a recent interview with Pak Gazette Digital. “He did it here, so we knew what kind of caliber coach he was.”
Walker’s final two seasons in the NFL were Vrabel’s first as a head coach. Vrabel was Walker’s fourth coach while at Tennessee, but something about him was different from Mike Mularkey, Ken Whisenhunt and Mike Munchak.
“Honestly, this is a big deal. A lot of coaches have this problem, and that’s being honest with the players. Some coaches tell you one thing and do another. They lie to your face and come up and say, ‘Can we cut it?’ Mike Vrabel doesn’t lie. He played, so he understands it,” Walker said.
“All the coaches that have played this game, look at the success they have in the NFL? They understand it, they knew how they felt when they played, so you don’t want to treat a player like that. That’s how Vrabel was. Vrabel was honest. He never lied to us. He just told us how it was to our face. Yes, sometimes it’s hard to take, but most players like honesty, so we’ll go out there and sell ourselves for you because we know you have our back.”
Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel pats tight end Delanie Walker on the head during the second quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on September 29, 2019 in Atlanta. (George Walker IV/Tennessean.com, Nashville Tennessean via Imagn Content Services, LLC)
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During Super Bowl week, Walker’s former teammate Taylor Lewan echoed similar sentiments on the radio.
“He’s in the Super Bowl. Yeah, the Titans made a big mistake letting Mike Vrabel go a couple years ago,” Lewan said. “You see the reflection of what his record was when Mike Vrabel wasn’t there versus when he was there. And I’m sure there are a lot of Titans fans who wish he was still on the team.”
Walker even joked that Vrabel’s time with Tennessee was “Southern Patriots style.”
“That’s literally what it was. It literally brought the Patriots style. We all used to say that,” Walker said with a laugh. “I can’t talk to the media without talking to the coach, I can’t reveal injuries. I have no problem with that. Sometimes you need that structure to hold guys accountable, and that’s why we were successful when he came.”
Lewan also mentioned the culture Vrabel brought, labeling him a “lovable jerk.”
“I thought he was a jerk in 2018. A lovable jerk, but he’s a jerk. He was definitely very, very difficult with us in his first year in 2018. And then as his culture was implemented, and he felt the team leadership took over, his culture, that’s what led to you having a little more reign.
“So, yeah, I think as far as preparation goes, getting guys to understand the game, game management, all those things, you probably won’t find another team in the NFL that’s more prepared in those little, minute details.”
Even though Vrabel found success in New England, Walker has high hopes for the new Titans with Cam Ward, new head coach Robert Saleh and new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
“I think the Titans are getting back to where they used to be. This is the NFL. You have ups and downs. Hopefully, we bring in the right people to make our team good again. And at the end of the day, you have some very young talent that showed up,” he said.
“That’s something you want to take advantage of next year and help those guys bring that energy to convert the other rookies.”
Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward throws during the second half of a football game against the Indianapolis Colts on Oct. 26, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
“Cam is a beast, man,” Walker added. “Some of the plays he made this year were incredible. Going out and fighting even though we were in a slump, the team wasn’t doing well. I knew he wouldn’t get the credit he deserved because Tennessee is a small market. We were already losing when he got there. It just doesn’t work.
“We had that attention on him for the first few games, then when they started losing, no one wanted to look at the Titans anymore. There goes. You’ve never seen a first overall pick that doesn’t get that much attention, and it was only because he was on the Titans.”
