How Mike Vrabel reportedly upset Titans owner ahead of firing

One day after it was learned that Tennessee Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk had parted ways with head coach Mike Vrabel, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport explained across multiple on-air segments how Vrabel being inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame this past fall played a role in his dismissal from Tennessee. 

"I would say maybe the last several months ever since Mike Vrabel went to New England, took part in the Hall of Fame day, and all of the rumors started floating about whether or not Mike Vrabel would be the Patriots coach next year [or] whether he’d be the Titans coach," Rapoport said, as shared by Hayden Bird of Boston.com and Dakota Randall of NESN. "He never really addressed that internally. I know that didn’t sit great with the people there." 

Vrabel spoke to the Gillette Stadium crowd during a halftime ceremony in Week 7 of the 2023-24 NFL regular season and urged individuals associated with the Patriots to "not to take this organization for granted." 

"I’ve been a lot of places," Vrabel added at that time. "This is a special place with great leadership, great fans, great direction, great coaching. Enjoy it. It’s not like this everywhere."

Vrabel later was repeatedly mentioned as a possible replacement for Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, in part because of alleged "friction" between Vrabel and Titans general manager Ran Carthon. Carthon insisted on Tuesday he and Vrabel "never had any issue regarding whether it's personal or professional" and Rapoport suggested Tuesday's firing wasn't related to problems between Vrabel and Carthon. 

"This was Amy Adams Strunk making the decision based on a lot of things - including what happened when he went to New England for the Hall of Fame thing, including not dispelling rumors in-house that he was going to go be the Patriots coach – there was a lot there," Rapoport said about Vrabel. "She clearly made the decision that she wanted to move on in the best interest of the organization." 

Vrabel earned three Super Bowl rings playing for New England from 2001 through the 2008 season and is now free to accept any job he wants. While at least one in-the-know individual continues to report Patriots owner Robert Kraft and team president Jonathan Kraft will part ways with Belichick this winter, the Krafts may not confirm any Belichick decision before February.