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Jeffery Simmons says some wondered ‘what if’ Titans had never fired Mike Vrabel
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- Jeffery Simmons says some wondered ‘what if’ Titans had never fired Mike Vrabel
What if the Tennessee Titans had never fired New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel ?
Titans All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons , during an interview on the "Bussin' With The Boys" recorded on Jan. 19, said it's human nature for fans to ask that question with Vrabel and the Patriots one win away from playing in the Super Bowl.
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It even simmered in the Titans locker room among players who, like Simmons, played for Vrabel when he was in Nashville from 2018-2023.
More: How unalike were Mike Vrabel and Brian Callahan as Titans coach? Jeffery Simmons weighs in
The feeling was especially noticeable as the Titans' 3-14 season began to really bottom out in October, culminating with the firing of coach Brian Callahan .
"Guys who speak their mind are like, damn, 'What if? What if we could be in that situation right now?" Simmons told hosts Will Compton and Taylor Lewan , who both played for Vrabel in Nashville. "(But) props to Vrabel. When you're talking to guys who play for the Patriots and see the interviews — pretty much every coach (with the Patriots) was in Tennessee. When you watch them play, you're like, that's Vrabel's style of how he gets his guys to play. That's a testament to him."
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Needless to say, there were a lot of differences in how Callahan ran the team compared to Vrabel, Simmons said.
"We knew what Vrabel had expected and wanted out of the team. The message was in the locker room," Simmons said. "This past year and last year we didn't have that."
The Titans have an agreement in place with San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh to become the Titans ' next head coach, as The Tennessean reported on Jan. 19. The hiring has yet to be made official by the Titans.
Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, @tpalmateer83 .
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He also contributes to The Tennessean's high school sports newsletter, The Bootleg. Subscribe to The Bootleg here .
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Jeffery Simmons talks Mike Vrabel's success with New England Patriots
