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Maybe we are already seeing how Mike Vrabel works Plan B

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In Mike Mularkey’s successor, we all want a coach far more capable of having and using a Plan B, or even a Plan C.

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If we want to see that put in practice by Mike Vrabel, perhaps we don’t have to wait until he’s game-planning.

I wrote earlier this week that people should calm down about what we believe to be swings and misses at coordinators Ryan Day on offense and James Bettcher on defense.

It seems reasonable to think, based on Adam Schefter’s reporting, that Day was Vrabel’s Plan A. After mulling an offer he decided to pass, according to Schefter. But we are not sure.

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Twenty-six Titans' position coaches since 2011, ranked

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Mike Vrabel’s first known coaching hire is Kerry Coombs, Ohio State’s defensive back’s coach.

That’s according to Yahoo’s Pete Thamel.

easonWe aren’t sure Coombs’ role yet.

As Vrabel starts to put together his staff, I thought it was a good time to look at just what the Titans have had under Mike Munchak, Ken Whisenhunt and Mike Mularkey.

I set aside coordinators as well as assistants who did not have the lead working with a position. A few friends with insight took a look and influenced some things.

After a long night of remembering stuff and shuffling them around, here are 26 position coaches from 2011-2017, ranked:

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Relax about Mike Vrabel 'misses' on Ryan Day, James Bettcher

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – There is a plan and a method to how Mike Vrabel is piecing his staff together, I have no doubt.

“Just like we do with players, we're not going to rush into decisions,” he said. “We're going to sleep on things. We're going to get the right guys in here for our team.

Later he told Jim Wyatt at the Senior Bowl: “You only get so many cracks at this thing. I am not going to hire a bunch of my buddies – I don’t have that many of them. I don’t think that is the way to go. I am looking for the right guys, the best guys to coach our team.”

I love that his staff won’t be filled with his buddies. Staff filled with friends can look like Mike Mularkey's did when he had Terry Robiskie and Bob Bratkowski as big parts of his offense.

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PODCAST: The start of the Titans under Mike Vrabel

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Episode 2 of our podcast-only podcast is ready for you.

Part 1, like podcast versions of my public Periscope and Facebook Lives, is available through iTunes, here, or directly through the Vokal website, here.

If you're a member of the site, Part 1 and Part 2 are together, and all you have to do is head below the line.

With my co-host Madison Blevins, we hit on early impressions of Mike Vrabel, what early indications say about his staff assembly, what's coming with revised uniforms, crediting outlets that break stories and much more.

Dig in and please let us know what you think.

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Does Mike Vrabel help the Titans at the box office?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The 2017 Tennessee Titans won over some fans, but plenty of others weren’t buying.

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We talked about it a great deal in this space, the disconnect between the Titans and Music City.

There were a lot of factors. But Mike Mularkey, Terry Robiskie and an uninventive offense ranked as biggies.

I do believe there were fans who were put off by the hiring process in 2016, when CEO Steve Underwood wondered why anyone would have had an issue with the search that produced a promotion for Mularkey from interim coach to coach. (Note accompanying tweet from Jan. 18, 2016.)

That scorn rose when they saw a stubborn Mularkey fail to advance, or sometimes even maintain, the Titans’ offense in his second year.

The exact thing many fans feared with the hire came to fruition in Year 2, even as the team managed a second consecutive 9-7 record, this one with a playoff berth and a playoff victory.

So, with Mularkey gone and replaced with Mike Vrabel, I’d like to know, is the new coach a box office draw?

There is a lot still to learn, starting with who is on his staff.

There is free agency and there is the draft.

Renewal notices are due to land around the start of February for season ticket holders. Were you thinking you might not renew? Have things changed for you?

If you're not a season-ticket person and you had to decide right now on investing in some tickets for next year, are you more likely to do so now than you were 365 days ago?

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To truly get coach and GM on same page, Amy Adams Strunk needs to extend Jon Robinson

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Mike Vrabel’s recognition of the tone-setting importance of his relationship with Jon Robinson was significant on Monday.

VrabelRobinson“(Our) relationship is going to set the standard and the tone for the entire organization,” he said. “That relationship will be built on, obviously, alignment and loyalty and trust and mutual respect.

“We're going to disagree on players, we're going to disagree on things, and at the end of the day, somebody has to make a decision and move on.

“But I said that that will be the most critical relationship in the building. When we walk out of his office or we walk out of my office, we're going to walk down the hallway, people are going to look and they’re going to notice what's going on with Mike and Jon. Are they together? We're going to lead my staff, his staff and the entire building with that in mind.”

Here’s something I believe Amy Adams Strunk should keep in mind: A coach and a GM on different contractual schedules leads to problems.

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Mike Vrabel: Spread concepts are 'where the game is at' but Titans have to keep Marcus Mariota safe

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Spread offenses are all over the college landscape, and colleges are the feeder programs for the NFL.

Mike Vrabel said as he was introduced by the Titans Monday that there is no avoiding the spread and that he and his staff will embrace it as much as they are able.

“The NFL has the greatest farm system in the world,” Vrabel said. “We pay our farm system coaches $10 million dollars to develop players. Nick Saban is our farm system, Urban Meyer is our farm system. Those are the types of players that they’re developing, those are the types of players that are playing in high school, that’s where the game is at.

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Mike Vrabel's one paragraph definitions of his offense and defense sound great

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Ken Whisenhunt couldn’t identify an identity.

VrabelIntroMike Mularkey couldn’t stray from his.

Among the many good answers we heard from Mike Vrabel at his introductory press conference were short snippets that told us where his offense and defense will start.

Defense: “I have a philosophy defensively that we’re going to have coverage consistency and we’re going to have front multiplicity. We have great players. We’re going to introduce our coverage concepts to them, that’s going to remain consistent throughout what we do. And then we’re going to have guys up front that may be geared toward to an under-defense, an over-defense, three-down, five-down – multiplicity in our front. So it’s coverage consistently, front multiplicity.”

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