Football Writers Name Vrabel Coach of the Year

The Tennessee Titans coach is also a leading contender for the official NFL award, which will be presented Feb. 10.

After steering his injury-depleted Tennessee Titans to the AFC’s top seed, coach Mike Vrabel was named the Pro Football Writers of America’s 2021 Coach of the Year on Thursday.

It is the first such honor for Vrabel and the first for the franchise since Sid Gilman won the AFC award in 1974 with the then-Houston Oilers.

The official NFL Coach of the Year award is determined by the Associated Press and will be presented Feb. 10 during the NFL Honors ceremony.

The Titans finished 12-5 in 2021, capturing the AFC South for the second straight year and qualifying for the playoffs for a third consecutive season. They did so despite using 91 players, the most any team had used in NFL history – aside from the 1987 season that included replacement players. Injuries limited running back Derrick Henry to eight games this season, wide receiver Julio Jones to 10 games, edge rusher Bud Dupree to 11 games and first-round draft pick Caleb Farley to three games.

The season ended with an upset playoff loss Saturday when they fell 19-16 to the Cincinnati Bengals in a divisional round contest at Nissan Stadium.

Overall, the Titans are 41-24 under Vrabel in four seasons, a record that includes a mark of 23-10 over the past two. Tennessee reached the AFC Championship in 2019 before falling to Kansas City, the eventual Super Bowl champion.

Back-to-back division titles under Vrabel mark the first time the franchise achieved that feat since the then-Houston Oilers captured the first three AFL Eastern division titles from 1960-62. Vrabel became the third coach in franchise history to guide the team to the postseason in at least three of his first four seasons, joining Jack Pardee and Jerry Glanville in that regard.

One of the more significant accomplishments this season under Vrabel was the improvement of a defense that ranked among the NFL’s worst in 2020.

The Titans jumped from 28th to 12th in overall yards allowed in 2021, and from 19th to second in rushing yards allowed. Tennessee tied for fifth in average points allowed per game (20.8), after finishing 24th at 27.4 in 2020. Also, the Titans made a vast improvement in third-down defense, allowing a 36.7 percent success rate in 2021 after finishing last in 2020 with a 51.9 percent success rate.

Safety Kevin Byard was named to the Pro Bowl and earned All-Pro honors this season, while edge rusher Harold Landry also will be going to the Pro Bowl after originally being named an alternate.