COACHING CHANGE
Fred Faour: Vrabel getting Titans job is a win-win For Texans
Jan 21, 2018, 10:21 am
Mike Vrabel will be the new Titans head coach. Getty Images
The Tennessee Titans have a new head coach, hiring former Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel.
Vrabel has rocketed through the coaching ranks based on his reputation for being "fiery" and "aggressive." He was promoted to defensive coordinator by the Texans last season as other teams -- most notably San Francisco -- came calling to try to steal him.
The Titans essentially made this hire on reputation alone. Vrabel's one year on the DC job was an abject disaster, as his defense ranked last in the NFL. There were key injuries to J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus, but Watt essentially missed the prior season and the Texans still had a playoff caliber defense. In truth, they regressed significantly under Vrabel. The traditional path to a head coaching job is position coach, success as a coordinator, then head coach. Vrabel skipped that middle step.
The pro-Vrabel camp will point to the injuries, and suggest that maybe he will be better as a head coach. That's a big maybe. He is well-respected by the players and other coaches. He is smart, personable and has the pedigree of a former player.
But can he coach? His one year calling the shots says no. His defenses blew assignments, gave up big plays on a consistent basis and never showed any improvement, with no major adjustments made. They gave up the most points in the league (436), were 27th in turnovers and opponents had a 61.1 percent red zone percentage.
A similar start next season would probably get him fired. The Titans did the Texans a favor, because Houston was able to reinstate Romeo Crennel as defensive coordinator, instantly upgrading the position. And now a division rival -- one that won a playoff game this year -- has an unproven coach.
That is not to say it won't work for Tennessee. If Vrabel is smart, he will hire coordinators with head coaching experience, guys he can lean on. A John Fox or Jack Del Rio on the defensive side. A Jim Caldwell type on the offensive side. These are coaches that had success as coordinators, which is why they got head coaching jobs in the first place. All also had some good moments as head coaches.
Vrabel and Titans GM Jon Robinson -- who has done an excellent job -- worked together in New England and will be on the same page. A quality OC who can develop Marcus Mariota will be paramount. If Vrabel hires well, it should mitigate his inexperience while he learns on the job.
His former boss, Bill O'Brien, thinks Vrabel will be a success.
“When you are around guys like Mike you know that it is inevitable that he is going to be a head coach,” O’Brien said in an interview Saturday night with Titans Online. “He is a great leader, and he did an excellent job for us developing players, coaching the defense. He is a very, very hard worker, and he has a really good presence about him. He cares about people, and he has a great family.
“Mike has a lot going for him. The Titans got a great coach.”
That remains to be seen. The AFC South is no longer a joke. The Jags are not going anywhere. The Texans should be back in the mix next year. If Andrew Luck can return to form -- a huge if at this stage -- the Colts could be good again as well.
As for the Texans, getting Crennel back as DC is an boon. While Vrabel might go on to be a good head coach, he was not just an average DC; he was bad. Crennel is one of the best in the business and represents a significant upgrade. The Texans got measurably better on defense this weekend. It is a win-win for the Texans; a division rival gets an unproven commodity, while the Texans get one of the best in the business running their defense again.
The Titans are taking a high-risk gamble after winning a playoff game. Vrabel's predecessor, Mike Mularkey, was not a great coach, and still had success. The bar has now been set, however, at winning at least one playoff game. If the gamble pays off and Vrabel's reputation translates into wins, the Titans will be happy.
The Texans already are. They get to eliminate a mistake without admitting it. Call it a win.
Big day for Cougars
In case you missed it, the Houston Cougars had a big win on Saturday. UH is relevant at basketball again, and hopefully it will translate into bigger crowds. This team is fun to watch and worth your time.
Rockets get a big one, too
The Rockets knocked off Golden State for the second time this year, impressing Kevin Durant in the process. Obviously, nothing matters until the playoffs, but when healthy, the Rockets might be the one true threat to knock off the Warriors. Chris Paul has been everything they had hoped, and Paul and James Harden have meshed quickly. The postseason will be interesting to say the least.
Calling it quits
Former University of Houston head coach Tony Levine is stepping away from coaching. He had been working as an assistant at Purdue. Levine was not well regarded after his tenure at UH, but his teams played hard, the losses were always close and he amassed the talent that Tom Herman went 13-1 with. Levine's only real mistakes were not committing to quarterback Greg Ward Jr. sooner and struggling to get the right offensive assistants. Levine was a solid coach and hopefully he will find success in whatever he does next.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.