New England Patriots - NESN.com
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel sent a message to Brian Callahan after the Tennessee Titans fired him.
Despite Callahan replacing Vrabel as the Titans’ head coach in 2024, the Patriots coach had no hard feelings. Instead, Vrabel revealed he actually texted Callahan after he was fired to send some words of encouragement.
“Is that true? Yeah, sure, of course I did,” Vrabel said on Wednesday when asked if it’s true that he messaged Callahan. “I mean, I don’t want to see anybody that shares a job with you get let go. That’s a tough feeling with family and school. Whether it’s in college or pro, we’re in the media every single day.
“And there’s a human element to this that I don’t want to forget. I just remember all those coaches or people that reached out after I was let go. I think that that’s important because nobody texts when you lose, they all text when you win. So, it’s a good reminder.”
Callahan went 4-19 in parts of two seasons as the head coach of the Titans. Tennessee announced Mike McCoy as the interim head coach.
With the Patriots set to go on the road to play the Titans on Sunday, Vrabel knows the play-calling could be different.
“I mean, we’ll have to be prepared for everything,” Vrabel said about McCoy. “There’s a lot of fakes in the history with the coordinator. May go for it more on whatever situation. I just think we’ll have to be prepared for whatever that may be.
“Whatever wrinkles, the things that Mike liked or didn’t like, that’s going to be his prerogative, and we’ll have to be prepared for whatever it is, try to execute the keys and try to – all the things that we feel like are important each and every week. So, there’s no way to know. You can watch the tape, understand some of the players, the play style and however they call the game, they’ll call the game.”
The Patriots are seven-point favorites against the Titans on Sunday.
