Fewer people are asking what on earth the Titans could’ve been thinking when they fired Vrabel after the 2023 season. Because those people can see it.I’m not just talking about the photos with NFL reporter Dianna Russini from the New York Post, which are becoming more numerous and more insistent about the possibility of a (long-standing) romantic relationship between her and Vrabel while each are married to other people.Estes: Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini scandal black eye for NFL's 'insider' media cultureI’m talking mostly about how Vrabel continues to mishandle the fallout from those photos.At first, Vrabel was defiantly misleading to the New York Post.Then, he was vaguely contrite about "difficult conversations," owning up to nothing specific with a corporate word salad that dodged the accountability he demands of his teams.Then, just before the first round of the draft, Vrabel held a press conference as puzzling as it was pointless.

He still didn't say anything. He was just as evasive, doing little except spreading doubt about his own availability to the Patriots during the draft – and in the coming weeks, in general – while dealing with the familial consequences of that which shall not be discussed.This has been a horrible look for Vrabel. He could have just come clean immediately, asked forgiveness, and the world would have accepted that and let it go in short order.Instead, each time Vrabel speaks publicly, he makes matters worse, coming off arrogant and unapologetic and, worst of all, callous to Russini.

Her career has been wrecked, perhaps permanently, by something Vrabel clearly participated in, yet can’t bring himself to acknowledge.In Tennessee, we’ve seen both parts of this movie. The good and the bad.Vrabel is an outstanding coach, no question, who knows how to relate to players and get the best from them on Sundays. Same thing apparent with the Patriots in 2025 was for years with the Titans.But this week’s Vrabel has been reminiscent of his doomed final season with the Titans, when things got weird and Vrabel didn’t want to talk about shortcomings or except blame other than the old “play better, coach better” standbys.Previously: Why was Mike Vrabel fired?

How the Tennessee Titans got to this point | EstesI continue to believe that if Vrabel had handled that final season more diplomatically and less stubbornly, he’d still be the Titans’ coach. When those defeats and negativity were mounting, though, internal rifts were growing, and communication had become strained between the coach, GM Ran Carthon and team owner Amy Adams Strunk.The Titans' owner had reasons – beyond losing – to fire Vrabel when she did. Few people have ever understood Adams Strunk's motivations, and that’s on her for never offering her side publicly.

She refuses to grant interviews to media, which forces everyone to draw their own conclusions about important decisions she isn’t willing to explain.With Vrabel, most around the league have simplified her decision as a losing franchise making an all-time terrible coaching call. Competitively, it has been.But that perception, peaking as it did with last season’s Super Bowl, remains a source of frustration for Titans fans who remember the losses and other drawbacks that weren’t mentioned a few months back, when one needed sunglasses to stare directly at the sunshine in Vrabel headlines and stories.Not so much anymore.Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.socialThis article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans' firing of Mike Vrabel hits a little different now