The Tennessee Titans have officially been eliminated from postseason contention, meaning they will miss the playoffs for the second year in a row. Despite two down years for Tennessee, head coach Mike Vrabel should not be on the hot seat.

Vrabel is now in his sixth season as head coach for the Titans. During this time he has led the Titans to the postseason three times, put up four winning records, two AFC South division crowns and the No. 1 seed once. During his first four seasons, Vrabel went 41-24. He's just 12-19 over the last two years. While obviously the Titans want to see Vrabel continue to progress the team during his head coaching tenure, there are other factors contributing to the Titans' recent struggles than Vrabel's coaching.

For one, the Titans' personnel decisions have not always been great in recent years, which is why former Tennessee general manager Jon Robinson was fired toward the end of the 2022 season. Robinson's most controversial decision came when he traded A.J. Brown to the Eagles during the 2022 NFL Draft. The decision was so shocking that even Mike Vrabel looked caught off guard when the news came off.

The Titans traded Brown and instead drafted Treylon Burks, who has yet to emerge as a consistent threat. Brown was already one of the NFL's best young wideouts, then officially stepped into one of the NFL's best receivers when he went to the Eagles. He showed just what kind of mistake the Titans made when he played the Eagles last year and went for 119 yards and two touchdowns. Robinson was promptly fired in the following days.

Outside of the A.J. Brown trade, Robinson missed on 2021 first-round pick Caleb Farley and trading for Julio Jones, among other decisions. Since, the Titans brought in Ran Carthon as their new general manager. With a new GM and recent blunders by the previous regime, it will understandably take times for Carthon and Vrabel to rebuild the roster the way they want.

Beyond recent personnel moves that may have been outside of Vrabel's control, the Titans have seen a regression in quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Initially bringing Tannehill worked out great for the Titans. Tannehill was crucial in the Titans' winning seasons and playoff runs, but he is not the same caliber player he was when he came to Tennessee.

The Titans took action by drafting Will Levis in the second round of this past draft. So far, Levis has shown potential in the games he has started. However, he's a rookie and will take time to develop. Expecting a rookie quarterback to immediately play incredible off the bat is unrealistic. After all, the C.J. Stroud's of the world are rare. Vrabel should not be punished as the team goes through the process of seeing if Levis is the future, so if anything, continuity is crucial for a rookie quarterback.

More importantly, Vrabel is a good coach and a good leader. Vrabel's teams have regularly outperformed their talent level. Even though they're just 5-9 this season, they've beaten teams who are better than them like the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals. They haven't just done this throughout this season, but during much of Vrabel's time in Tennessee. Realistically, the Titans had no business being the No. 1 seed in 2021 over teams like the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs. Yet Vrabel helped that team overachieve, earning the Coach of the Year award in the process.

Overall, firing Vrabel would be a mistake for Tennessee. Vrabel has shown more than enough times that he is a good, winning coach. Hiring a new coach won't solve the Titans' current issues, the grass just looks greener on the other side. The team is rebuilding right now, but Vrabel is one of the better coaches to build with.