Former Tennessee Titans linebacker reveals hard truths about playing for Mike Vrabel

Former Titans linebacker Wesley Woodyard was brutally honest about his experience playing for former head coach Mike Vrabel - and what Brian Callahan can learn from his mistakes.

[@arnoldcruz8359]

Everyone’s channeling their inner Katt Williams. I’m here for it

[@MayberryAIArt]

😂😂

[@Maxx_Titan7]

He Kattn out 😂

[@thaevilgenius3]

Lolol well said! You spot on with that one!

[@emmettjones8075]

Wesley Woodyard brought the smoke!

[@alfraelich]

This is going national.. I'm glad he's coming out publicly.. there were signs EVERYWHERE!..

[@randyhimburg7915]

That definitely sheds a different light on Vrabel.

[@lrdkain]

And I think that’s why you hardly heard anything from the Titans when the decision was made. They weren’t going to air the dirty laundry. They took the high road, even though they knew they would be crucified nationally. Classy, if you ask me. 🤙🏽

[@mariojohnson1247]

One of the best interviews ever

[@FAMUAce]

Listening to Woodyard's comments, it all pairs with the other chatter surrounding that AFC Championship Game. Pees "retired" right after all of this, only to come back with Arthur a year later.

[@FarOutAtl]

man, that is a GREAT point.

[@reubenalvear1975]

Yeah, FAM. I always thought D. Pees's "retirement" was odd timing. I wondered why he would apparently retire when they had just made a hell of a playoff run. I believe he could have done more great work w/that defense.

[@druck7480]

what a great show!… this episode was epic!… many scoops about the Vrabel era

[@devinmoose]

Kayla was smiling like a kid on Christmas morning when Wood was spilling all that tea about Vrabel.

[@m1ke176]

Hated when they got rid of David Long,seemed insane. But yeah, it's hard to see those players go and do great for other teams.

[@DaddyLevis4mvp]

Agreed long was so underrated,

[@mrbojangles6156]

David long couldn’t stay healthy…

[@golfer435]

​@@mrbojangles6156*checks data* Long played evvrry game this year...

[@reubenalvear1975]

Yep. Kalif Raymond and Josh Reynolds also come to mind.

[@pimpnorange]

I love this! Finally people telling the truth about Vrabel.

[@Johnny5-cz1ip]

And 2 weeks ago, firing Vrabel was by media standards, "the most ignorant move possible"

[@jermeydumas6538]

Absolutely but Blaine Bishop has been talking about it.

[@kudjoeadkins-battle2502]

@@Johnny5-cz1ipthe National media loves him.

[@jermeydumas6538]

​@@Johnny5-cz1ipBlaine had to set one of those national Media dudes straight 🥃 no chaser last week.

[@mistermac56]

@@jermeydumas6538I am glad that Blaine took that guy to task. It needed to happen. The problem with the national sports media is they are intellectually lazy. If it isn't a major market team, they don't do any homework. I remember them saying "he'll easily get another head coach gig.." How has that worked out? Basically, it is nothing but crickets. And some comments I heard after the news of the Callahan hire from the national sports media was the team will need to get a new QB after Tannehill and I am saying to myself, what about Levis? Just intellectually lazy journalism.

[@thegamingchef3304]

I know Wesley had a problem with Vrabel in some comments he made when he left. Woodyard was a tackling machine and should have been on the field much more than he was.

[@jermeydumas6538]

Wesley is telling it like it is just like Blaine Bishop 💪🏿🥃 TITANUP 🏈💪🏿

[@bonecold4387]

Tart didn't quit on the team in the middle of the year for nothing. Adoree didn't play for his last half of year claiming injured but looked just fine for nothing. AJ didn't say it was no fun playing in Tennessee after leaving for nothing. Woodyards comments didn't come out of nowhere. The David Long issues.

[@AnthonyHayesAbyssartsStudio]

I knew it. I didn't like the Mike hire off rip. I always hated his attitude. He inherited a winning team. I just knew he was going to loose that locker room. The Titans did the right thing.

[@pimpnorange]

Same here! Always knew something was there I didn't like about him. Just always arrogant and a "know it all"

[@stevenaguirre2488]

100 percent. There was something about him that rubbed me the wrong way. His stubbornness and egotistical ways finally did him in. Wish him nothing but the best but I’m glad he’s finally gone.

[@Kyledishgambin0]

Lol you guys are trapped in the moment. The dude won a lot of football games while he was here, he brought a winning attitude, it just didn't work out. You must've forgot about the jeff fisher era into the munchak era and just how fucking bad it actually was. The man made mistakes, but who doesn't? Go back and watch the Locker years and tell me how much fun you were having.

[@Kyledishgambin0]

It also didn't help with Jon Robinson whiffing on every god damn first rounder outside of big jeff. That hurts after awhile.

[@sticit2mn]

​@Kyledishgambin0 stop it. Vrabel stunk and can't coach modern football. His methods are stuck in the 90s. He doesn't have an innovative bone in his body and his choice of scheme highlights players weaknesses instead of their strengths. He was able to take advantage of a passing league by using a heavy 11 to 13 personnel system while everyone else was using 10 and 11. NFL Coordinators caught up to Mikes methods after the AFC title run and he hasn't adjusted. I dont want to hear GM or talent excuses. No one can speak on the talent of a team unless the coaches have tried different methods to maximize what the players are good at and cover up what they arent. Titans literally running the same offense for 4 years straight. You cant sustain success that way.

[@dwebb7665]

Go back and listen to Vrabel in interviews after a win. He would slide in a comment about something he did to affect the win. It was different in loses.

[@MrBank325]

This interview was 🔥. Well done.

[@havok6927]

As a long time Titans fan but also a natural devils advocate personality wise I will say this… Vrabel was for the most part great at defensively scheming specifically to the offense we played that week, especially if the team we played couldn’t counter when he took away their bread and butter plays. He was also awesome at the rule book/real time clock management but because he so great at that he was too arrogant when it came to hiring only his friends who wouldn’t check him.

[@mitchelll3879]

Mike Vrabel understood the rules because he was a scoundrel like Belichick..and he couldn't keep players on the field, and the primary job is to play to the personnel you have, not what you whine about... the guy sucked and am glad he is gone.. ruined a perfectly good team

[@sticit2mn]

No offense. You dont have a high football acumen if you think Vrabel is a good coach, schematically. He's the epitome of dumb jock

[@scrapironff1873]

Great job! Thank you very much!

[@fulcrumsee5968]

I KNEW IT I KNEW IT!. the second Dean went to Atlanta after a year off, it wasn't a retirement Vrabel ran him off.

[@tedter7200]

Wesley Woodyard just made clarity out of confusion. What amazing insight! He DGAF

[@FarOutAtl]

exactly this

[@titanlv77]

"Mike's kind of an asshole once you get to know him". -Tom Brady

[@cyranorevada32]

THIS. IS. AWESOME.

[@bonecold4387]

The national media analysts should listen to this since they think Vrabel is some wholesome, awesome coach. They clearly don't know anything about what has went on with him during his tenure and will talk about him but won't dare actually look into what they are talking about.

[@615JOHNLEE]

Wow! I always thought that Vrabel had a really close bond and connection with the locker room. This conversation dispels that and speaks volumes. Great job for keeping it a buck, Wesley.

[@vitigaymer1053]

This convo definitely does not dispel that. This guy left in 2019. In Vrabel's 2nd year. Almost everyone who stayed longer has spoken highly of Vrabel. Lewan, Compton, Henry, Tennehill. This dudes def an outlier.

[@615JOHNLEE]

@@vitigaymer1053 Damn it's been that long!? Times flies like a MF. That's a fair point. I will say this though, I ain't gotta look at an asshole for 6 years to conclude that it's an asshole lol. Glad he's gone, change is long overdue.

[@615JOHNLEE]

@@vitigaymer1053 KZbin deleted my original reply, but you make a fair point about his time spent with Vrabel. However, you don’t have to look at a bootyhole for 6 years to realize it’s a bootyhole.

[@fulcrumsee5968]

Reason why he hasn't been hired yet.

[@Rambo20244]

​@@fulcrumsee5968lol remember all the clowns saying if vrabel gets fired he's gonna have a job the next day

[@alfreddelaney2396]

I could tell by his interactions with Will Levis whenever that kid had a good game that he was a prick if you payed attention he was always was a douche to the other players as well I am one of the few that’s happy to see him leave and take that tough guy act somewhere else

[@4bidden1]

Good point. I Remember after Levis won the game at Miami the look on Vrabels face..it’s like he was jealous that his qb played well lol just weird.

[@quincytidwell5019]

Think he was bill

[@Anita_Hanjabb]

Very interesting! Would love to see what other players say if they are willing to open up about everything like Wes just did

[@lisascott370]

Really good interview.

[@RepublicConstitution]

I'm glad there's some truth coming out.

[@mistermac56]

I had today's RKW program on KZbin on my living room TV while I was going through email and my ears perked up and I listened intently to his comments. Some are criticizing his comments. I thought they were insightful and explained exactly why Ms. Amy fired him.

[@kdwoo1]

"Can't win with him, can't coach with him, can't do it, won't do it!" ~ Mike Singletary

[@kyleg323]

I never have hated vrabel but hearing he did that before the AFC title game makes me kinda hate him fr 😂

[@Big2foe74]

He tlked about it before tho

[@kyleg323]

@@Big2foe74 about Vrabel bursting in on pees during the meeting on the week of the AFC title game?

[@Big2foe74]

Yeah he said some bout this in a interview a couple years back

[@ianpriest4431]

I commend Wesley, I always trusted him on the field and off and his statements here clear a lot of things up. This team was desperate for some overhaul and I’m glad it’s happening now, I just hope we have the right guys. This year’s free agency is make or break for this staff, we have to treat it like the draft really, since our actual draft picks this year aren’t looking too great. We gotta sign young players who will make a difference in the long run on the field but immediately in the locker room

[@justinjames8762]

If vrable so good why wasnt he immediately hired by another team lmfao

[@YouTubeRemixChannel]

This is exactly what i been saying for the past 3 seasons win or lose... i seen vrabel n staff fucking it up!

[@jbryant8682]

I see varbel don’t have a job as fast as everyone said

[@Hoopz01]

This explains why the oline showed up the last game of the season .. the team wanted Vrabel out of there

[@moshpitsonly2778]

18:25 that's exactly what I think was the breaking point for mariotas downturn As soon as I Vrabel came in you could tell he tried turning mariota in to just a pocket passer and not utilize him for the strengths that got him to the position as a #2 pick

[@KOtheUltimateWeapon]

We got a flash of Vrabel’s colors on the sideline spat with Levis. You could almost see this coming

[@SwedishDanceParty]

This interview is bananas! “Leader of men”?

[@davemanhawaii]

Truth! Woodyard and Evans could stop the run as well as any duo in the league. Vrabel also cast off genius coaches like Dick Labeau and Dean Pees. What a chooch.

[@leonewman1048]

That was deep

[@tracyblair3064]

This interview makes me wonder how it would have gone if Mike Mularkey hadn’t been fired.’

[@alexshirley6096]

Derrick Henry would’ve never become a star I hated mike vrabel but Mike mularkey was even worse and incompetent

[@scaryharryflanagan70]

This confirms the sense I got from Vrabel. Smug, arrogant, and overated. He had to go.

[@safelyanonymous5717]

i think brady saying mike was an ass is pretty telling there

[@jermeydumas6538]

How Wesley just explained Vrabel as a coach and the mindset to plug and play sounds like a supervisor saying in so many words you always can be replaced or if you speak up amd thwy say well if you dont like it you can always go find something better for but not making some changes in how you lead instead of not being a people person in a business full of peole and that's not a good culture to the workforce.

[@safelyanonymous5717]

credit to we titan fans who spent countless hours complaining about vrabel and the titans and kudos to Amy for making a necessary move

[@Johnny5-cz1ip]

Vrabels ego overshadows any talent he has..i could tell by press conferences that the guy was a douche

[@kevinsosa6502]

a douche because he's hard on his players? makes no sense

[@MayberryAIArt]

Big facts

[@whoareyou6854]

These players are multi-millionaires lol there whole sport is about performance and perfection. These divas out here thinking that the coach should be mister nice guy with them lol if they don’t like it they can go get a real job.

[@alexshirley6096]

It’s one thing to be a douchebag when you’re winning super bowls but when your losing it’s an issue in crisis you have to have leadership when adversity hit vrabel failed miserably and that’s why he’s no longer with the titans

[@Johnny5-cz1ip]

@kevinsosa6502 yea ok, that's why he's unemployed still, right...casual ass fan

[@asacloutier7530]

I think Woodyard wouldn’t had said shit if the titans had a real qb on the roster. Mike squeezed rocks and got water out of em. Winning changes everything.

[@BuffBroc]

This popped into my feed immediately after the Super Bowl which is why I'm 2 weeks late. I don't know why anyone is surprised to hear this stuff about Vrabel. If you had watched Hard Knocks with Texans it was pretty clear back then that Vrabel is a self-obsessed jackhole. Every minute on camera you could tell he was playing a role trying to audition for a head coach job rather than just be himself. Regardless of what the national media has been saying, he'll be extremely lucky to get another HC job and is probably too proud & image obsessed to take a lowly Defensive Coordinator job.

[@bonecold4387]

His coaching style was far too militant. Not everyone responds well to that. It's just like being a manager at a job or teacher at school. You have to learn your players, learn your employees, learn your students individually and find out what are the best ways to coach those individuals and motivate them to excel because everyone is not going to just up and fit your system.

[@StaledHotCheetoh]

Not a titans fan but Woodyard was a dawggg back then

[@justinabaya6622]

Idk why this is so shocking. I’m almost positive that Woodyard came on the midday 180 years ago and said the same thing

[@Volstitans8]

Buck during A to Z saying to catch this episode but saying he doesn't see anything out if it.... I see a lot from this and Vrabels reign

[@robertwalsh9146]

Buck didnt listen to the interview

[@DCReal93]

It was time to rip the band aid off for Vrabel. We know now how disrespectful behind closed doors he was. Telling the players they can't bring their kids but you're kids get a pass? My whole thing with Vrabel is now it was CLEARLY his way or the highway. I am a firm believer that Vrabel held Derrick Henry back because he didn't want to adapt to his players. Coach Vrabel wants his way or nothing. And that is not gonna work out for anyone. Vrabel held us back. Period. Good luck to whomever is dumb enough to hire him. He's egotistical, disrespectful, and I seriously wish them luck. Have fun averaging 17 points a game for 3 or 4 years running nothing but Cover 4 playing small ball. Best of luck to Vrabel but i'm honestly mad about what he did to this organization. The pattern is clear as day. No one was with the Vrabel program and why we have nobody now. I think he is an okay coach with shitty methods. If he adjusted the scheme to the players instead of being selfish and hateful the team probably would have won the Super Bowl in 2019 and I am a firm believer of that. Vrabels need the biggest ego check in the history of the NFL.

[@andylishez]

TitanUP

[@ironlion7800]

Remember that season Vrabel pretended to not be the DC. Dude was crazy and took way to long to become common knowledge.

[@quincytidwell5019]

An we was still running that coverage in 2023

[@justinsider1786]

Love Woodyard

[@JeremyCaron]

Wow that host is straight outta Syracuse

[@tywestra]

It's wild hearing this I mean I believe wesley and we all kinda knew vrabel was stubborn, but the dean pees thing in 2019 that's wild if vrabel did that. He gone now though

[@marcuswilliams4550]

Boi... Wes Ethered Vrable....😮😮

[@stevenaguirre2488]

I loved Wes when he was on the team.

[@reubenalvear1975]

I loved him, as well. Great locker room guy, gritty, great leadership.

[@alexshirley6096]

Vrabel did good things for the titans and rightfully won coach of the year in 2021 that said he mismanaged young quarterbacks hired incompetent yes man assistants and the second adversity hit he would never take the blame and treat everyone else terribly the worst thing he did was never take accountability for the Cincinnati loss and throwing the defense under the bus and defending tannehill to the death setting out qb situation back several years

[@mnmsdaddy]

There’s a reason other teams didn’t jump on Vrabel when he became available.

[@chuckl7185]

The fact that you might not want to go on and win the Super Bowl because the head coaches ego might get even bigger is just ridiculous. Winning the championship is your goal. Hard to belive he'd even admit this was discussed.

[@sticit2mn]

Man, shut up. Get the hell out of here. If players felt that way it speaks volumes on the coaches ego and lack of Self-awareness. Sorry. You dont get to deflect from Vrabels ineptitude to question the players ethic when their leader is a POS

[@AlexPotts]

Interesting to hear outside perspective vs titans fans perspective... Everyone on the outside is like wow! he took Tannehill to the AFC championship game and won with so many injuries. His team fell off due to trading AJ Brown which was immediately and obviously stupid. I don't knock the guy. Your team was aging and lacked talent to win and he was always a nightmare to play against. His teams were tough if nothing else.

[@dwebb7665]

Has Vrabel landed a job on his terms yet? Waiting....

[@Maxx_Titan7]

Bye Vrabes 👋

[@eggsngritstn]

Mike Vrabel is a very good coach. He doesn’t have all the answers. Men such as Woodyard will always have criticism, and much of it is right. Everyone has faults. I hope we don’t lose sight of the good with these examples of shortcomings.

[@sticit2mn]

Vrabel isn't a good coach at all.

[@Firedrake18]

I can see both sides woodyard probably didn't like the change. Not having kids in the locker room is big for families but they can also be a distraction. If your coming into a not so great team your going to go hard on them to get things in order. Vrabel is every bit the hard nosed coach I thought he was but you have to be willing to bend. Vrabel seem like the dad that would whoop you then take you to McDonald's later, no super sizing 😅

[@joebutler1274]

These are grown professionals athletes! no player kids allowed, but then his kids are allowed in there that’s disrespectful

[@SaveCrystalGaming]

Ehh take it with a grain of salt. Nobody likes change. Woodyard didn't like the change when Vrable replaced Mularkey.

[@amandamcgee609]

Apparently Vrabel didn't like change either that's why he's gone.

[@SaveCrystalGaming]

@amandamcgee609 We don't know much about why he's gone. Other than he wasn't winning games, which is a good reason but I wish they were more transparent with the fanbase. Did Amy really overreact about the Patriots hall of fame visit? Did Mike and Ran really not get along?

[@avilesnba]

​@@SaveCrystalGamingIt's pretty crystal clear why it happened. Vrabel's ego got him fired. He had lost the locker room and the players. Henry talks about the locker room being completely different the past two years in the Taylor Lewan podcast thing recently. Veterans were gone, culture had changed and Mike wanted even more power from Amy.

[@mrbojangles6156]

I sincerely hope that you guys reach out to Vrabel eventually to get his side of the story because to be honest, this constant bashing of a dude that put out a major dumpster fire for this franchise is getting old. Vrabel will probably take the high road but I’d love to hear his side of the story.

[@avilesnba]

Dumpster fire? He inherited a playoff team that beat the Alex Smith led Chiefs in the wild card. He got prime Derrick Henry before he rushed for 2000 yards. At this point, we can sincerely ask if we would have been better off with Mularkey? Would we have had more success with him not taking away defensive playcalling duties from Dean Pees at halftime of the AFC Championship game? Especially when we were up ten at halftime

[@mrbojangles6156]

@@avilesnba typical titans fan response. I remember when this entire fanbase wanted Mularkey burned at the stake because he refused to hire coordinators outside of his friends. Vrabel was a FAR better coach than Mike Mularkey as well. It’s crazy to me how quickly this fanbase turns on its own. Hell I remember when we thought he was the best coach in the league after he beat Bilichik at his own game. Stop drinking the koolaid and form your own opinion.

[@rocketeer9]

I don't know that I believe half that stuff. Sounds like some of it is opinionated. Yes I know I'm sitting here giving my opinion. But, Vrabel was talked about very highly by alot of players. He was a players coach. The majority of the Titans players even say they love playing for Vrabel. You're talking about a man you could see the disgust on his face when AJ Brown was traded. A man that hugged Ben Jones coming off the field after a huge win playing through injury. A man that showed emotion when he announced Will Levis was starting over Ryan Tannehill. He knows what all the players put into football. JRob made some horrible moves in the end and Vrabel is getting blamed for it. Plus the OC and DC. Horrible play calls at worst times.

[@GhabCeoJTSnow]

We have had the most injuries for what 3 yrs now it makes sense now. I knew he was gone tho by how he was handling Will Levis. Mikes cool tho he’s just a meathead.

[@user-xp4oc4vz7j]

Obviously there was a division in the locker room, a solid head coach wouldn’t allow that. There’s some players you loved and disliked vrabel after watching this. Good decision to move on

[@DM-sc9rg]

Vrabel is a I individual better player and mire accomplished then any of these players talking

[@bluearcherx]

go cats

[@Fakewhack-st8fl]

Mike wanted to win. Wes admitted that they weren't sure if they wanted to. I believe most of what he says, but he definitely has some of Vrabel twisted.

[@MrSuccess84]

You know more about the situation than Wes? Right on. Tell us the scoop!

[@StonedYoda84]

He admits they held back.. garbage play.. the coaches play calling is what wins games..

[@mikegustafson58]

It was Ran who shipped off Long so how is that Vrabel's fault? Letting Long go was moronic.

[@whitebuffulo]

Ex patriot coaches or players now coaches are just the worst. Even Gronk is the worst in commentary the nfl has to offer, dude has 2 earphones in to tell him what to say which he still has trouble with. Glad Colts never ended up with McDaniels.

[@dylanclayton2730]

And Adoree is NOT having success in NY. Not a great example. Lol

[@bigdogpete43]

You do it Vrabel's way or the highway. Just another belly acher.

[@ContentRottweiler-es2fl]

Titans will always be The Titantics! Bad Head Coaching hire but good for my Kansas City Chiefs cause we the Superbowl Champs!

[@OsamayaMomma]

Vrabel is an overrated bum and i cant thank amy enough fir getting rid of that 🤡

[@samds7750]

No one knows this about Vrabel.

[@sticit2mn]

Anyone defending Vrabel or thinks he's a good coach is an idiot who doesnt understand the nuance of football. Its not a talent issue. Not a QB issue. Not a J'Rob issue. Vrabel just isnt smart and his choice in scheme shows his mindset is stuck in YesterYears football.

[@dylanclayton2730]

Lotta respect for him, but Wood sounds soft and bitter.

[@naterivers9122]

I don’t believe nothing Wesley talking about you still mad the Titans didn’t resign you when they let you go and you just want something to talk about no one’s heard of your name in a few years stop

[@deiradinn]

Glad he's gone

[@josephdillon6458]

Disgruntled veteran has axe to grind. Yep okay

[@vitigaymer1053]

WOODYARD = SOFT AF! He couldnt handle Vrabel not coddling his players.

[@thegamingchef3304]

Vrabel coddled all the players with his soft practices. That's why his teams were the most injured every season.

[@cwcw402]

Wesley talking like he did told me more about his view on life than it does about Vrabel it just shows me hes all about himself, u play for a pro team u get paid a lot of money u play every game to win a SB but u afraid your HC ego will get too big thats a real childish mentality from a NFL pro.

[@dbrbruce9950]

This same type of video will be made for Coach Callahan in three years. They know he isn't going to succeed.

[@crewthief1431]

Who knows that?

[@dbrbruce9950]

The people that hired him. They know that. You'll hate him by the end of next season. He may last 3, probably won't. @@crewthief1431

[@damontitanup9325]

104.5 GOT ALL RECEIPTS WOW Wesley woodyard📢📢📢📢📢📢📢