Tennessee Titans' Mike Vrabel named 2021 NFL Coach of Year by Pro Football Writers of America
Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel was named Thursday the 2021 NFL Coach of the Year by the Pro Football Writers of America.
For Vrabel, it marks his first PFWA Coach of the Year honor, which is chosen in voting conducted by the organization. He is the second coach of the year honoree for the Titans' franchise, joining Sid Gilman, who won the AFC award in 1974 with the Houston Oilers.
Vrabel, 46,guided the Titans to a 12-5 regular season, a second straight AFC South title and the AFC's No. 1 seed this season. The 12 regular-season victories are the most for the franchise since 2008, which was the last time it had the No. 1 seed.
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Vrabel's success came in spite of the Titans' injury issues, which forced the team to use 91 players, an NFL record for a non-strike season. Star running back Derrick Henry missed nine games, while receivers Julio Jones and A.J. Brown missed seven and four games, respectively.
The Titans have been to the playoffs three straight seasons under Vrabel, who became the coach in 2018. His 43 wins with Tennessee through the 2021 season, including playoffs, tied Jack Pardee for the most wins by a coach in his first four seasons with the organization.
The 2021 AP Coach of the Year will be named Feb. 10 during NFL Honors, which recognizes the best players, performances and plays from the past season.
Ben Arthur covers the Tennessee Titans for The USA TODAY Network. Contact him at barthur@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @benyarthur.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans' Mike Vrabel named 2021 NFL Coach of Year by PFWA
