Titans’ Mike Vrabel releases statement on Falcons hiring Arthur Smith

Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel released a statement on Friday after the Atlanta Falcons announced that they had hired Arthur Smith to become their next head coach.

In the statement that comes from the Titans via Twitter, Vrabel congratulates his former offensive coordinator and praises him for the work he did while with the Titans:

“I want to congratulate Arthur, and his family, on becoming the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. Arthur’s leadership and the relationships he built with the players and staff led to on-field success. I personally appreciate the dedication and hard work he put in for the Titans and we look forward to seeing his continued success,” the statement read.

Smith now takes over an Atlanta team that went 4-12 last season and is in salary cap hell. The Falcons do have some established pieces on offense like Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, but there’s no guarantee that both will be with the team in 2021 with Atlanta needing a rebuild.

With the departure of Smith to the Falcons, Titans will now be looking for their third offensive coordinator since Vrabel took the job in Nashville in 2018 after the previous offensive coordinator, Matt LaFleur, was poached away by the Green Bay Packers in 2019.

It’s also possible that Smith takes a coach or coaches with him, so Tennessee may end up having more jobs to fill on its coaching staff.

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