The Titans elected to fire Mike Vrabel after the 2023 season, hiring former Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan to replace him.
Veteran defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons said this week that even with his great relationship with Mike Vrabel, he’s all in on being a part of the future of the team.
“We communicate still,” Simmons said of Vrabel, via Jim Wyatt of the team’s website. “You hate to see it. You hate to see it happen. But things happen in this business, and like he said when we talked about it, it’s going to be good. I wished him the best.
“I think coming up this season for us is it’s going to be one of those seasons where we have to really reestablish ourselves in Tennessee. Having a chance to meet coach Callahan in person, when I was in the building, I could tell that he is ready, he wants to win. And I am excited for the staff he is bringing in, especially with DC [Dennard Wilson] from Baltimore. I am excited, man. I think it is going to be good for us as an organization.”
Simmons, the No. 19 overall pick of the 2019 draft, noted that he plans to “keep the locker room tight” as the Titans usher in their new staff.
“[O]f course we just got a new head coach, I think it’s going to be simple: Buy in or you just have to get left behind,” Simmons said. “For me, being a captain and a leader on this team, my job is to keep holding my end up on that.
“At the end of the day, it is a new beginning for us. … It’s a new chapter. We have a new head coach, so we just have to take off with it.”