 Mike Grable has been working hard in Indianapolis doing a lot of things on behalf of the Tennessee Titans But also on behalf of the NFL Competition committee work a lot of work a lot of meetings, right? There's a lot of meetings There's a lot of information you gather a lot of information and you try to listen and there are a lot of reports And you know at the end of the day, it's our charge to do what's what's best for the game and for the future of the game You have such a unique Perspective when it comes to filing through some of those reports that you're giving because you get the coach's perspective And also the player's perspective How does that impact the way that you kind of evaluate some of the things that come across your desk as a part of the competition? Well, I think it's it's always important when you make decisions Whether it's for our football team or input that we would have towards the game is just to try to listen and Understand everybody's position Use the research the data the analytics and try to all tie it back into most importantly You know player health and safety and what's it's gonna be best for our players in our for our game So you know you try to gather information And then make the decision that's best for the game much discussion about making the punt play safer Would that start with maybe not letting the gunners release or are there other options? Well, there's there's a lot of options I think that You know safety is always going to be at the at the forefront. We we appreciate the data I've certainly appreciated the data tried to do our own study with our team And what we went through last year and how we can and prepare better and and try to help our team stay as healthy as possible So, you know, there'll be a lot of things that are discussed and we'll have the input from special teams coaches from players And everyone else in the on the committee in light of recent games There's also a lot of conversation about overtime rules How do you balance wanting to make it fair and equitable but also kind of preserving what has been For the entirety of the NFL and these decisions I think and conversations come up and you look at the the frequency in which they come up You try to use the the data When we talk about overtime there, there's the coin toss or You know first possession touchdowns and when those occur and what the numbers are in the regular season in the postseason So, you know, there'll be a lot of discussion and I'm sure there'll be a lot of proposals that that will work through New members to the competition committee often Express the fact that their eyes are opened on certain things when they go into those meetings Anything surprise you that you have learned as you have started into this role on the competition. I don't think anything surprised me I just think that you know, maybe the the magnitude of what everybody else is doing around You know the job that maybe you and I have with our football team, right? You guys cover us and you're but where there's numerous doctors that you know and analytical data of Officiating and how all that plays into to our game It's been a while since we've had a chance to talk to you and you have since the last time we spoke Received a contract extension with John Robinson and also received the award of coach of the year Well, of course, it's not a one-person award necessarily It has to feel good to get recognized and acknowledged after what was a challenging season Yeah, every year is challenging. Come on like we know that it always is You know, you want to be recognized be recognized for winning championships and you know, I've said this numerous times This is a this is a reflection of our players and our coaches coaches that took players that came in on Wednesday I got them ready to make significant Contributions to the football team on Sunday so much so that as we have done our cut-ups and our and our self-scout that We would probably needed a foot card for some of these guys somebody was like, well, who's that? Who's that and we had to really rack our brain to remember which player that was at that point in time in the season For us It was like doing pre-season games for 17 weeks with 90 something guys As you have done the cut-ups and you've done the breakdowns and the coaching staff back in the office working through it Where is your focus in terms of reviewing? 2021 and trying to apply correction or improvement toward 2022. Yeah, we've we've made it a And I've made a huge effort, you know We want to continue down the path of being able to teach and develop and inspire through Relationships and what makes this NFL difficult is after we lost the next week There wasn't a mat drill at 6 a.m. And the ability to have breakfast with a player players leave And we can continue to have conversations with them I'll be at about things outside of football and you know through text message and phone calls And so, you know, I encourage our staff to do that. I know how important that is And we we're always trying to do things to become better teachers and and the drills that we're using that apply to the skills that they're gonna need To help us on the field and the National Football League. There's always turnover How do you balance wanting to keep a successful roster in place while also adding in some fresh blood? Some new skill set to positions where you might need it Yeah, I think that's the challenge that John and I have in his staff and and the coaching staff Combine at different parts in the player acquisition process, whether that be through free agency or The draft and most importantly the post draft where you can really take advantage and and we've had some of those players that have made Significant contributions to our football team that that weren't drafted or weren't you know here at the combine We always have respect for opponents for example last season when we signed to Nico Autry We were thrilled. We didn't have to play him anymore. We were able to finally get that's right because we had such respect for him Same with Tim Kelly adding Tim Kelly from Houston a guy that we've had respect for because we've seen what he's done with the Texans Offense, what do you hope he adds in that offensive mix? Well adding Jim Schwartz? Let's go back and I'm just adding Jim to to our defense to our overall staff, but our defensive staff With something that you know, I didn't really do early on and I felt like The time was right the person was right the opportunity was there and I saw the impact that it made with our coaching staff During the week and in on game day and and how that role really that was what I had envisioned for it And so when the opportunity to get a guy like Tim who has Experience and I have relationship and trust with I know that he'll be able to help our offensive football team And our football team in general the willingness to tinker with maybe the coaching staff add those positions Same with the roster kind of add positions where need to be is that what has made you so successful this organization? So successful the willingness to make changes in the off. Well, you have to be able to make change I think it's inevitable skill sets Contracts there's so much that goes into You know what the roster looks like you know each year and what our roster looks like today Won't be the same that it looks in two weeks and then you know what it looks like in on September 1st So we understand that I think we all have including me a lot more patience for what that Product is going to look like what is a player interview like with the Tennessee Titans here at the Cobb? Oh, they're fun. I mean you try to figure out who these guys are and you know if they have any You know if I try to determine whether I would like that to look at this player ask that player a question in a team And that's what I have to ask myself and then you know we move on from you know How they if they can play and what their skill set is I there's a certain personality that that I think that I'm drawn to and not To say that that's the end all be all but it can go in a lot of different directions. I try not to have it a script I know John doesn't I wait for him to you know get it started and then I kind of take it You know and then the coaches will go or you know the other scouts will go how nice is it to be in person old-fashioned style? Well, it is nice, but I think the technology has allowed us More time more time with them and to be able to follow up and say hey What do you remember from that conversation that we had? In March and see what their recall is and and see what their willingness is to engage with us Overall your approach to the combine most important things for you as the head coach to get done here I think just continue to Make You know connections with these players and see who responds. Who do you see a few days later? You know the demeanor that they have walking around, you know how they answer questions Their willingness to be truthful The self-awareness that they have a lot of different things coach Mike Vrabel with us at Tennessee Titans calm