The Tennessee Titans’ Mike Vrabel introduced Monday that Terrell Williams, their assistant head coach and defensive position assistant, will function appearing head coach Saturday in the course of the Titans’ preseason opener in Chicago. Here, Williams is seen throughout an AFC Wild Card recreation towards the New England Patriots on Jan. 4, 2020, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

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The Tennessee Titans’ Mike Vrabel introduced Monday that Terrell Williams, their assistant head coach and defensive position assistant, will function appearing head coach Saturday in the course of the Titans’ preseason opener in Chicago. Here, Williams is seen throughout an AFC Wild Card recreation towards the New England Patriots on Jan. 4, 2020, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

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Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel says the crew’s defensive position coach and assistant head coach Terrell Williams will function head coach for the primary NFL preseason recreation of 2023 towards the Chicago Bears — making Williams the fourth Black head coach within the league.

During a press conference Monday, Vrabel instructed reporters he is stepping apart for the Titans pre-season recreation Saturday to let Williams function the top coach, emphasizing that it is an excellent alternative for each Williams and the franchise.

“I think this is a great opportunity for him and for us and for everybody involved. Big T [Williams] will handle that and Clint [McMillan, Titans’ defensive assistant] will handle the defensive line,” Vrabel stated.

The 49-year-old will take over as head coach beginning Thursday night time, as a few of his tasks will entail planning for who would be the beginning quarterback, discussing choices with assistant coaches and deciding how he’ll wish to play the sport.

Williams, who joined the Titans in 2018, has been a defensive position coach all through his 26 seasons of teaching, serving the final 12 seasons within the league, with the then-Oakland Raiders and the Miami Dolphins earlier than the Titans.

During his first press convention for the reason that announcement, Williams stated he provides credit score to Vrabel for the chance to step into the top coach position, one thing that’s unusual for assistant coaches to do.

“Hopefully more coaches will give assistant coaches opportunities to do this because there’s nothing better than actually getting the experience,” Williams stated, according to ESPN.

The lack of Black head coaches has been a difficulty within the league

With the beginning of the NFL common season rapidly approaching, there are solely three Black head coaches — Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh Steelers), Todd Bowles (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), and DeMeco Ryans (Houston Texans) — throughout the league’s 32 groups. In comparability, more than half of NFL players are Black.

And that is 20 years after the NFL enacted the Rooney Rule — a league effort to right inequities on the high of soccer’s hierarchy by requiring groups to interview minority candidates for head teaching vacancies.

In current years, the NFL has come below hearth for its hiring practices — most lately with former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, who filed a class action lawsuit last year against the NFL and three of its groups for alleged racial discrimination.

Flores alleged that race was on the heart of his elimination as head coach of the Dolphins, an issue that he stated is endemic within the NFL.

“I love coaching. I do. It’s something that I’m passionate about. It brings me joy. And I love helping young people reach their potential and become the best version of themselves. I’m gifted to do that. But this is bigger than that,” Flores stated throughout a February 2022 interview on CBS Mornings.

In response to Flores’ swimsuit, the NFL launched a statement saying it could defend “against these claims, which are without merit.”

“The NFL and our clubs are deeply committed to ensuring equitable employment practices and continue to make progress in providing equitable opportunities throughout our organizations,” the league stated in its assertion.

“Diversity is core to everything we do, and there are few issues on which our clubs and our internal leadership team spend more time,” the assertion added.