NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Despite making it to the divisional round of the 2017 playoffs, Tennessee Titans GM Jon Robinson decided the franchise needed to go in a different direction.

Coach Mike Mularkey was fired after losing 35-14 to the New England Patriots. Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota had arguably his worst season, with a career-high 15 interceptions and a career-low QB rating (79.3).

The ensuing coaching search included an interview with Matt LaFleur -- a young offensive coordinator who, along with coach Sean McVay, re-energized a Los Angeles Rams team that had finished 4-12 in 2016.

Robinson also interviewed Mike Vrabel, who had just completed his first season as the Houston Texans' defensive coordinator. Robinson was searching for certain qualities, including being a "leader of men, team-first, detailed, tough and dependable." Ultimately, Vrabel was granted the opportunity to take the Titans to the next level.

But there was still plenty of interest in LaFleur, given how Matt Ryan had excelled when LaFleur was his QB coach with the Atlanta Falcons and the career turnaround Rams quarterback Jared Goff had with LaFleur as the offensive coordinator.

"He’s been a lot of good places with a lot of good offenses, whether it be Atlanta or Washington, whether he’s coached Matt Ryan, or RG III [Robert Griffin], to Jared [Goff], to Marcus [Mariota] to Aaron Rodgers," Vrabel said Monday.

Tennessee was looking for the same kind of progress for Mariota. Even though LaFleur didn't get the head-coaching job with the Titans, he agreed to leave the Rams for the same position with Tennessee. And the move quickly paid dividends for him in his career.

"I didn't know Mike prior to taking that job," LaFleur said. "I had just interviewed for the head coach job and felt I needed to take the next step in terms of my own growth. I spoke to Mike and had a lot of respect for him, knew he was a good person. That helped my decision. It's never easy, especially when you're with one of your best friends in Sean McVay there but I felt it was a much-needed step in the process."

The "next step" in the process for LaFleur was getting an opportunity to be the playcaller since McVay called the plays for the Rams. Under LaFleur, the Titans' offense finished 27th in the NFL, averaging 19.4 points per game. While Mariota had a better season in 2018, he did not take the leap forward the organization had hoped for.

As LaFleur did the previous year, he interviewed for head-coaching positions, and this time he landed the job with the Green Bay Packers.

The year in Tennessee had paid off for LaFleur in more ways than one. He got his first chance to call plays and built a connection with Robinson, who happened to be a very close associate of Packers GM Brian Gutekunst.

"As you start calling around asking about different people, everything came back really positive," Gutekunst said during LaFleur's introductory news conference. "Those recommendations to me were really important."

LaFleur's move to Green Bay benefited both franchises. Arthur Smith, who had been the TE coach for three seasons, took over for LaFleur as offensive coordinator and guided the offense in 2019 to a per-game average of 24.9 points (eighth in the NFL). The scoring spiked after Ryan Tannehill took over for Mariota as the starter in Week 7 (the Titans averaged 16.3 PPG in Weeks 1-7).

How did LaFleur shape the Titans' offense?

"There's base concepts and things. I don’t think Matt [LaFleur] invented the offense," Vrabel said. "It's a culmination of a lot of things, a lot of years, and guys always add things that they think are going to help and the personnel and the groupings that they like. It changes every year."

One thing that didn't change was the emphasis on Derrick Henry running the football. With LaFleur calling the plays in 2018, Henry finished with 615 rushing yards in December. That carried over to last season, when Henry led the NFL in carries (303) and had a league-best 1,540 rushing yards.

Despite being one of the NFL's youngest coaches (39), LaFleur showed he was ready. He took over a disappointing, veteran Packers team and led them to a 13-3 record -- culminating with a push to the NFC Championship Game.

"Fortunately, I've been thrust into a pretty good situation here and able to work with such a great organization with great leadership and come into a locker room that is established with leaders," LaFleur said. "That's why we've been able to have success."

Various NFL analysts expressed concern about LaFleur's scheme being a change from what Rodgers, a future Hall of Famer, had been used to throughout his career with former coach Mike McCarthy. But Rodgers said he is having a great time playing for LaFleur.

"We've been laughing all the way to the NFC Championship Game last year and back in the playoffs this year about any question about our working relationship," Rodgers said. "I'm happy he's here and enjoy the working relationship, the friendship, the communication and we've had a good run so far."

LaFleur, Rodgers pointed out, holds assistant coaches and players accountable, which takes us back to the Titans' decision to hire Vrabel in 2018. Tennessee chose Vrabel in part because of his leadership qualities.

It's a lesson LaFleur learned from the year he spent with Vrabel in Tennessee.

"He held everyone accountable, whether you're the best player or the last man on that roster," LaFleur said of Vrabel. "That goes for the coaches as well. He was never afraid to call it how it was. You always respect that. He knows he had a vision and everybody knew where they stood with him. He did a great job of communicating and leading. I am thankful that I had the time to learn from him."

Vrabel will lead the Titans into Lambeau Field to face the Packers on Sunday night (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC) in what could potentially be a high-scoring shootout. Both offenses have ascended to elite status. Tennessee is currently tied with the Kansas City Chiefs as the NFL's top-scoring offense, putting up 31.1 points per game. But the Green Bay is right behind them at 31 points per game.

There will be playoff implications at stake, so friendships will be put to the side.

"I really enjoyed my time in Tennessee and learned a lot," LaFleur said. "But now I hope we come up with a good game plan and play our best football and go beat their butt."