Tag: Mike Vrabel

Browns Podcast: Mike Vrabel hiring is huge for Cleveland in 2024

How did the Browns do in the first week of free agency

Just like that, the first week of NFL free agency is over, and the Cleveland Browns were active in the market. However, the team’s best move of the week might have been hiring veteran coach Mike Vrabel.

Having someone who has had so much success in the NFL as both a player and a coach on your staff as a consultant is a real positive move to help the team take the next step.

Most of the moves on the defensive side have been retaining their best talent from a great unit last year. Being able to retain top talent is something good teams do, and the Browns did that.

The team upgraded on the defensive line, trading out Jordan Elliott for Quinton Jefferson, a more proven and productive pass rusher. Andrew Berry continues prioritizing strong special teams units, bringing back their punter and signing special teams ace Tony Brown.

You can watch us discuss these topics and the first week of free agency overall by clicking here, or you can listen to the audio-only version by clicking here.

Former NFL HC Mike Vrabel takes new football job in Ohio

The Mike Vrabel-to-Wisconsin news looks less likely

Well, this news may make Mike Vrabel joining Wisconsin as an analyst or special assistant more challenging, if not impossible.

The former NFL Coach of the Year is signing on with the Cleveland Browns as a coaching and personnel consultant, according to reports from ESPN’s Field Yates and Adam Schefter.

Related: Ranking Big Ten football teams by highest 2024 ceiling

This move comes after the Tennessee Titans fired the longtime head coach after a disappointing 6-11 2023 season.

Vrabel moves back to the state of Ohio, where he and Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell shared the field for several years at Ohio State.

Fickell had said at a press conference in February that Vrabel may be around Wisconsin football ‘in some capacity’ this offseason. This news does not make that impossible, though it certainly makes it seem a lot less likely.

Wisconsin football is set to begin spring practice later this month in preparation for the 2024 season.

For more 2024 season preview work, we’ve already ranked all 18 programs in the Big Ten, ranked the 18 starting quarterbacks, ranked all 18 head coaches, predicted each Big Ten team’s 2024 record, looked at the early College Football Playoff tiers, made bold predictions for the season and checked in on the Las Vegas win totals for each team in the conference.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

Mike Vrabel’s role with Browns defined a bit more

Here is what Vrabel will be doing in Cleveland.

After the Cleveland Browns hired former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel as a consultant, his role has been fleshed out a bit more.

According to Robert Mays of The Athletic, Vrabel’s role with the Browns is to “act as a sounding board for Kevin Stefanski but also as a resource for a coaching staff with a lot of youth and turnover.”

The Browns added two offensive coaches with no NFL coaching experience in former Alabama and UConn offensive coordinators Tommy Rees and Nick Charlton. They also replaced their running backs coach with Duce Staley and swapped out Bill Callahan for Andy Dickerson and Roy Istvan as offensive line coach. Not to mention bringing on Ken Dorsey as the new offensive coordinator.

That is a great deal of turnover for one man to manage, so kudos to head coach Kevin Stefanski for bringing Vrabel on as a consultant for the season.

Former Ohio State coach Mike Vrabel is coming back to Ohio

Vrabel comes back home for his next job. #GoBucks

[autotag]Mike Vrabel[/autotag] carved out a great career with the Ohio State Buckeyes and in the NFL. He parlayed that into a very successful coaching career.

That path started in Columbus. He spent the 2011 season as the linebackers coach and 2012-13 as the defensive line coach for his alma mater. The NFL called quickly: Vrabel was the Houston Texans linebackers coach from  2014 to 2016 and elevated to defensive coordinator in 2017.

The Tennessee Titans hired him in 2018 as their coach, and he was named NFL Coach of the Year in 2021. Unfortunately, he was dismissed earlier this year following a 6-11 record.

Many wondered what the next step for Vrabel would be. Now we know. The news broke on Friday afternoon that he is taking a consulting job with the Cleveland Browns.

It would not surprise me at all if Vrabel’s tenure with the Browns was short. He’ll surely be a wanted man come next offseason.

Contact/Follow @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on X. 

Browns hire a former NFL Coach of the Year as a consultant

The Browns have added another high profile coach to their staff.

The Cleveland Browns are not done adding to their staff. After hiring a new offensive assistant and run game specialist this week, the Browns have now added former NFL Coach of the Year and head coach of the Tennessee Titans Mike Vrabel as a consultant.

After being fired from the Titans this offseason, predominantly due to disagreements with the direction the team was taking, Vrabel did not get another head coaching gig. Instead, he lands with the Browns as he soaks in his buyout from Tennessee.

Ironic enough, it was Cleveland’s defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz who once worked under Mike Vrabel as a Senior Advisor. Could this be Schwartz repaying Vrabel with a title that would not cause him to forfeit his buyout with the Titans?

Regardless, the Browns have constructed quite the all-star staff this offseason, and now it’s time for them to get to work to get this team back into the playoffs and deeper than they’ve been before.

Mike Vrabel wasn’t happy with Dianna Russini after report on his ‘intimidating’ size

Ex-Titans head coach Mike Vrabel was none too happy with Dianna Russini after her report on his size being a possible reason he wasn’t hired.

After being fired by the Tennessee Titans, many believed former head coach Mike Vrabel would land a job quickly, but that turned out not to be the case and instead Vrabel is without a head-coaching gig for 2024.

It isn’t exactly clear why no teams hired Vrabel, who did receive a few head coach interviews with teams.

After he didn’t get one, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini gave a few possible reasons, one of which came from an unnamed general manager who she spoke with at the Senior Bowl.

Russini first said that she didn’t think “there was a fit” for Vrabel, but she also added that the aforementioned GM speculated that Vrabel’s size and intimidating demeanor might have played a role.

“I don’t think there was a fit for him,” Russini said in February. “I don’t think he sat in front of any owner who thought that his style was going to work for what they were looking for… I had a GM at the Senior Bowl who mentioned to me Vrabel’s physical build. That he’s a very large human being and can be very intimidating to people in an organization that are going to be part of these decisions. And that is a factor.”

That report did not sit well with Vrabel, apparently.

During a recent interview on “Pardon My Take”, Russini was asked if she had ever done a story that got her in hot water with a player or coach and Russini cited the Vrabel story as an example.

“He didn’t call me after the piece we did on why he got fired, but the piece on him calling him a little fat, he wasn’t too happy,” Russini said.

You can check out Russini’s comments on the Vrabel situation in their entirety below (H/T James Foster, No Flags Film).

It has long been known that Russini had an in with the Titans through Vrabel, but it’s possible that silly story won’t do her any favors in terms of getting scoops from the former head coach when he gets his next job.

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Titans’ Jeffery Simmons ready to rally the troops for Brian Callahan

Per usual, Jeffery Simmons is ready to step up as a leader with the Titans making the transition from Mike Vrabel to Brian Callahan.

Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons has been the epitome of a leader since coming to Nashville, and that has been especially true after signing a monster extension last offseason.

And Simmons is ready to step up once again in 2024 as the Titans make the transition from former head coach Mike Vrabel to new head coach Brian Callahan.

During the week leading up to the Super Bowl, Simmons said he’s ready to rally the troops around the Titans’ new head coach and has a very simple, straightforward message for his teammates.

“You know I am always that guy,” Simmons said, per team writer Jim Wyatt. “I am going to make sure I can keep the locker room tight, and make sure no matter what it might be, no matter the situation, of 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.

“For me, being a captain and a leader on this team, my job is to keep holding my end up on that,” he added. “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.”

Simmons has met Callahan and says he is excited for the staff he’s putting together, which includes the new defensive coordinator Simmons will play under, Dennard Wilson.

“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,” he said. “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.”

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Will Levis talks Titans firing Mike Vrabel, hiring Brian Callahan

While down at the Super Bowl, Titans quarterback Will Levis discussed the firing of Mike Vrabel and the hiring of Brian Callahan.

Entering his second season in the NFL, Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis be playing for a new head coach after the team fired Mike Vrabel and hired Brian Callahan.

Levis admitted it was “surprising” to see Vrabel lose his job. However, he has some extra motivation after owner Amy Adams Strunk mentioned him as part of the franchise’s future plans in her statement following the move.

“It is a business, and all these decisions are made each and every year,” Levis said, per Jim Wyatt of TennesseeTitans.com. “It was surprising, and there was that limbo period of: What is going to happen with everyone else once we hired somebody? It was definitely a little uncomfortable, because we have no say in all of it. We all loved playing for coach Vrabes, but we all know Miss Amy and the front office, and the organization, has a plan for us.

“I know I am part of the plan, and for her to think of me and include me in it is really special and makes me want to work even harder.”

Despite feeling bad about the situation with Vrabel, Levis says he’s excited to work under Callahan, who has been in contact with him and keeping him in the loop about coaching staff hires.

“You could feel the excitement about the guys he is bringing in, and the guys that we are keeping on the staff,” Levis said. “It just seems like he is being very meticulous about each and every one of these decisions, and he feels really strongly that he has hit the nail on the head about the decisions made so far.”

“He has been able to work with a great amount of quarterbacks and it gets you excited when you see the track record and you see the stats and you start watching the film of how he is able to run an offense and do it really well at a high level efficiently,” Levis added. “So, I am excited to work for him and hopefully be that next guy that people mention of guys he’s had under his belt.”

While Levis has created no shortage of hype following an impressive rookie season, the Kentucky product is far from satisfied. He also noted that he’s close to being full healthy after finishing the season injured.

“Definitely not satisfied,” Levis said. “I know we had the opportunity to win a lot more games than we did, but you can’t fret about all those things, all you can do is look at the tape and do what you can to improve. For me, for one, it’s about getting healthy, which I am close to now, which is a great feeling. Having my body feel this way and as good as it has in 25 weeks or so is really cool. And, I am looking forward to just getting my athleticism back a little bit, getting my legs back, and just being able to be more of a (complete) player than I was this past year.”

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Ex-Titans HC Mike Vrabel may work with Luke Fickell, Wisconsin in 2024

Former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel may lend a helping hand at a college program in 2024.

After failing to land a job following his firing as head coach of the Tennessee Titans, it appears Mike Vrabel may lend a helping hand to a college program run by his good friend.

Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell, who is very close with Vrabel, recently revealed on ESPN Wisconsin’s “Wilde & Tausch” that Vrabel may work with the program in an unspecified role.

“I talked to (Vrabel), I think, on Saturday, and we hadn’t communicated for probably a week or so just because the process was going,” Fickell said. “He sounded like a new man. And I’m not sure exactly if this was his choice, or what it is the future looks like. But I know that we’re going to have a visitor here that’s going to spend a little bit of time, hopefully around us. Starting, coming up in the spring and some things like that, see how much, how deep we can get involved with my buddy and get him around here.”

Vrabel’s options for a head-coaching gig dried up after the three teams that interviewed him, the Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Chargers and Atlanta Falcons, all went in a different direction.

It was revealed by The Athletic’s Dianna Russini that Vrabel’s style didn’t fit with the teams he met with, but she also included some wild insight from an unnamed general manager who stated the intimidation factor from Vrabel’s physical appearance may have hurt his chances to land another job.

Whatever the case may be, it looks like Vrabel might be in some sort of an advisory role at Wisconsin, which is a far cry from where many thought he would be upon being fired by the Titans.

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Report: Former NFL Coach Of The Year will ‘be around Wisconsin football in some capacity’ this year

This would be great news for the Badgers…

Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell said in a radio interview on Wednesday that former NFL Coach Of The Year Mike Vrabel could be around the Badgers’ program in some capacity this year or at least this offseason.

Fickell was on with ESPN Milwaukee’s Jason Wilde and Mark Tauscher, and he said the following about Vrabel spending time with the program — as shared by BadgerExtra’s Colten Bartholomew:

“I’m not sure what the future really looks like, but I know that we’re going to have a visitor here that’s gonna spend a little bit of time, hopefully, around us coming up in the spring. See how deep we can get involved here.”

Related: Way-too-early record predictions for every Big Ten football team in 2024

Vrabel was Fickell’s teammate and roommate at Ohio State in the late 1990s. The two have maintained a close relationship, including coaching together on the Buckeyes’ defensive staff from 2011-2013.

Vrabel is out of an NFL job at the moment. The Tennessee Titans fired him after the 2023 season. He won NFL Coach Of The Year in 2021 when he led the Titans to a 12-5 record and the No. 1 seed in the AFC entering the playoffs.

Related: Power ranking all 18 Big Ten football programs after the 2023 season

Fickell’s program, meanwhile, experienced some coaching turnover this offseason. Wide receivers coach Mike Brown took the same position at Notre Dame. Safeties coach Colin Hitschler moved laterally to Alabama, and offensive line coach Jack Bicknell Jr. moved to an off-field role. Hires have been made at those positions (Kenny Guiton, Alex Grinch and A.J. Blazek respectively), but Fickell is clearly still working on improving the staff any way he can.

This partnership would be a slam-dunk for the Wisconsin program. Vrabel brings an exceptional coaching record and is sure to have a positive impact on the growing team.

For Vrabel, maybe this is how he stays connected to the game while he awaits another NFL head coaching gig. Either way, it’s good news for Wisconsin.