Potential Steelers Coaching Staff Target Joins Browns
Mike Vrabel, a prospective assistant coach target for the Pittsburgh Steelers, will join Kevin Stefanski at the Cleveland Browns.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will not be adding Mike Vrabel to their coaching staff. Next season, though, he’ll be in the AFC North.
Nick Shook of NFL.com reported that Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network have confirmed that Vrabel will be joining the Cleveland Browns as a consultant.
“Jim Schwartz, the defensive coordinator, and Stefanski can benefit greatly from Vrabel’s ten years of coaching experience and his even greater playing experience. Schwartz led a remarkable defensive turnaround in 2023 during his first season in Cleveland,” Shook said.
“We’ll see if the addition of the Northeast Ohio native helps the Browns make it back to the postseason in 2024 for a second consecutive year.”
Unexpectedly, Vrabel was let go by the Tennessee Titans after the 2023 campaign. Under Vrabel, the Titans had finished 13–21 in their last two seasons, but in 2020 and 2021, they have won 11 and 12 games, respectively.
The media for the Steelers proposed that Vrabel take a senior assistant role on Mike Tomlin’s staff after leaving Tennessee.
During his six seasons as Tennessee’s head coach, Vrabel guided the team to a 54-45 record. He guided the Titans to an AFC championship game berth in his second season.
Mike Vrabel Previously Linked to Steelers
The media didn’t view Vrabel as a coach who might return to a coordinator position this offseason despite his success in Tennessee. Consequently, it seemed as though Vrabel might take the year off after all head coach positions were filled.
A senior assistant role of some kind was his other choice. He will effectively be doing that in Cleveland.
The Steelers should sign Vrabel, as Stephen Thompson and Noah Strackbein of All Steelers Talk advocated on February 2.
“It’s really not a question of ability or anything,” Thompson stated on the February 2 broadcast of All Steelers Talk. “If you can get Mike Vrabel, you go get Mike Vrabel.” “I’m not sure if you should interview this person properly; it’s more of a, ‘Hey, do you want to to come here?’
“I think you almost write him a blank check and say, ‘Yeah, we’d love to have you here.’”
“I think you almost write him a blank check and say, ‘Yeah, we’d love to have you here.’”
Uncertainty surrounds the Steelers’ interest in Vrabel. Furthermore, it doesn’t seem like Vrabel indicated a want to rejoin the team that drafted him.
Vrabel was chosen by the Steelers in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft. with his four seasons with Pittsburgh, he never started a single game. He recorded 56 total tackles in 51 games, with 12 tackles for loss and 7 sacks.
Vrabel then went on to start 140 games for the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots after becoming a free agent. With the Patriots, he was a three-time Super Bowl winner and was named to the first team of the All-Pro team in 2007.
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“I think you almost write him a blank check and say, ‘Yeah, we’d love to have you here.’”
The Steelers have valued additional head coaching experience under Mike Tomlin, using assistants like Dick LeBeau, Todd Haley, and Mike Munchak. This offseason, the Steelers valued that experience once more when they appointed Arthur Smith, the former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, as offensive coordinator.
Despite not having a coordinator vacancy, the Steelers hired former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores two years ago. Flores was appointed linebackers coach and senior defensive assistant by Pittsburgh.
This prompted Vrabel to be suggested as a match in Pittsburgh this summer by Thompson, Strackbein, and other others. He’s going to Cleveland instead.
This prompted Vrabel to be suggested as a match in Pittsburgh this summer by Thompson, Strackbein, and other others. He’s going to Cleveland instead.
However, if the Steelers are interested in bolstering their coaching staff with more experience, other former NFL head coaches are available, as Steelers Now’s Alan Saunders noted on March 16.
“There are still a few available, including Belichick (that’s a funny idea), Frank Reich, Josh McDaniels, and Ron Rivera, if the Steelers want to bring in another former NFL head coach as an analyst or consultant,” wrote Saunders.
For the 2023 campaign, Belichick, Reich, McDaniels, and Rivera served as head coaches. Both Reich and McDaniels lost their jobs during the 2023 election.