Although not a head coaching position, Mike Vrabel has found a role with an NFL club for the 2024 season. The former Tennessee Titans head coach will serve as coach and personnel consultant to the Cleveland Browns for the upcoming season, CBS Sports senior NFL insider Jonathan Jones confirms.
Vrabel has strong ties to the Buckeye State. He was born and raised in the Akron area and played college football at Ohio State before being drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1997. Vrabel coached the linebackers and defensive line at Ohio State from 2011 to 2013 .
Vrabel will join the Browns coaching staff led by Kevin Stefanski, who enters his fifth season as the team’s head coach. Cleveland is coming off an 11-6 season that ended with a loss to the Houston Texans during Super Wild Card Weekend.
Vrabel was dropped by the Titans in January after a 6-11 season in 2023. Although his tenure in Nashville ended on a sour note, the majority of Vrabel’s six years with the Titans were largely positive.
Tennessee went 9-7 in Vrabel’s first two seasons and made the playoffs in his second year with the team. The 2019 Titans shocked Tom Brady and the Patriots in the wild card round before upsetting Lamar Jackson and the top-seeded Ravens the following week to earn a spot in the AFC Championship Game. Tennessee ultimately fell in this game to Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the eventual champion Chiefs.
The Titans won 23 regular season games over the next two years, including a 12-5 record in 2021. Vrabel was named Coach of the Year that season as the Titans overcame several notable injuries.
However, Tennessee went 0-2 in the playoffs during that span and did not qualify for the playoffs in 2022 after going 7-10. The fall of the Titans continued into 2023, which ultimately resulted in Vrabel’s release.
Vrabel’s only other NFL coaching experience came with the Houston Texans. He served as the team’s linebackers coach from 2014 to 2016 and was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2017.
Vrabel is the latest former head coach to accept a significantly smaller role shortly after. In 2022, former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores accepted an assistant position with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was named defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings a year later after experiencing success in his only year on Pittsburgh’s staff.
Vrabel surely hopes his time in Cleveland will help him land a better opportunity in the near future.
