Once the 2023 NFL season was over for most of the teams in the league, with the rest heading to the postseason, many coaches were handed their walking papers as per usual during this time of year.
Although plenty of head coaches, like Ron Rivera and Arthur Smith, were expected to be fired, a few firings around the league were surprising, to say the least.
Perhaps the most surprising, which no one saw coming, was the Tennessee Titans parting ways with Mike Vrabel, who had been rumored to be traded to the New England Patriots if the team parted ways with Bill Belichick.
Ironically enough, the Patriots did fire Belichick, and then Vrabel was there for the taking, but New England went with Jerod Mayo instead, which seems like it was the plan all along for Robert Kraft and company.
With Vrabel a free agent, it seemed inevitable that it wouldn’t take long for him to find another job, but that hasn’t been the case, as Dianna Russini of The Athletic is reporting that his physical size intimidated people in interviews, via James Foster.
“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,” Russini reported.
Dianna Russini asked about Mike Vrabel on The Athletic Football Show:
“I don’t think there was a fit for him. 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…
— James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm) February 5, 2024
Of all things for a former player turned head coach to be not hired, it was the size of the human being interviewing for jobs and how intimidating he could be sitting on the other side of the table.
In most coaching situations, that would be considered an asset, with Vrabel and someone like Dan Campbell using that to their advantage to motivate players, but it didn’t seem to work this time around for the former Titans head coach.
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