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Daniel Oyefusi, ESPN
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — The Cleveland Browns were in the midst of one of their first training camp practices at The Greenbrier resort, and Mike Vrabel wasn’t satisfied. He stopped Pro Bowler David Njoku and called him over after a drill in which tight ends were disengaging a blocking bag.
Naturally, Vrabel took the bag’s place, putting his hand on Njoku’s shoulder to show how to discard a defender.
About 15 minutes later, Vrabel raced backup quarterback Jameis Winston in a 30-yard sprint at the conclusion of a throwing drill.
When the Browns broke into walk-throughs not too long after, Vrabel lined up with a crew of backups, assistants and other staffers on scout team defense, backpedaling as a deep safety.
Vrabel, now a consultant for the Browns, is providing insight and energy for a Cleveland team with Super Bowl aspirations.
“You would think he’s a first-time NFL [quality control coach] by how much he’s, like, sprinting up and down the field,” general manager Andrew Berry said.
In January, Vrabel was fired by the Tennessee Titans after six seasons, a 54-45 record and back-to-back losing campaigns. The Browns hired Vrabel in March as a coaching and personnel consultant, a role Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski were unsure the former NFL Coach of the Year would even be open to.
Vrabel, who turns 49 on Wednesday, was viewed as one of the top coaching candidates and interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Chargers. He missed out on the cycle, though, recently telling the “Pardon My Take” podcast that he finished second to Jim Harbaugh for the Chargers job.
The Browns reached out to Vrabel about joining their staff and the two sides met at the NFL combine in late February. Vrabel said his respect for Berry, Stefanski and the team’s ownership drew him to the opportunity.
“There’s 32 flavors in this league, and everybody does it a little differently,” Vrabel said. “So, it’s been fun to be a part of this and try to help where I can and most especially learn.”
Mike Vrabel, blocking dummy pic.twitter.com/SxUBYFgLFg
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) August 4, 2024
He has plenty of relationships with the staff, too, including special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone, who was his teammate with the New England Patriots, and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who served in a similar role when Vrabel was coach of the Titans.
“I was sort of a second set of eyes for him and a sounding board for him and a ‘fill gaps where needed’ guy,” said Schwartz, who’s entering his second season in Cleveland. “[Vrabel] can do all those things. He’s spending most of his time on offense and special teams right now, but it’s just a good resource for us. He’ll make a major contribution to our team.”
Vrabel, an Akron, Ohio, native who grew up a Browns fan and was an All-American at Ohio State, also got a homecoming.
“Absolutely ate the dog bones,” Vrabel said, referring to an old tradition of Browns fans consuming dog biscuits in support of the team. “You know, I don’t think you were a Browns fan in middle school in northeast Ohio if you didn’t try to get down a couple of those.”
In his short time with the Browns, Vrabel has taken on myriad roles. He’s discussed personnel decisions with Berry and contributed to the pre-draft process, watching film and writing prospect evaluations. He’s sat in on offensive meetings and provided his perspective as someone who has coached and played on the other side.
“[He] helps me a ton in all the head-coaching areas,” Stefanski said. “I can bounce things off of him. [He] helps our personnel group because he’s got a very good eye for personnel. And then I just think it’s valuable to have a former defensive player, former defensive coach in the offensive meeting.”
On the field, Vrabel is working extensively with the tight ends. In Tennessee, Vrabel was known for being fully engaged in practices, whether it was using himself as a blocking dummy or jumping in on post-practice conditioning sprints. It’s been no different in Cleveland.
“He’s a very hands-on guy,” Njoku said. “Very old-school guy. He finds ways to get not necessarily under my skin but he tries to get in my head. And then I get mad, and then we start going at it. He’s a great old-fashioned coach.”
As for his mid-practice races with Winston?
“We do the routes on air and after the last ball is thrown, they started taking off in the offseason,” Vrabel said. “And I thought, well, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to get these old bones moving. So now we just try to have a little bit of fun with it.”
Vrabel won’t have a regular-season game-day role but will continue to assist with preparation and be in attendance at games.
He’s the latest former head coach to stay around the game and aid a team in a consultant or advisory role. Former Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis assisted Antonio Pierce as an advisor for his final nine games as interim coach of the Las Vegas Raiders last season. When Pierce was named head coach, he hired Lewis as assistant head coach. And Vic Fangio, after being fired as Denver Broncos head coach, worked as a consultant for the Philadelphia Eagles during their prep for Super Bowl LVII. After one season as the Miami Dolphins‘ defensive coordinator, he joined the Eagles as their new DC.
“I really helped the offense. I’d say 95 percent of any of my contributions were to the offense and 5 percent to the defense,” Fangio said in May. “That’s basically what I was doing, trying to give the offensive coaches a pre-look at the defense they’re going against, what could possibly hurt them, what’s their strengths, what’s their weaknesses. Schematically, where they can be attacked maybe and not attacked.”
More than anything, Vrabel has been able to reset after a pressure-filled time in Tennessee.
“The essence of coaching is trying to make a connection with players, to teach them and develop them, make them better than what they are when you begin working with them,” Vrabel said. “I always love that, something that I always try to do. But then sometimes as you work your way towards a head coach, some of those opportunities may diminish. But it’s been good for me. It’s been what I love to do. I love trying to help players and help people improve and also try to learn myself along the way.”
When asked if he wants to return to a head-coaching role, Vrabel said he would “at the right time.” For now, he’s enjoying a partnership that’s been mutually beneficial.
“We’re probably on borrowed time with him, but we’re going to maximize it as much as possible. … We are certainly getting our money’s worth with Mike, and we couldn’t be more pleased to have him here with us,” Berry said.
