Vrabel Could Thrive As Lions’ Head Coach: “He’s Headed For Great Things”

Dec 10, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel sits on the bench during the game against the San Francisco 49ers at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

By Will Burchfield

January 3, 2018

Lions fans might not be all that familiar with Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel who will interview with the team on Wednesday for its head coaching vacancy.

Allow Texans beat writer John McClain of the Houston Chronicle to introduce him.

“I’m in my 39th year of covering the NFL, and Mike, as an assistant coach, has got head coach written all over him more than anyone I’ve ever covered,” McClain told 97.1 The Ticket.

Why?

“Not only did he have great credentials as an outside linebacker with the Steelers, Patriots and Chiefs, but everybody he played for, including Bill Belichick, knew that he wanted to be a coach. He didn’t make any bones about it.

“He has talked to Belichick a lot about coaching, why he did things organizationally, as well as the team on the field and off the field,” said McClain.

Vrabel, a one-time All-Pro and three-time Super Bowl champ, enjoyed a 14-year career before getting into coaching. He joined his alma mater, Ohio State, in 2011 as a linebackers/defensive line coach and made the jump to the NFL in 2014 as the Texans linebackers coach.

Houston promoted him to defensive coordinator this season, in large part because other NFL teams were trying to poach him. The Texans defense was ravaged by injuries and allowed the most points in the league, but that did nothing to change McClain’s conviction about Vrabel’s potential as a head coach.

He has that uncanny knack for getting the most out of his players.

“Mike is a very forceful person,” McClain said. “He’s a great interview, he exudes confidence. The players who played under him at linebacker swore by him. Every coach, including (Texans head coach) Bill O’Brien, will tell you: At some point, whether it’s with the Lions or another team, Mike Vrabel’s going to be a head coach.”

In addition to the Lions, Vrabel is expected to interview with the Colts. The belief around Houston is that he’s as good as gone.

If Detroit is Vrabel’s next stop, the Lions will get a gruff, spirited, defensive-minded head coach — a stark departure from Jim Caldwell, who the team fired on Monday.

“He is tough on the players, very demanding. But he’s also very fair. He doesn’t wear his Super Bowl rings, but the players know — not from him but from the media — how successful he was, what a leader he was and how he’s always wanted to be a coach,” McClain said.

He added, “Mike was always a very commanding presence. I know he would get respect from his players.”

That’s not to say Caldwell lacked respect in the Lions’ locker room. Far from it. But his ability to motivate his players seemed to wane as his tenure wore on. The Lions came out flat in far too many games this season, and it cost them down the stretch.

By all accounts, Vrabel has no trouble inspiring his troops. Players respond to his strong personality and on-field success.

Lions general manager Bob Quinn is familiar with Vrabel as the two spent eight years together in the Patriots organization. Such a connection could give Vrabel an edge in the interview process.

McClain said it’s only a matter of time before Vrabel lands a head coaching gig. In many ways, it’s always been his calling. He joined the Texans’ staff in 2014 because he wanted to study under Romeo Crennel, his defensive coordinator for four seasons with the Patriots.

Crennel, at the time, was the Texans defensive coordinator.

“He wanted to learn more from Romeo. Not just about playing and coaching as he did with the Patriots, but about coaching a defense, about doing everything it takes to run a successful defense,” McClain said. “Crennel swears by him, too.

“I don’t know anybody who’s worked with Vrabel who doesn’t really respect Mike and believe he’s headed for great things in the NFL.”

The Lions interviewed two in-house head coaching candidates on Tuesday in offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. They’re expected to sit down with Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and Packers linebacker coach Winston Moss on Thursday and Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia over the weekend.

Mike Vrabel’s Name Keeps Popping Up as a Candidate for a Head Coach Opening. Here’s Why

Quickly

• The former Patriots linebacker spent just one year as a coordinator with the Texans, and his unit didn’t perform particularly well. Still, he’s a prime candidate for a 2018 head coaching job. It’s his commanding presence, the Belichick connection—and the sense that if you want him, you’d better get him now

By Peter King
January 2, 2018

If you ask me what has surprised me the most over the past five days, since I’ve been asking team people and some coaches with jobs about the various coaching searches around the NFL,
I would say it comes down to this name: Houston defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel.

I have heard four people from four different teams bring up Vrabel as a possible 2018 head coach, and certainly as someone whom teams will be interested in interviewing. Detroit GM Bob Quinn will interview him for the Lions’ vacancy on Wednesday, and The MMQB’s Albert Breer says Indianapolis and Arizona could also be interested in talking to Vrabel about their openings.

The 42-year-old Vrabel, coming off his first season as a coordinator, will have some difficult questions to answer, including this one: You coached the worst scoring defense in the league in your only year as coordinator—why should we hire you as our head coach?

That will be a big one to get over. The Texans allowed seven points more per game in 2017 than in ’16, and Vrabel’s unit struggled to get over the early losses of Whitney Mercilus and J.J. Watt. So it’s a legitimate question, and one that coaches who have waited for an opportunity will pounce on if Vrabel gets his shot so soon.

“Of all the guys in this pool, the one I’d say who has the chance to be the best head coach is Vrabel,” one current NFL head coach with no ties to Vrabel told me on Monday. “It’s his presence, and the people he’s been around and learned from.”

Overall, the enthusiasm about Vrabel stems from these facts: He played on winning teams and know what it takes to win; he carries a lot of Bill Belichick with him from eight years as a Patriot; he has a commanding presence in front of players; and he’s seen as a unifier who can help build a winner. Fair or unfair, that’s his rep in NFL circles at the start of this hiring process. Don’t underestimate the Belichick connection.

Vrabel’s brief bio:

• Defensive end, Ohio State, 1993-96
• Steelers linebacker/special-teamer under Bill Cowher, 1997-2000
• Patriots Swiss army knife player (pass-rusher/tight end, special-teamer) under Belichick, 2001-08
• Chiefs linebacker, 2009-10
• Ohio State assistant, 2011-13
• Texans linebackers coach, 2014-16
• Texans defensive coordinator, 2017

Vrabel is of the unique players of the Belichick era in New England. He once had three sacks and a touchdown catch in a Patriots game, and he caught TD passes from Tom Brady in two of Vrabel’s three Super Bowls with the team.

Those who know him, or have seen him coach, or have been teammates with him over his 14-year playing career say Vrabel has it. He has a strong presence in front of players, and players respond to him. He was never afraid to spar with Belichick, or to reinforce Belichick’s locker-room message. When Vrabel left Kansas City after the 2010 season, I’m told he was the most respected man in the locker room. After retiring in 2011 and beginning his coaching career at Ohio State, he had a major impact on recruiting.

Now, starting in Detroit on Wednesday, he’ll have to convince general managers and perhaps owners, if he climbs that high in the process, that he’s experienced enough to be a head coach now—and will have a plan for the offensive side of the ball. Who his offensive coordinator would be if he gets a shot is unknown.

For those who’d say it’s a year or two too early for Vrabel, I’d say this: Sean McVay got his job with the Rams at age 30 in 2017. Mike Tomlin got his job with the Steelers at 36 in 2007. The mantra around the league when those guys were hired was, basically, it’s too soon. And sometimes it is too soon for young coaches who make the leap early. But I’m reminded of what the late Dan Rooney, Steelers boss, told me when I asked him whether Tomlin might have been hired a year or two before he was ready for the big step. Paraphrasing, Rooney said: We wouldn’t be looking for a coach in a year or two. We’re looking for one now. And he wouldn’t be available the next time we’d be looking for a coach.

In coaching hires, when you like a guy, and he might be greener than you’d prefer, you’d better get him now. Vrabel might be that guy this hiring cycle.

There’s a much better alternative for GOP than toxic Hagan

Anthony Gonzalez, when he played for Ohio State. Columnist Brent Larkin believes Gonzalez is young, bright and genuinely cares about issues related to all Americans — not just some.

By Brent Larkin

December 28, 2017

Greater Cleveland Republicans involved in exacerbating their party's moral decay should circle next May 8 on their calendars.

That's when they can nominate a candidate for Congress in a rock-solid Republican district who is easily capable of losing that safe seat to a Democrat next November.

If those same Republicans don't care if they lose control of the U.S. House, Canton area State Rep. Christina Hagan is their candidate. She's a resident of the party's lunatic fringe, firmly aligned with the Steve Bannon wing of President Donald Trump's version of the Republican Party.

That's the same Trump-Bannon alliance that enthusiastically embraced failed Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, a homophobic slavery apologist brought down by credible allegations that he made numerous sexual advances to under-aged girls.

As Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell aptly put it, "I believe the women."

Roy Moore: Banned at the mall. Embraced by the president of the United States and his shadowy handler.

Hagan is a candidate for the open congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Jim Renacci. Ohio's 16th Congressional District meanders its way from Stark and Wayne counties, north through parts of Portage, Summit and Medina counties, into Cuyahoga - all or parts of Strongsville, Middleburg Heights, Parma Heights, Parma, North Olmsted, Olmsted Falls, Fairview Park, Rocky River and Westlake.

The 28-year-old Hagan is a member in good standing of what is widely referred to in Columbus - by Republicans as well as Democrats - as the GOP's "caveman caucus." She twists the truth on guns and state finances, and is an author of the "heartbeat bill," an unconstitutionally restrictive abortion law vetoed by Gov. John Kasich.

Hagan proudly boasts of her unwavering support for Trump, Bannon, and Jesus Christ, not necessarily in that order. Her campaign website solemnly proclaims, "Christina believes when we fix our hearts and attention on Jesus, the founder, the author of our faith, things begin to change."

How all that "attention on Jesus" fits in with a president accused of predatory behavior by a dozen women is unexplained in Hagan's spiritual biography. It's all part of the blind spot those on the religious right have with people like Trump and Roy Moore. And it's at the core of a hypocrisy that seems to constitute the essence of their very being.

So toxic is Hagan's candidacy that normal Republican leaders in the district's southern end, near where she lives, seem to be pretending she doesn't exist. Hagan actually resides in Rep. Bob Gibbs' district.
Corry Bliss was Sen. Rob Portman's 2016 campaign manager and now runs a super-PAC hoping to preserve the GOP's House majority in 2018. The day after Moore's defeat in Alabama, Bliss explained the danger of Republicans fielding unfit candidates for Congress.

"History tells us the House is in jeopardy," he said. "Last night is a reminder that candidates matter, there's no votes in pedophilia, and next year we need to nominate strong candidates who can raise money."
Hagan fits none of those prerequisites. Fortunately, Republicans in the district have a far better option.

He is Anthony Gonzalez, a 33-year-old Greater Cleveland native, and a football star while at St. Ignatius High School and Ohio State University. When Gonzalez's NFL career was cut short by injuries, he was accepted at Stanford Business School, where he earned a master's degree.

Gonzalez is a thoughtful conservative. He's young, bright and genuinely cares about issues related to all Americans - not just some. His Cuban ancestry and star-quality potential represent everything the Republican Party should embrace.

Most, though hardly all, Republicans have figured that out. Despite never running for office, Gonzalez is crushing Hagan in the fundraising race. What's more, the Cuyahoga County Republican Party, whose leaders not long ago tried mightily to wreck the Gonzalez candidacy, is about to endorse him. Cuyahoga County represents the largest segment of the district's electorate.

Hagan's campaign manager pathetically refers to Gonzalez as a "swamp puppet." And as she falls behind in this race, expect Hagan to get nasty. (Though she'll first probably pray for permission.)

The guest of honor at a Dec. 18 event for Hagan in Stark County was Sebastian Gorka, a Bannon acolyte and former White House staffer who now works at Fox News. Gorka told Hagan supporters Trump needs her in Congress "to help make America great again." That's the same Gorka who referred to Roy Moore's primary election win in Alabama as a "revolutionary moment in American politics."

Repulsive yes. Revolutionary hardly.

Sometime next year, Hagan's candidacy will end the same way as Moore's.