Coaching Consultant Mike Vrabel (7.30.24)
So, what’s this experience been like? We see you everywhere on the field. Sometimes you’re running with Jameis (Winston), sometimes you’re blocking with David (Njoku), sometimes you’re running scout team linebackers. What’s this experience been like for these past couple of months?
“Well, it’s been amazing to be able to get back on the field and coach and try to help where I can and most importantly learn. Be a part of a great staff with some really great veteran coaches, with some really great young and up and coming coaches. So, wherever I can help, I’m more than willing to try to do that.”
And when Andrew (Berry) and Kevin (Stefanski) kind of reached out to you about this opportunity, Andrew was saying that he didn’t think that you would even be up for it. I’m sure you had other opportunities, maybe you could have taken the year off and spent some time with your family. What felt right about this opportunity?
“Well, I think that one, I have a lot of respect for this organization. What Jimmy and Dee (Haslam) have done, a ton of respect for Andrew and Kevin and what they’ve been able to do in a short amount of time. And, you know, I trust them. I trust them that they would do right by me and that they would help me and that the position and the fit would be beneficial to everybody.”“
Mike, you’ve been very hands on with tight ends all offseason and here, why that position group?
“Well, I mean, I think that’s, that’s my role. That’s what’s been asked of me from the head coach, from Kevin. I felt like that would be the best place to be. And so tried to absolutely embrace that and get to know those players on a personal level and a professional level and help Tommy (Rees) and Nemo (Washington) where I can.”
What about special teams as well?
“Well, I think that’s an easy transition for me. That’s something that I’ve always been a part of, and I have history with Bubba (Ventrone). We were teammates. And what he’s been able to do, transitioning from a player to a coach to be able to help him and (Stephen) Bravo (Brown) where I can. I played some of those positions, helped coach some of those positions. That’s been something that’s been pretty easy.”
Your races with Jameis have been a big highlight and a hit of camp. So, tell us how those got started and how are they going?
“Yeah, I think the quarterbacks, to their credit, they’re not trying to waste any time or waste any reps. And so, you know, we do the routes on air and after the last ball is thrown, they started taking off in the offseason and I thought well, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to get these old bones moving and then, you know, so now we just try to have a little bit of fun with it. And certainly, those guys are trying to get their work in and focus on the timing with the receivers, but then also, you know, they’re not wasting a rep and they’re taking advantage of getting their conditioning in and then also getting back down to the other side to where, you know, we can get going again.”
What have you learned about Tommy Rees just as you’ve gotten to know him and working with that tight end group?
“You know, I’ve always kind of known of Tommy, never worked together. A lot of respect for really what he’s been able to provide from an overall offensive perspective. I think quarterbacks have a unique way of doing that and seeing things from protection and from the route concepts to the run game. Quarterbacks have always had a great grasp of that, and he’s carried that through as a tight ends coach, which is always critical. Tight ends are involved in both of those phases, really all three of the phases in the run blocking. And sometimes, you know, we even are in protection in some different pass concepts and then, you know, what we’re doing in the passing game. So that’s been helpful for me to kind of learn the system well enough to be able to explain or answer something and Nemo has been able to do the same thing being here with the Browns for a few years.”
What was your timeline of from January on, thinking maybe you’d get another job or wondering what was actually going to be next?
“Well, certainly wanted to take every opportunity and talk to everybody that called and had some, some great interviews, met with some great organizations. They decided to go in a different direction, which happens sometimes, and then was able to hear from Andrew and Kevin and keep those conversations going. Met at the combine and visited and talked and got to know their staff. I mean, there’s a lot of great people here. They’ve hired great people, and they empower them to do their job. They give them ownership from a personnel perspective, from an analytics perspective, from a player development perspective, and then, you know, ultimately, a coaching perspective.”
Was the ending in Tennessee surprising to you or did you see it coming?
“Nothing surprised me. This is my 25th NFL training camp, so I would say that nothing surprises me in the National Football League. That’s part of the job. I think it’s disappointing. I think you’re disappointed that you couldn’t do the job the way that they wanted it, or they envisioned it. But again, this is the opportunity that I think is best for me right now to be able to go through draft meetings, personnel meetings with Andrew and his staff and see how that all got navigated and how they may do things. There’s 32 flavors in this league, and everybody does it a little differently. So, it’s been fun to be a part of this and try to help where I can and most especially learn.”
How do you find yourself contributing in those pre-draft meetings?
“Well, just where they give you a list of players, you try to evaluate them, you try to figure out what they can do, figure out what they do best, figure out what their areas of focus are, write up a report, and then when asked about them in the meeting, try to give a concise answer to how you see the player, how they could fit, what roles they could fill, what positions they may be able to play. And if they don’t call on you, then you just go on to the next player. And so that’s pretty much how those draft meetings went for me. It was a select group of guys that Andrew and his staff gave me to evaluate, and I tried to do the best job that I could do at that.”
Just how much of a Browns fan were you growing up? Did you ever eat a dog bone?
“Absolutely ate the dog bones. You know, I mean, 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. You know, because they were necklaces, right? They make the dog bones into necklaces, and then you just kind of, you know, go down and grab one every once in a while. But, you know, it’s a long time and you go in different directions, but I certainly grew up a Browns fan, went to games and loved a lot of those former players that made this tradition great and you recognize how huge the fan base is in this area and how they embrace football, not only professional football, but high school football in this area and college football. So, it’s certainly a football town.”
Mike, how much have you been able to kind of recharge yourself? Because getting, you know, back to just coaching and watching you out there, it seems like the energy and everything, have you sort of recharged and more importantly, has it allowed you go back to your roots a little bit?
“Well, I think you always, you know, that’s 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. 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, 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.”
Do you have a role carved out for game day yet?
“There won’t be a role on game day. You know, that’s something that we had talked about prior to doing this, which is the right fit for everybody. And so, I’m going to try to do anything that they ask me to do and be available to help throughout the week and then move ahead to the next opponent. And so that will all kind of happen organically, but that’s where I see it. And right now, just based off my conversations with Kevin and…”
Will you be at games?
“Sure. Yeah, I mean, there’ll be games that I’ll be at and support, you know, as a fan and have a vested interest in our players playing well and then us winning.”
Mike, you spoke about having those great interviews that may have went a different direction. Is the goal, you know, to get back to that head coaching role?
“Sure. And, I mean, at the right time, there’s a time and place for that. It’s not going to be anytime soon. So, I think that things that I’ll ultimately learn here may help me the next time that, you know, I get an opportunity to have one of those interviews. This is what I’m focused on, focused on doing that and learning here and helping. And then, you know, if those opportunities present themselves after the season, then I’ll absolutely try to do that.”
Mike, the new kickoff play that they’ve put in, how much fun have you had with Bubba just trying to come up, not only learn what the rules are, but, you know, coming up with, you know, various schemes that you can…?
“Yeah, and I think a lot of it is just, you know, there can be some scheme, and really we’re just focused on fundamentals right now and how critical that is, the technique and the fundamentals that’s required in those types of plays. One of the hardest skills before they changed the rule was, was kickoff return block. I mean, you’re trying to back up, you know, you have a skilled player, a fast athlete that’s coming at you from a distance. And so, it’s a three way go. Those were tough blocks. And so, we’re trying to coach those techniques and fundamentals and I know that we believe that that’s what separates good players. Two equally talented players, effort and technique sometimes can make the difference between that matchup.”
Separate from this, I know Walsh Jesuit’s retiring your jersey. What does that mean to you to get that honor from your school?
“Well, you know, I think that’s where the foundation was. I mean, Gerry Rardin was and is, you know, a good mentor for me, my high school football coach, who’s still a part of that school. I think that’s where the foundation is laid and that education there, the community at Walsh and everything that that it was provided me as I went on into Ohio State and ultimately the NFL. So, excited to be back in this area that’s going to allow for me to be around a little bit more often and enjoy some of those things at the school.”
How much has this experience, I mean, just like you’re having so much fun out there, it sort of looks like innocent, just football fun. Is this experience maybe in some ways, without all the pressure and all the extraneous stuff that goes with the football coach, put a little bit of the fun back into it?
“I think it’s a good reminder. I think it’s always a good reminder as you reflect on, you know, ultimately what this is. And it’s a game and get that it’s a business and it’s a competitive business, but not losing sight of that and not losing sight of, you know, being able to enjoy it along the way. You can work hard and have a good time at the same time. I think that that’s something that’s always important to remember.”
And might you carry that over into your next job? Just this sort of sense of fun that you have.
“Well, probably going in, I think you will. But then sometimes things change, so I have to remember that when things change.”
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