Mike Vrabel settles the debate that's been ongoing since his time as the head coach of the Tennessee Titans
The debate started almost immediately after the Tennessee Titans hired Mike Vrabel as the franchise's head coach in 2018. Is Vrabel a branch of the Bill Belichick coaching tree? Some fans and analysts have answered that question with a resounding "yes" over the last seven years, while others like to point out that while Vrabel […]
The debate started almost immediately after the Tennessee Titans hired Mike Vrabel as the franchise's head coach in 2018.
Is Vrabel a branch of the Bill Belichick coaching tree?
Some fans and analysts have answered that question with a resounding "yes" over the last seven years, while others like to point out that while Vrabel spent eight seasons as a player with the Patriots under Belichick, he never actually coached under Belichick.
On Monday, while speaking with 98.5 The Sports Hub at the NFL league meetings in Florida, Vrabel settled the debate once and for all.
"When you see me and you see me coach or you see me interact, do you feel like I’m from that lineage?," asked Vrabel to host Mike Felger.
"No," responded Felger.
"Me neither," agreed Vrabel.
"I never worked for Bill Belichick as a coach," added Vrabel. "There was a lot of things that I learned from him as a player that I’ve used, but just like with Urban Meyer, or just like with anybody else that I’ve worked for, I try to take those things, but do it in my own personality, my own style.”
Playing for a coach is a lot different than working alongside a coach. Vrabel only saw Belichick through the lens of a player during their eight seasons together in New England. While there's undoubtedly some things that Vrabel learned as a player from watching Belichick, he didn't get to see that much of the behind-the-scenes work that Belichick put in as a coach.
If anything, Vrabel is a water sprout of the Belichick coaching tree, due to the time he spent on the Houston Texans' coaching staff under then Texans head coach Bill O'Brien, a former Patriots assistant coach under Belichick.
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