Mike Vrabel's next head coaching job may already be decided, per ESPN analyst
“I think Vrabel’s spoken for.”
Former Tennessee Titans Head Coach Mike Vrabel is the hottest coach on the 2025 market. At this point, it seems the question is more “where” than it is “if” he is coaching next fall. And on Tuesday’s Pat McAfee Show, ESPN Analyst Dan Orlovsky indicated his next gig may already be determined behind the scenes.
"I think Vrabel's spoken for" Orlovsky said with a sly look on his face. "I just think that Vrabel's probably got a very clear… sight and path with where he is going to be likely coaching. He'll be coaching football."
This is a clip I can describe to you in writing, but to truly understand it, you need to listen for yourself.
"I think there's a vision for where he likely ends up coaching next year." Orlovsky regurgitated when pressed on the topic by McAfee and friends.
Orlovsky’s obfuscation skated right over the insinuation by the show’s panel of characters that Ohio State could be the pre-determined landing spot for Vrabel next season. Dan just smirks through it all, clearly wary to say anything that could get him in trouble. But the body language here reads like somebody who knows some relatively concrete information and is just worried to say too much, not that he might be incorrect. Whatever he seems to know, he makes it sound like it’s very well-sourced.
Vrabel to Ohio State is of course something that’s been floated by everybody at some point in the past couple years, as Head Coach Ryan Day has continued to come up short year after year at the helm of Ohio’s biggest program. Day and the Buckeyes play in the College Football Playoff this Saturday, hosting the Tennessee Volunteers in the first round. Get bounced by UT, and Day’s job seems likely to be all but lost. Then the real speculation firestorm will begin.
Vrabel played at Ohio State before his NFL career, having grown up in Ohio. He also Coached at OSU under Urban Meyer before coaching in the NFL ranks. While the common pushback on Vrabel to coach college is the recruitment circus of the job (which understandably seems like something Vrabel would hate), the new direction of CFB towards a more professional structure might mitigate that factor. Schools like Stanford and North Carolina have recently announced they’ll be operating with a GM role who will handle NIL and some recruiting responsibilities, and a head coach who will help with recruiting and otherwise just focus on football. That sounds like something Vrabel could work with.
but before we all go assuming Vrabel is the heir apparent to Ryan Day, we also heard from NFL Insider Albert Breer on ESPN radio Tuesday morning that Vrabel is the name at the very top of the Chicago Bears’ list this offseason.
Not only is Vrabel atop their list, but what his staff would look like also seems to be something he and Chicago have at least discussed some before. Perhaps Chicago is the spot he’s already planning on heading for 2025. That fit would be… interesting. You can read more on Vrabel’s NFL fits here.
Wherever he lands, the backstory on how the marriage came together promises to be an interesting one. And the announcement could come sooner than we previously expected.
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