Former Patriots great Mike Vrabel is a free agent coach-for-hire, after being let go by Tennessee on Tuesday.
Counting the Titans, there’s six openings for head coaches, with more likely to come. During the latest “Eye on Foxborough” podcast, former Patriots quarterback and current 98.5 The Sports Hub host Scott Zolak offered his take on Vrabel, who would be in the equation in New England if the team moves on from Bill Belichick.
Zolak, who also broadcasts the games with radio play-by-play man Bob Socci, said he was taken aback that the Tennessee Titans turned Vrabel loose.
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“Vrabel is such a good fit to be potentially, a coach here. But I never considered it, because (expletive) Tennessee got rid of him,” Zolak said. “When you look at some of these coaches and some of these coordinators who have no experience, Mike’s been a player. He’s won championships, multi-championships. He went to Ohio State. He coached at Ohio State. He coached under Billy O’Brien in Houston. He worked alongside Romeo Crennel, one of my favorite coaches of all time. And then won two playoff games.”
Zolak also pointed out that Vrabel used Belichick’s NFL Rulebook loophole against him in a playoff game.
Vrabel exploited a rule that allowed Tennessee to run one minute and 49 seconds off the clock without running a single play during the Titans 20-13 postseason win over the Patriots, and it was a bit of a reversal, because it was the same strategy that Belichick used during a 33-0 win over the Jets earlier in the year.
“Mike’s a damn good coach,” said Zolak, who also described Vrabel as being a “prickly” guy.
Zolak recalled when the Patriots and Titans had joint practices, Vrabel was a popular guy. He noted how people tended to “gravitate” towards Vrabel.
“To see the amount of guys like Brady or Bill, just stop and talk to Mike for hours, and hold our busses up,” said Zolak. “That doesn’t happen anywhere else, because they love Mike.”
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