Photo: Getty Images
The Cleveland Browns have reportedly hired Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel as a consultant, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported on Friday (March 15).
"#Browns coach Kevin Stefanski and GM Andrew Berry have hired Mike Vrabel to serve as a consultant for the Browns, per me and @TomPelissero. The former #Titans coach and Coach of the Year had been with them in Indy at the Combine and will work them this season," Rapoport wrote on his X account.
Vrabel, 48, an Akron native and former Ohio State linebacker, was fired by the Titans in January in what was one of the most surprising coaching decisions of the offseason.
Vrabel was the 2021 NFL Coach of the Year and led the Titans to a 54-45 record in six seasons, which included three consecutive playoff berths from 2019 to 2021, as well as an AFC Championship Game appearance in 2019 and the conference's best regular season record in 2021. Tennessee has, however, finished each of the past two seasons with losing records, including a 6-11 finish in 2023.
Vrabel played 14 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers (1997-2000), Kansas City Chiefs (2009-10) and, most notably, the New England Patriots (2001-08), winning three of the franchise's six Super Bowls. The retired linebacker began his coaching career as a linebackers coach at Ohio State in 2011 before being promoted to defensive line coach in 2012.
Vrabel was later hired by the Houston Texans as a linebackers coach in 2014 and promoted to defensive coordinator in 2017 before accepting the Titans' head coaching position.