For over 30 years, Cleveland fans have watched Mike Vrabel’s NFL career unfold as an opposing athlete and coach.
Vrabel – who starred at Ohio State in the 1990s – was drafted by the rival Pittsburgh Steelers, playing there for four seasons before joining the New England Patriots for three Super Bowl runs in the 2000s.
During the past decade, Vrabel served as a coach for two different AFC franchises, last serving as the Tennessee Titans head coach until the end of the 2023 regular season.
This year, Browns fans will finally see Vrabel wearing their team colors as Cleveland hired the former Buckeye to serve as a consultant under head coach Kevin Stefanski.
After Stefanski’s interview Friday morning on a local radio show, Browns insider and the show’s co-host Anthony Lima posted to Twitter that Vrabel “has a much larger role in helping the team than I thought.”
Will post Stefanski soon. Was in for an hour.
He took us behind the scenes on his role in scouting players and working with Berry.
Mike Vrabel has a much larger role in helping the team than I thought.
Heard him go more in depth than ever on how analytics have shaped team
— Anthony Lima (@SportsBoyTony) April 19, 2024
On the show, Lima solicited Stefanski’s opinions of the new Browns assistant and how he was involved in the day-to-day processes with the team.
Stefanski called Vrabel a friend and said that the former head coach will be a “resource” he can talk to throughout the season now that both men are on the same staff.
Vrabel is also helping the Browns’ staff prepare for the new kickoff rule changes, Stefanski explained.
Browns GM Andrew Berry has also relied on Vrabel for assessments on prospects Cleveland will target in the upcoming draft, Stefanski said.
In the interview, Stefanski recalled how he approached Vrabel about joining the staff, explaining that he called Vrabel after he was not hired by another franchise to be their next head coach.
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