The New York Jets are set to interview Mike Vrabel for the vacant head coaching position at their facilities.
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic broke the story on Friday, January 3.
Vrabel served as a coaching and personnel consultant for the Cleveland Browns this season. At the beginning of this week, the Browns released him from his duties so he could get a head start on the head coaching cycle.
Social Media Reacts to Vrabel-Jets Interview
This is the first head coaching interview for Vrabel this cycle.
“Lock the doors. Don’t let Vrabel leave @woodyjohnson4,” NYJ Matt posted on X previously Twitter.
“Hire Mike Vrabel. Let him pick the GM he wants to work with. It’s a no brainer,” ESPN radio host Jake Asman argued.
Typically if NFL teams have vacancies at both head coach and general manager – they hired a GM first. However, SNY NFL Insider Connor Hughes recently revealed that the Jets are heading into this process with an open mind. That includes the potential of hiring a head coach before the general manager.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport called Vrabel “one of the top candidates of this coaching cycle.”
“This is a fascinating interview just because of how coveted Vrabel is,” Rapoport said on “Good Morning Football.” “He is in that building. It is early, obviously, in their coaching search. They are still going to get to work to interview other candidates but this obviously is a key one. Vrabel should be a top candidate for basically any job that is open.”
From @GMFB: Mike Vrabel interviews today with the #Jets. Meanwhile, for #Lions–#Vikings, RB Aaron Jones is dealing with a quad contusion, while LB Alex Anzalone could return this Sunday night. pic.twitter.com/qIIbIWfcbG
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 3, 2025
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Insider Nuggets on Vrabel’s Time Away
Vrabel is a former Coach of the Year in the NFL (2021). With the Tennessee Titans from 2018 through 2023, Vrabel finished with a 54-45 overall record.
He won the AFC South twice and brought the Titans to an AFC Championship game appearance.
Last year the Titans fired Vrabel and he didn’t land one of the vacant head coaching gigs that were available in the NFL.
The past five months Vrabel spent “extensive time” with the folks over at The Athletic as he worked for the Browns.
In the long form column, he talked about what went wrong during his Titans tenure, the “inaccurate perception” league-wide that he is a “hard ass and hard to work with.”
Former Jets head coach Robert Saleh refused to call out players publicly and seemed to prefer a friendly approach. There were several examples listed in The Athletic in Vrabel’s past where he called players out in meetings and preached “accountability.”
“Not everyone appreciated it, and Vrabel admits that, at times, he focused too much on the things players were doing wrong, instead of highlighting the things they were doing right. But most of the Titans locker room understood where he was coming from,” Rosenblatt said.
The Jets haven’t held players accountable this season when mistakes have been made. That has been a core fundamental issue for the team.
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Jets Set to Interview Mike Vrabel For HC Gig; Social Media Explodes