The Chicago Bears are conducting their first interview in what is already looking like an expansive search for their next head coach with Mike Vrabel, the former Tennessee Titans HC and a three-time Super Bowl champion as a player with the New England Patriots, per the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed on January 7.
Vrabel arrives with a significant track record, which should help with the evaluation process, especially considering the weight his experience could have in the vetting process.
Perhaps most importantly, there are no qualms about the culture he would instill.
Mike Vrabel’s Reputation Precedes Him Ahead of Bears HC Interview
HC Record: 54-45
Playoff Record: 2-3
Current Bears Tout Mike Vrabel
That Vrabel is the Bears’ first candidate to interview speaks volumes. The problem is that it is unclear just what it says. They are undoubtedly in need of a culture change, and word of how Vrabel would be in that regard came directly from some of his former players.
“Tell you what, lot of the bulls***’s going to get cut out,” DeMarcus Walker told reporters on January 6. “I’m sorry [for cussing], but that’s the truth, though. I feel like discipline will be laid right down from the first day, so a lot of the small things that we’ve done and got away with, that won’t happen no more.”
Walker spent one season under Vrable, in 2022, before signing with the Bears in 2023.
Current teammate Kevin Byard’s tenure with the Titans began in 2016, before Vrabel’s arrival, and ran into the coach’s final season in 2023.
Byard has seen first-hand how Vrabel’s presence can change an organization’s culture. The Titans had one playoff appearance in nine years before Vrabel arrived in 2018. He led them to the postseason in three of five seasons, including the AFC Championship Game in 2019.
Byard echoed Walker’s sentiments about Vrabel setting a standard, adding praise for the coach.
“He’s definitely one of my all-time favorite coaches. Probably the smartest football mind that I ever been around. One of the few coaches I ever been around that was involved in everything – offense, defense, special teams. He can coach every position on the field,” Byard told CHGO Bears’ Adam Hoge on January 1.
“It was just his want-to to win. Obviously he had done it as a player at a high level for a very long time, so it’s very easy to kind of buy into the things that you know he was coaching and teaching and preaching and stuff like that.”
Mike Vrabel’s HC Tenure a Mixed Bag
Vrabel’s authoritative ways are not for everyone, though that is true of every personality type. A bigger issue is Vrabel-led teams’ lack of offensive success.
During Vrabel’s three consecutive postseason trips from 2019 through 2021, the Titans’ offense ranked (in order) 10th, fourth, and 15th in scoring. In his other three seasons (2018, 2022, and 2023), the Titans’ offense ranked 27th, 28th, and 27th.
There is an argument the Titans’ roster was a bigger issue than the highly-respected Vrabel. His top players loved him.
However, a coach’s ability to right the ship should be a key piece of the Bears’ evaluation process considering their experience this past season.
Vrabel spent the 2024 season as a consultant with the Cleveland Browns, and he has remained an appealing HC option for teams in need. Finding the right offensive coordinator to pair with is essential for Vrabel.
Unfortunately for the Bears, Vrabel’s return to the Patriots appears to be fait accompli.