The Chicago Bears are going to be making some key decisions here, soon, in regards to their head coaching vacancy.
One of the top candidates who might just get the job is former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel who also spent the past season in Cleveland as a consultant for the Browns.
On the latest episode of the Scoop City podcast, The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt joined senior insider Dianna Russini and former NFL quarterback Chase Daniel to discuss the time he spent with Vrabel, in Cleveland, over the last six months.
Rosenblatt began by simply telling us about who Vrabel was beyond just being a football coach, and despite the public perception, Vrabel is indeed a great human being who cares about people:
"Just to pull back the curtain completely ... the first time I met him, we got together at this bar in Nashville ... the first 30 minutes he wouldn't let me get a word in because he was asking about me and my life."
"The perception of him, when you don't know him, is he's this hard ass coach ... when you just sit down and talk to him, he's not what people think he is," Rosenblatt explained.
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He talked about a human side of Vrabel and went into details about how, when he was in Tennessee, Vrabel created such a warm family environment while also holding players accountable. He had the right mix of being both a caring, family-oriented man but also someone who instilled a hard-nosed culture within his locker room.
There's been another perception of Vrabel, too, that he is well-connected around the league and would be able to build an excellent staff. Rosenblatt touched on this too, noting that it was easy to see how and why Vrabel created so many relationships over the years.
So, the idea that Vrabel is connected and could put together a strong staff is certainly true. Although he's a defensive mind, Vrabel is someone who has previously hired coaches like Matt LaFleur and Arthur Smith, who have both had tremendous success at different spots.
Mike Vrabel might just be the head coach these Chicago Bears need
Rosenblatt said he learned a lot about Vrabel's experience with the Browns from folks like head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry. They spoke so highly of Vrabel and some of the main takeaways should excite Bears fans who are wanting a coach to change the culture:
"The thing they all constantly were talking about, number one, how intense he is at practice and how he really likes to get into it with them. And they were like, 'we were constantly worried he was going to get hurt.'"
Hearing stories of Vrabel out on the field with Browns players, even as just a "consultant," was refreshing. He wasn't necessarily a coach, but Vrabel was out on the field practicing and lining up at certain positions in order to help those players.
One of the biggest points which Bears fans will love to learn about Vrabel and what he desires in his next head coaching job is in regards to the type of offensive coordinator he will hire. Vrabel told Rosenblatt that he wants a quarterback he can win with but also a coordinator who is smart enough to make changes when needed:
"He (Vrabel) needs an offensive coordinator who is willing to adapt week to week." Rosenblatt told Russini and Daniel.
This, maybe above all else, will hit home for Bears fans. This fan base has witnessed far too many examples of offensive coordinators and play callers who are unwilling to adapt on the fly, thus leaving the offense as one of the more stale and predictable units in the league for years now. It hasn't mattered who is calling the shots, offensively. It's been the same story, year-in and year-out.
Overall, the entirety of the interview was eye-opening for the average fan who may not know a whole lot about Vrabel aside from what you see on the surface and hear from media on a daily basis.
The idea of Vrabel being the next head coach of the Chicago Bears should be one that every fan can get on board with, if he ends up being the right man for the job.