Mike Vrabel should have gotten another NFL head-coaching job. So why didn't he? | Estes

It seems that, in failing to land another NFL head-coaching job, former Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel was perceived as too … something.

Too much. Too real. Too assertive. Too demanding. Too stubborn.

Too big for his britches. Or even too big, period.

“I had a GM at the Senior Bowl who mentioned to me Vrabel’s physical build,” said NFL reporter Dianna Russini in an appearance on The Athletic Football Show podcast. “That he's a very large human being and can be very intimidating to people in an organization that are going to be part of these decisions. And that is a factor.”

OK, stop laughing. Let's bask in the absurdity. That someone might have to explain one day: "Yeah, I know Vrabel was the NFL Coach of the Year, and I liked him as a candidate. But, I mean, he was such a big dude. People got scared, you know. This is the NFL, not American Gladiators."

Profoundly stupid, and yet, kind of fitting for this latest NFL hiring cycle, which rarely seemed to make sense.

It was more than a little curious to see hires like Dave Canales (Carolina), Dan Quinn (Washington), Raheem Morris (Atlanta) or Mike Macdonald (Seattle) while Vrabel was still standing when the music stopped. So were all-time greats Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll. So was Ben Johnson, the hottest up-and-coming coach available who shockingly chose to remain the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator for the second offseason in a row.

No idea about Johnson's motivation. Snubs for Belichick, 71, and Carroll, 72, can be explained by their ages.

But Vrabel? A lot of people were wrong in thinking he’d have another job lined up the instant he turned in his key card at Saint Thomas Sports Park. A lot of words and thoughts were also wasted in criticizing the Titans for firing Vrabel rather than trying to trade him. Turned out, there was no market for him.

Predictably, the talking heads have been lumping together Vrabel and Belichick. They’ve always wanted to equate those two based on a shared investment in the Patriot Way, when the truth is, Vrabel is not a “Belichick guy." Never has been. Labels like that don’t apply to Vrabel.

He’s his own man as much as any coach ever could be.

And that’s as good an explanation as any for why Vrabel didn’t fit with another team.

The past weeks have reflected how NFL front offices are turning into kinder, more pleasant places. Teams, above all, are craving a coach who'll play nice with others. They want that coach who isn't set in his ways, who'll be willing to learn and adjust to their processes, not the other way around.

And no better example than the Titans. They opted for a younger coach who couldn’t appear more different from Vrabel if he tried. Brian Callahan has been applauded as a quality hire, and he comes across as such a nice guy that he was essentially asked in his introductory press conference whether he’s capable of being a jerk when the situation demands.

“I have a pretty laid-back demeanor most times, as you guys will see,” Callahan said, “but when it's time to make corrections and bring the energy as necessary, I can do that.”

Previously: Brian Callahan, Mike Vrabel couldn't be more different. For Titans, that's the point | Estes

Callahan had no interest in power struggles or trying to control roster decisions with the Titans, I was told. He just wanted to coach the team.

In that way, Callahan looks and sounds very much like the NFL’s future.

Whether that makes big, bad Vrabel a trend of the past, I don't think so. Things change quickly in a copycat league. Sooner or later, the tough-guy coach will be in vogue again.

Until then, no one should feel sorry for Vrabel. He’s owed a hefty buyout from the Titans. On that note, if anyone thinks Vrabel’s old franchise was out there blackballing him in this hiring cycle, that surely wasn’t the case. The Titans wanted Vrabel to land a job to help mitigate payments.

As I've written before and will again, Vrabel’s tenure had run its course in Tennessee. That was for a lot of reasons. But you’d still be hard-pressed to find anyone in the Titans’ building who’d say Vrabel isn’t a good coach. I've seen his flaws up close, too, and I'd feel confident projecting Vrabel to win elsewhere once given another chance.

Had the roster held up better and Vrabel had continued to win in Tennessee, he’d still be revered for all the same personality traits that come up now as a deterrent.

“He can come off a certain way sometimes,” former Titans offensive lineman Taylor Lewan said in a recent appearance on host Rich Eisen’s syndicated radio show. “But you can also see the product of what he did with less talent. ... He gets guys to play higher than their ability. He should absolutely be one of the 32 head coaches in the NFL.

“Unfortunately, he's not, and I think there's been a mistake made.”

Probably so.

But in a league where teams want to discount candidates based on height and weight, what else would you expect?

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Mike Vrabel's NFL hiring snub spurs explanations both apparent, absurd