It’s no secret that the Eagles coaching staff is catching some flack this week as the Birds have been in a tailspin, going 1-5 over the last six games of the season. The mid-season decision to remove Sean Desai as play-caller for the defense and put Matt Patricia on the sideline has been a disaster.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, head coach Nick Sirianni’s job might be safe, but there are few fans and analysts left who are ready to defend these coordinators. One abysmal performance after the other has led a particular Eagles reporter to dream big, though.
Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP posted the outrageous idea today for the Eagles to offer Mike Vrabel a head coaching salary to come in and be the Eagles defensive coordinator for a year!
#Eagles should offer him a head coach salary to come to be the defensive coordinator
He’ll have HC offers but if he’d rather wait a year the Eagles need to move mountains to make him come be the DC https://t.co/mlAZxtUcJj
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) January 9, 2024
Hiring Mike Vrabel as a DC Sounds Implausible
After a long 14 year career as an NFL linebacker, Vrabel became the DC for the Tennessee Titans in 2017 and within one year took the reins of head coach of the same franchise. Within his first three seasons, he was able to turn a nine win team into an eleven and twelve win team. In 2021, he even took home the NFL Coach of the Year award.
The last two seasons haven’t been as kind to Vrabel. These also happen to be the years he’s been without Pro Bowl, now Eagles, wide receiver A.J. Brown, who was of course drafted by the Titans originally. The Titans have struggled to win seven and six games in back to back years, but what’s one team’s trash could be another team’s treasure.
Once again, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Vrabel is “now is expected to be a Tier 1 candidate for other head coaching jobs.”
Former Titans’ HC Mike Vrabel now is expected to be a Tier 1 candidate for other head coaching jobs.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 9, 2024
This could take the Eagles completely out of the running for snatching up Vrabel unless Vrabel for some reason wants a break from that big office. Or, he wants to wait a year to see if another more attractive coaching position becomes available. It’s not totally unprecedented.
Todd Bowles, the head coach of the Buccaneers, was the head coach of the New York Jets before getting fired and taking the defensive coordinator role with the Buccs. Then, when Bruce Arians stepped down, Bowles took over. It happens. Who knows? Maybe Vrabel could get this Eagles defense into shape and look like a guru by 2025!
The Eagles Aren’t Working As Hard As Other Contenders
Vrabel played for the Patriots during the Tom Brady years and came home with three Super Bowl trophies of his own. He knows what winning football looks like in the NFL. Maybe most importantly for the Eagles, he knows what it looks like in practice.
Recently, while speaking with new teammate Arik Armstead on the latest episode of the Third and Long podcast, ex-Eagles defensive tackle Javon Hargrave was asked to compare his past and current teams. He said, “Yeah, here it’s more demanding…You know what you’re getting over here. Everybody can’t make it over here.”
Hearing these two laugh shows that 49ers haven’t forgotten about being knocked out of the playoffs last year by the Philadelphia Eagles. Famously, the Eagles took down the Niners 31-7 in the same game that 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy tore his ulnar collateral ligament. Their December 3rd matchup was certainly circled on the calendar coming into this season.
Vrabel Could Be the One to Change the Culture
Hargrave, now having gelled with his new team, likened the 49ers to “Heat Culture” referring to the Miami Heat. It’s well known to the basketball world what this means. Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra took over head coaching duties at the ripe young age of 38 after being promoted all the way up from a lowly video coordinator.
The 49ers like the Heat are successful year after year and seem to field a competitive team no matter what injuries come their way or who is wearing that red and gold uniform. The claim around both leagues is that these teams squeeze more out of average players than anyone else.
Vrabel’s Patriots and to some extent even his Titans were known to do that at one time. Shorr-Parks might be off his rocker to think the Eagles could make the signing, which would likely cost a minimum of $4.5 million. Vrabel’s head coaching salary was $9.5 million for reference.
What might be an even tougher sell is getting Vrabel to sign on to coach under Sirianni. How the Eagles perform in the weeks ahead could determine how likely or unlikely that marriage might be.
