LAS VEGAS - As we write this, we have no indication that Mike Vrabel is at all high on the Dallas Cowboys wish list as they search for a new defensive coordinator to replace Washington-bound Dan Quinn.
But we do now have the official winner of "The Weirdest Reason Teams Aren't Hiring Vrabel'' ... and it has something to do with his ... physique?!
Discussing the NFL Coaching Carousel, on The Athletic Football Show, our friend Dianna Russini offered up a few conventional reasons why the respected ex-Titans boss remains unemployed.
"I don't think there was a fit for him," Russini said. "I don't think he sat in front of any owner who thought that his style was going to work for what they were looking for."
But then one more thing ...
"I had a GM at the Senior Bowl who mentioned to me Vrabel's physical build," Russini said. "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."
Russini was laughing as she reported this, but she wasn't joking.
And really, the NFL GM who thinks this ought to go public so he can be dragged.
Vrabel played in the NFL and was 6-4 and 260 back then. He looks to be heavier now ... but he's not heavier than, say, Kansas City's Andy Reid. And he's not more physically "intimidating'' than, say, Detroit's Dan Campbell.
Ron Rivera, by the way, is among the Cowboys' D-coordinator prospects. He played in the NFL at 6-3 and 235. Oh, and Mike McCarthy is Dallas' head coach - he's not a small man.
So no, Dallas can't be the team that thinks this about Vrabel. But somebody does.
"I said, 'Stop, that's not something that's real. Who cares what someone physically looks like?'" Russini said to the unnamed GM. "And he said, 'I'm just telling you, I've been in rooms and somebody's physical presence can make a difference.'"
That is always true, in any job interview. But in football? "Somebody's physical presence can make a difference,'' alright - a positive one.
And somebody's intellectual absence - somebody who has a real, live job running an NFL team - can make a difference, too.
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