When the Tennessee Titans fired Mike Vrabel after the 2023 season, the assumption from many fans/reporters was that the former NFL coach of the year would quickly land another head coaching gig.
But when the dust settled on this year's head coaching cycle, Vrabel was left without a job.
The Athletic's Dianna Russini said during an appearance on the The Athletic Football Show in early February that a general manager suggested to her at the Senior Bowl that Vrabel didn't land a new head coaching job because of his size.
"I had a GM at the Senior Bowl who mentioned to me Vrabel's physical build," said Russini. "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 recently joined Barstool Sports' Pardon My Take and she revealed that Vrabel called her up after her comments went viral. And he wasn't thrilled with the way his situation was portrayed.
"Yeah, Mike Vrabel. He called me the day after an aggregator took something I said, basically said Mike Vrabel is too fat to work," said Russini when asked if one of her reports has ever angered a player or a coach.
"When the aggregators took that and changed all this, the way I said it," continued Russini. "So that wasn't great to hear from a not-too-happy former head coach. He didn't call me after the piece we did on why he got fired. But the piece calling him a little fat, he wasn't too happy."
Nothing in Russini's original comments ever suggested that Vrabel was "too fat" to work. And that wasn't the way the comment was taken by fans/media. Vrabel's an ex-NFL linebacker -- of course he's a big dude.
Maybe Vrabel took it the wrong way, but it's hard to see how anyone else who heard Russini's comments took it that way.
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