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Did Jerry Jones Almost Hire Coach Mike Vrabel?

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Mike Fisher | Last updated Jan 24, 2025 8:23 PM ET

FRISCO - Did the Dallas Cowboys have a chance to hire Mike Vrabel?

For Cowboys fans, the accomplished Vrabel would've been the best of many worlds. He has the Bill Belichick pedigree, he won three Super Bowls as a player, he's a "Drill Sergeant'' type, he adds "seriousness'' to the workplace and he's a proven guy.

So what went wrong?

Nothing necessarily, really. In fact, Cowboys Nation might want to feel a bit encouraged that Dallas owners Jerry and Stephen Jones even gave this idea a serious thought before Vrabel achieved his destiny and became head coach of the New England Patriots.

According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, Patriots owner Robert Kraft was aware of Dallas' interest in Vrabel. ... which is why he acted so quickly to do that deal.

"The Dallas Cowboys, too," Russini said on her Scoop City podcast. "A lot of people don't know that. Guess who knew that? Robert Kraft knew that. Robert Kraft knew the Jones family had an interest (in Mike Vrabel).''

We certainly speculated a great deal about Vrabel and put him on the Joneses' wish list in November ... working on the assumption that they would move on from lame-duck Mike McCarthy, which they finally did on Jan. 13.

Vrabel's successful track record as a head coach at the NFL level made him a most coveted option during this latest hiring cycle. The confirmation that the 49-year-old was in any way truly connected to the Cowboys as a potential landing spot is newsy ...

Especially if Vrabel at any time shared Dallas interest in return.

Vrabel served as head coach of the Tennessee Titans from 2018-23 as the Titans made the playoffs three separate times during his tenure, including an AFC Championship Game appearance during the 2019 season.

Dallas has interviewed several candidates for its vacancy, with the club now zeroing in on offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who at 52 has a great deal of experience but none as a head coach.