Dianna Russini of The Athletic made headlines earlier this offseason when she speculated on why Mike Vrabel wasn’t offered any head coaching jobs after being fired by the Tennessee Titans.
She spoke to multiple sources to try and get a feel for how someone as highly respected and regarded as Vrabel could possibly be out of work.
BREAKING NEWS: The Tennessee Titans have fired Mike Vrabel #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/LjAC6zZ2YQ
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 9, 2024
“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. That is a factor,” she reported.
🚨REPORT: Mike Vrabel being a ‘LARGE PERSON’ scared away some teams in certain ways from hiring him as their head coach, one #NFL GM told Dianna Russini.
“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… pic.twitter.com/iUW4rVdohw
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) February 5, 2024
Appearing on an episode of “Pardon My Take,” Russini revealed that Vrabel found out about her report and wasn’t too pleased to say the least.
Recounting a conversation with an anonymous general manager, Russini detailed that Vrabel’s physical presence could be intimidating to some individuals in the football world, but vehemently denied the idea that she labeled him as “too fat to work.”
Full quote for context pic.twitter.com/ZsFNaVwIPK
— James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm) February 5, 2024
“He called me the day after an aggregator took something I said that basically said Mike Vrabel is too fat to work,” Russini said.
“What I shared on [‘The Athletic Football Show’] was that I had dinner with a GM at the Senior Bowl [in February] and we had conversations about how bizarre this last coaching cycle was and how crazy it was that [former Patriots head coach Bill] Belichick and Vrabel didn’t have gigs.”
Dianna Russini tells @PardonMyTake that Mike Vrabel got mad about her “he’s too big” report.https://t.co/WFTkcN4jK4
— Jared Stillman (@JaredStillman) March 7, 2024
“And I said, ‘Why do you think that Mike didn’t get a job?’ He said ‘I think they needed a change there in Tennessee but in terms of the next opportunity, I think there’s a lot of people who are very intimidated by him,” she recounted.
“He walks into a room and he’s confident and he’s physically a big human being and it’s a little startling at first.’ Very normal, right? When I say this to you? … His hands are the size of your head.”
“Which, I laughed,” Russini continued. “I said, ‘Stop. That’s not something that’s real. Who cares what someone physically looks like?’”
“And he said, ‘I’m just telling you, I’ve been in rooms and somebody’s physical presence can make a difference.’”
Mike Vrabel wasn't happy with Dianna Russini after report on his 'intimidating' size https://t.co/5DUMQpOy4s pic.twitter.com/u87JSW4XOr
— The Titans Wire (@TheTitansWire) March 11, 2024
“So when the aggregators took that and changed all this, you know, the way I said it, so that wasn’t great to hear from a not-too-happy head coach, to begin with – well, former head coach now … 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,” she said.
Mike Vrabel wasn’t happy with Dianna Russini following aggregation of ‘too big to work’ story https://t.co/p07fJekPld
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 7, 2024
She clarified that the GM had simply commented on Vrabel’s imposing stature, indicating that it could influence perceptions in certain organizational settings.
Of course, that by itself is a ridiculous statement and really makes you wonder who this general manager is.
After all, Vrabel is everything you could possibly want in a football coach. His physical stature and alpha-personality should make him even MORE attractive to hire, not less.
That's why you don't hire scrawny, nerdy, non-football yt guys to run a football org. They're scared of everybody and they can't intimidate you with their role assignment.
— 〽️r_Act_Like_It (@beenmobetta) February 6, 2024
The Titans threw a curveball at the football world when they announced their surprising decision to fire Vrabel after six largely successful seasons.
Speculation surrounding his exit suggested a combination of factors, including strained relations with team owner Amy Adams Strunk.
It’s also well-known that Vrabel’s enthusiastic presence at a New England Patriots game where he was being honored didn’t sit well with Strunk and company.
Interesting… Rapport says reasons the Titans moved on from Mike Vrabel included:
— “What happened when he went to New England for the Hall of Fame thing.”
— “Not dispelling rumors, in house, that he was gonna be the #Patriots coach.”
— Mike Kadlick (@mikekadlick) January 10, 2024
Many people believed that Vrabel was trying to position himself to be Belichick’s replacement in New England.
It’s unknown if Vrabel knew that Patriots owner Robert Kraft had already promised Jerod Mayo the job.
Either way, the majority of Patriots fans were very upset that Kraft didn’t scoop Vrabel up when he became available.
Literal nightmare
— Sean O'Connor (@NewSeanO) January 12, 2024
Vrabel has since been hired as a “coaching and personnel consultant” for the Cleveland Browns.
However, it’s expected that some lucky team will come to their senses in the next coaching cycle and offer him their head coaching job.
"I like the move by Mike Vrabel joining the Cleveland Browns..
I feel very confident that he's gonna get another chance to be a Head Coach" @RapSheet #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/rw7TsdrbBc
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 15, 2024
What are your thoughts on Russini’s report?
Did Vrabel’s physical stature actually work against him?
Who do you think the anonymous general manager was in Russini’s report???