What Mike Vrabel Might Do In 2024 Without NFL Coaching Job

Mike Vrabel might not hold an official job title in 2024, but he still could put his coaching expertise to good use.

On Thursday, Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell told ESPN’s Pete Thamel he hopes Vrabel will help the program in an “informal” capacity next season. Vrabel, of course, was fired by the Tennessee Titans last month and went unhired in the NFL’s head-coach hiring cycle.

“I love Mike and want him around as much as possible,” said Fickell, who’s close friends with Vrabel and both played and coached with him at Ohio State. “I want to see how much he’d like to be around, in the spring for sure. And we’ll go from there.”

Fickell also talked about Vrabel during an ESPN Wisconsin podcast interview last weekend.

“I talked to him, I think, on Saturday, and we hadn’t communicated for probably a week or so just because the process was going,” Fickell said during his “Wilde & Tausch” appearance, as transcribed by Thamel. “He sounded like a new man. And I’m not sure exactly if this was his choice, or what it is the future looks like.

“But I know that we’re going to have a visitor here that’s going to spend a little bit of time, hopefully around us. Starting, coming up in the spring and some things like that, see how much, how deep we can get involved with my buddy and get him around here.”

Vrabel’s long-term future probably still is in the NFL. But in the short term, he could be a significant asset for a college program.