Ohio State 1993-1996 DE - Mike Vrabel ('96 First Team AA, '95-'96 Big Ten DLOY, 3x Super Bowl Champion)

Friends who join forces can produce great results

BY ROB OLLER
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Anyone who has worked side by side with a buddy on a home improvement project knows that Ohio State football coach Luke Fickell and new linebackers coach Mike Vrabel will have their run-ins.
That's just what best friends do. But the end result is worth the aggravation of putting up with each other's annoying quirks and stubborn streaks. At the end of the day, the job gets done better because of that close friendship, not in spite of it. Who else but a bud-like-a-brother can tell you to shut up and measure twice before cutting?
On that basis, I was not alarmed when Ohio State made it official yesterday that Vrabel, 35, was joining Fickell's staff as linebackers coach. It's smart to bring in a three-time Super Bowl winner (for recruiting) who played for two likely Hall of Fame coaches in Bill Belichick and Bill Cowher (perspective).
Fickell and Vrabel go way back, to when Fickell was an OSU freshman who helped recruit Vrabel out of Stow Walsh Jesuit High School. They became roommates. Fickell was the four-year starter at nose tackle, Vrabel the sack-happy defensive end. Fans often confused the two.
Fickell entered coaching right after leaving Ohio State. Pittsburgh took Vrabel in the third round of the 1997 NFL draft and the friendship has never waned during Vrabel's 14-year career with the Steelers, New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs.
Neither did the honesty that came with it.
"We can go back a lot of years and Luke and I have never had an issue with telling each other how we felt, whether that be at 3 o'clock in the morning or 7 o'clock in the morning at a workout," Vrabel said. "So if he tells me to coach the guys a certain way I'm going to coach the guys how the head coach wants it. I'll have ideas that I've learned through my years of playing. He may like them and he may not. That's his decision to make."
A pause here for a "yes, but " Let's not be naive. Some friendships do become deterrents to success. I spoke with a former Big Ten coach who warned to be careful when hiring friends as assistants because if the friend cannot handle the job - either by refusing to accept a "subservient" role or simply by failing at his duties - then both the coach and assistant come under added fire.
Fickell is aware of such worries, to the point he called OSU men's basketball coach Thad Matta for advice on the subject of hiring close friends, something Matta has done several times.
"He (Matta) knew what I was talking about," Fickell said. "And he said, very clearly, 'Yes, just make sure you set the standards and guidelines of what needs to be done.' I called and talked to other coaches and said, 'Can you hire your best friend?' And to a 'T' they said yes."
Fickell said it sometimes takes a close friend to provide honest feedback.
"It's great to have someone who can come in the room, close the door and tell you what they really think," he said. "Obviously, it's not confrontational in front of people, but you know somebody that has your back ... and knows you well enough to stand up and say, 'No, this is wrong. You've got to do this or this or this.'"
That brings us to Vrabel's coaching experience. He has none. A big deal?
"Not one bit," Fickell said, explaining that Belichick hired former Ohio State and NFL linebacker Pepper Johnson to help coach the Patriots linebackers in 2000.
"I don't think (Belichick) was worried about him not having any true coaching experience," Fickell said. "It was 'That's the guy I want.'"
Fickell wanted Vrabel from the minute the job opened on May 30, when Fickell replaced Jim Tressel. Now that he has his man, it will be interesting to see how the friendship plays out as they try to build this thing together.
Rob Oller is a sports reporter for The Dispatch.

roller@dispatch.com

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OSU FOOTBALL, VRABEL'S IMPACT.....

Vrabel's NFL experience a plus for linebackers

BY TIM MAY
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


Mike Vrabel's first words as a coach to his Ohio State linebackers last week cut to the chase.
"I told them, 'The slate's clean, that everybody here before me has seen you play but I haven't,'" Vrabel said.
But they've all seen him play. The former Ohio State All-America defensive end in the mid-1990s won three Super Bowls with the New England Patriots during a 14-year NFL career. He carried the flag for a new breed of versatile defensive edge players who can drop into coverage as well as they rush the passer.
What stood out about Vrabel - from his years at Stow Walsh Jesuit high school through OSU and the NFL - was his indefatigable effort coupled with heady play.
When asked for the first thing that came to mind when "Mike Vrabel" was uttered, OSU senior linebacker Tony Jackson didn't hesitate.
"Competitor," Jackson said. "Just from looking at him - he's come back pretty much every summer to run with us (during summer conditioning workouts) when I was younger. He's just a true competitor."
Whether his hiring will prove to be a seamless transition for the linebackers from Luke Fickell - elevated to head coach on May 30 to replace Jim Tressel, who resigned - remains to be seen. But there's a good chance that will be the case, Jackson said, just based on personalities.
"If you really knew the two, coach Fickell and coach Vrabel, they're almost the same guy," Jackson said. "They've got the same passion, the same competitiveness.
"Coach Fickell is a great coach, and he coached some of the (OSU linebacker) greats in A.J. Hawk, James Laurinaitis, Bobby Carpenter. But just to have a guy who has played so long in the NFL, and to have that knowledge, it is definitely exciting."
Vrabel, 35, has been a full-time college football coach for less than a week, although he was considered a coach on the field by New England's Bill Belichick. Vrabel also helped a fledgling Kansas City defense the past two seasons after being traded to the Chiefs.
"But it's different when you become the true guy that's the everyday coach that has to teach somebody from 'Football 101,'" Fickell said. "You've just got to make sure you are set in your philosophies of how you want to teach it."
A check of the linebacker depth chart shows Vrabel has his work cut out for him, with just one returning starter in Andrew Sweat. And Sweat has moved from the strong side, where he played last year, to the weak side. Etienne Sabino, who took a redshirt season as a junior in 2010, stepped in at middle linebacker in the spring. The strong side could belong to Storm Klein, who was out much of the spring because of an injury. Jackson, Jordan Whiting, Scott McVey and Chad Hagan are among the upperclassmen in the mix, as are freshmen Ryan Shazier and Curtis Grant, who was ranked as the No.2 overall prospect nationally by Rivals.com the past recruiting season.
"I think he is inheriting a great linebacker corps," safety Tyler Moeller said. "From the young guys to the old guys, everyone is here to work. It's a tough group and it's an athletic group."
It's also a group working under a new coach who will have a clean slate when camp starts the second week of August.
"We should have a competitive camp," Vrabel said. "That's also important at every level of football, that there's some sort of competition, and that you don't have guys who just step in, roll their hats out there, and they're the starters."
"We're going to have competition, and guys are going to be pushed, but we're going to have fun. First and foremost we're going to have fun, and we're going to get our work done."

Lining up the LBs.....
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The players that new linebackers coach Mike Vrabel has to choose from:
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RETURNING STARTER
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Sr. Andrew Sweat (weak side)
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LEADING CONTENDERS
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Jr. Etienne Sabino (middle)
Jr. Storm Klein (strong side)
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IN THE MIX
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Sr. Tony Jackson
So. Jordan Whiting
R-Fr. Scott McVey
R-Fr. Chad Hagan
Fr. Ryan Shazier
Fr. Curtis Grant

tmay@dispatch.com

 

bean town is a cool place to visit.

 

i still haven't been to NYC yet. i want to go but so far my favorite city on the east coast to visit is D.C. love the history.

 

Mike Vrabel - Jersey Scrimmage Interview - YouTube

 

Mike Vrabel at Media Day - YouTube

 

Still no "official" word on Vrabel's job status after the bowl.


With the NCAA granting OSU the opportunity to have "two" coaching staffs, one for bowl preparations, and one for recruiting; would it be safe to assume that Vrabel would be retained since he's been out there actively recruiting ever since Meyer took over?


He seems to be with Fickell and Meyer on most of the big defensive recruiting trips and visits. I like his chances, but I think his status is still up in the air.


Anybody know anything about Vrab's status?

 

I think that if Vrabel wants to stay in coaching Fickel will fight for him to stay on. I just wonder if coaching is really what Mike wants to do.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see him moved to DLine coach. Or split it up and have a DT and DE coach. Then he could be DE coach. We will see.

 

But in the end, it's not up the Fickell. Urban Meyer wants to build the best staff in college football and Vrabel just doesn't have the experience. But then again, you're not going to find many guys willing to move their family for a LB job if that's what they already are somewhere else. Especially if it's not their alma mater.

I think that Meyer will give Vrabel a chance to show him what he can do as a coach, I don't think he just dismisses him without actually talking to him & finding out his philosophies and stuff.