Titans’ Mike Vrabel remembers life, coaching lessons gleaned from NFL start with Steelers

Long before he became an NFL All Pro or won three Super Bowl rings or even became an NFL starter — and certainly long before he became head coach of the Tennessee Titans — Mike Vrabel was a draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Long remembered and known now for his long run as a key cog in the New England Patriots’ dynasty of the early 2000’s, Vrabel spent four mostly unremarkable seasons as a backup edge defender for the Steelers after being a third-round pick of the team in the 1997 draft.

“I know that I was fortunate to be drafted by that organization, the Rooney family, (former coach) Bill Cowher,” Vrabel said Wednesday during a conference call with Pittsburgh reporters. “My first NFL coach was John Mitchell, and I’m lucky to have been coached by him and those other coaches. Jim Haslett was on that staff, and he’s currently on our staff as well now.”

Mike Vrabel's ties to his former team and recent acquisitions seemed like a transparent effort to plant seeds in Tennessee of New England coach Bill Belichick’s disciplined, team-first “Do your job” culture that has come to be known as “The Patriot Way."https://t.co/WGpNYU1T1d

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Haslett, the Steelers’ defensive coordinator in 1997, became an NFL head coach for six years with the New Orleans Saints. The 68-year-old Mitchell remains in his 27^th season on the Steelers’ staff today.

Vrabel also mentioned a host of veteran Steelers in 1997 who impacted his life and football career. The Steelers that season were in the midset of three AFC championship game appearances in four seasons.

“Just veteran players that took in the rookies and showed them how to be a pro, showed them how to develop in this league and what it required to be in this league,” Vrabel said. “The Rooney family is a great organization and have been since they founded the team. It was an honor to play there for four years.”

Mike Vrabel mugshot from his 2nd season with the Steelers in 1998 pic.twitter.com/AxO1B7pedt

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 30, 2020

But Vrabel’s playing career never thrived in Pittsburgh. It wasn’t until Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots signed him in 2001 that his career took off. After starting no games in four seasons with the Steelers, Vrabel immediately became a starter in New England for teams that won the Super Bowl three of his first four seasons there.

Vrabel totaled 48 sacks over seven seasons with the Patriots, including 12 ½ during their 16-0 season in 2007. He’d finish his career with two seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs before embarking on a coaching career with his alma mater Ohio State in 2011.

The #Titans chose Mike Vrabel as a first-time head coach and he has the team a win away from the franchise’s second Super Bowl berth https://t.co/W2Ziz3BJZC

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) January 15, 2020

Vrabel’s quick ascension in that profession led him to being the Houston Texans’ defensive coordinator in 2017 before the Titans hired him as head coach the next year. Last season, he led Tennessee to the AFC championship game.

Vrabel will never be thought of as a Steeler, but it was where he got his start in pro football — and he said Wednesday that lessons learned in Pittsburgh stuck with him.

“Even in life, I remember there was a sign or a quote from Mr. Rooney that said, ‘If you have to tell somebody about it, it’s not charity,’” Vrabel said. “I always took great pride in that as I got older to understand that, to really appreciate that to be able to do things for other people and not always have to tell people about it.

“It kind of starts there, kind of starts at the top with the leadership. They just bring a certain toughness to the game. They do things very consistently over the course of their history. That’s something to be commended.”

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