Mike Vrabel
Mike Vrabel
Michael George Vrabelis a former American football linebacker and current linebackers coach for the Houston Texans in the National Football League. He played college football at Ohio State University, where he earned consensus All-American honors. He was chosen by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft. He also played professionally for the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs. After spending three years coaching linebackers and defensive linemen at Ohio State, Vrabel joined the Texans...
ProfessionFootball Player
Date of Birth14 August 1975
CityAkron, OH
I think you could take that and turn it around to a number of positions,
I think we've got the best coach in the league. I think that was proven again tonight.
Our worst game last year was opening night against the Colts. We need to take this and build on it and move forward. We think we're a better defense than what we showed . . . but we need to go out and prove it.
He has made his fair share of big plays here. Game-winning and game-changing plays. So when you look at it that way, we are getting a guy who can come in and make those kind of plays and help us.
So at 250 pounds, I was trying to play that position my first year in Pittsburgh, and soon after that we changed to linebacker, but it took some time, ... It wasn't like they didn't have good players. Obviously, you've seen the type of players that leave Pittsburgh and go on to play other places.
They've run away with so many games, it's pretty much been over by the middle of the third quarter. That was our whole thing, to make it a football game -- keep it competitive and have a chance to win at the end. We handle those situations pretty well.
If I stood here and I had eight sacks and four picks, something like that, then I could say, 'Well, some other guys need to step up.' That's not the case. We all have to play better. We all realize that. We've got the guys in here that can do it. Guys have proven that they can do it.
He's obviously made his fair share of plays here. He's made game-changing and game-winning plays. I think that when you look at it like that, you're getting another guy out there that has the ability to make those types of plays and help us.
And I don't think we're necessarily done. This team is set up for championships. I don't think we're necessarily finished. It's just that we've done all we can do this year.