Mike Vrabel will interview for Carolina Panthers’ head coaching vacancy

The Carolina Panthers appear to be in the mix to get Mike Vrabel.

The former Tennessee Titans head coach will meet with the Panthers on Thursday, a league source confirmed to The Charlotte Observer — an interesting development in a coaching search that underscores just how loaded this offseason’s candidate pool is.

ESPN and The Athletic reported the news first. Those media reports also specify Vrabel will interview in-person with the Falcons on Wednesday.

Vrabel is one of the most compelling coaching candidates on the market right now. The 48-year-old former NFL linebacker was fired from the Titans this offseason, a move that was largely met with surprise by the public considering his 56-48 record since being hired as the head guy in 2018.

The best year of his six-year run in Tennessee was in 2019, when his team snuck into the playoffs with a 9-7 record but made it all the way to the AFC Championship game. That was the first of three straight playoff trips for the franchise.

Vrabel was not one the 11 candidates the Panthers confirmed interviewing virtually. Candidates who have conducted second interviews with the Panthers include Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales, Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.

Several Panthers head coaching candidates — including Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and both Baltimore Ravens coordinators, Todd Monken and Mike Macdonald — cannot be brought in for a second interview at this point until their team is either out of the postseason or, if their team makes the Super Bowl, from Jan. 29 to Feb. 4, per league rules.

Vrabel was a third-round draft pick in 1997 out of Ohio State and played his first three years in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He made his mark, however, with the New England Patriots, where he stayed from 2001-08 and won three Super Bowls.

One of those Super Bowls — in 2004 — was won over the Carolina Panthers. Dan Morgan, who was recently promoted as the Panthers’ president of football operations and general manager, was a linebacker for Carolina that year and recorded a Super Bowl-record 18 tackles in that game.

Vrabel retired from playing in 2011 and joined the coaching staff at Ohio State. He was then hired by the Houston Texans as a linebackers coach in 2014 before being named their defensive coordinator in 2017.

He was hired by Tennessee on Jan. 20, 2018.

All NFL head coaching vacancies

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Panthers are one of five NFL teams that have not yet hired a head coach for the 2024 season. The others: Seattle Seahawks, Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Chargers and Washington Commanders.

There were eight franchises without a head coach at the outset of this offseason. But that number has dwindled. The New England Patriots replaced all-time great Bill Belichick with the team’s inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo. The Las Vegas Raiders last week promoted Antonio Pierce after doing a stellar job as the team’s interim coach. And the Titans earlier this week hired former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan to succeed Vrabel.

Mike Kaye contributed to this report.