Report: Mike Vrabel turns down San Francisco D-cordinator job

Mike Vrabel decided he would rather be the linebackers coach for the Houston Texans than the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers

Houston Texans linebacker coach Mike Vrabel reportedly turned down a high profile job with the San Francisco 49ers to remain with the Houston Texans.

The idea of turning down a promotion seems odd, but Vrabel staying put makes sense if you take a step back and look at the overall situation. In Houston Vrabel is working with people like head coach Bill O’Brien and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, who he has had ties with since his playing days in New England.

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Also, 49ers head coach Chip Kelly has a track record of wearing on people and also showed Vrabel a good reason to stay put during the process of looking for a d-coordinator. San Francisco still employs Eric Mangini as their defensive coach and Kelly apparently offered his job to Vrabel despite recent reports Mangini was most likely keeping his job.

The player turnover in San Fran has also been an issue of the past couple of seasons as the once prominent defense is no longer as full of talent as it was a couple of seasons ago.

Perhaps Vrabel, 40, believes his best bet was to stay in Houston and coach the linebackers with the possibility of taking over for Crennel, 68, who may be approaching retirement age.