On Thursday, we reported that there was “a very good chance” Mike Vrabel would be joining the Ohio State coaching staff at some point in the near future, with an announcement coming as early as Monday.
According to one local paper, that will indeed be the case.
The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that Vrabel is expected to be named an assistant football coach at Ohio State. The Dispatch writes that the school tentatively has set a news conference for Monday to announce the hiring.
OSU officials will neither confirm nor deny that a hiring is imminent, although our sources reaffirmed Sunday morning that Vrabel will be added to Luke Fickell‘s coaching roster “very early this week”.
Vrabel, who’s spent the past 14 years as a linebacker in the NFL but will retire to return to his alma mater, played at Ohio State in the mid-nineties -- he was a teammate of/roommate with Fickell -- and was twice named the Big Ten’s Defensive Lineman of the Year. He’s expected to fill the void at linebackers coach created by Fickell’s promotion to head coach following Jim Tressel‘s resignation.