The annual coaches’ photo is here for everyone to analyze and scrutinize. There was much to discuss this time around. Like how they sat Jim Harbaugh right next to his new-old rival, Pete Carroll. But Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman chose to focus on Dan Campbell.
Advertisement
Campbell—the NFL coaching roster’s own musclehead—is a fit man. He never stopped working out and even at nearly 50, looks like he could crush a watermelon with his bare hands. Once asked about his workout routine, the Lions head coach had revealed, “I have a little gym at home where I work out. But I also do intense power workouts in the shower. It’s freeing.”
He explained that he avoids working out at the team’s facility to prevent his players from teasing him. Nevertheless, seeing the photo, Gronk and Edelman were mighty impressed with the Lions HC and as Edelman put it he “looks jacked.” Gronkowski took things a step further.
“He looks like a linebacker, kind of like a defensive end and linebacker combined,” he said on the Dudes on Dudes podcast.
Gronkowski’s characterization makes sense. Campbell, who spent 10 years in the NFL as a tight end, was 6-foot-5, 265 lbs during his playing days. He has maintained his physique – and potentially gotten more intense – since his retirement. For these reasons, Campbell is the only coach who would scare Edelman “in a potential fight” against Mike Vrabel.
Vrabel, like Campbell, was an NFL player before inhabiting the sidelines. He suited up for three teams – New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, and Pittsburgh Steelers – across 14 seasons. Vrabel, listed at 6-foot-4, 261 lbs., was a key cog in the Pats’ first three Super Bowl victories (2001, 2003-04).
Rob Gronkowski misses “fat coaches”
Over time, the NFL has become an offensive-oriented product. And slowly but surely, this has trickled into the league’s coaching ranks. Bill Belichick’s gruff nature and Mike Tomlin’s motivational leadership have mostly fallen out of favor. In their place, offensive scheme artists – Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan, Kevin O’Connell, etc. – have taken over.
While offense is the name of the game, fit, athletic coaches are also in style. That was one of Gronkowski’s initial takeaways from the coaches’ photo. And it’s a trend he wished didn’t exist.
“You want to know what’s a disappointment? These coaches are starting to get in shape now, man. They’re looking like they’ve been working out with the players… actually looking like they go and lift some weights… we need coaches to get fat again… when they’re fat and overweight, that means they’re the best out there.”
For a long time, Andy Reid fit this bill. He has slimmed down in recent years. With his weight loss came three Super Bowl victories. That track record could be somewhat attributed to Patrick Mahomes, but it also contradicts Gronk’s theory. Regardless, he has a supporter in the “Make Coaches Fat Again” movement: Barstool Sports’ Dan “Big Cat” Katz.
Big Cat was one of the first internet personalities to provide an in-depth analysis of the league’s coaches’ picture. His Mar. 30 blog on the topic was his 12th such post. And in his writing, he lamented the NFL’s dissipation of heftier coaches.
“My only issue is that this is the direction the league is going… I don’t want the whole league to become a hot guy club,” – Big Cat, Barstool Sports.
There don’t seem to be many prospective up-and-coming coaches in the mold that Gronkowski and Katz desire. Unless some relatively unknown candidates make waves, we could soon see a world without a bulky head coach. And that’s not something any of us will ever be prepared to witness.
