The NFL Draft was conducted virtually for the first time ever due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Therefore in the ever-growing culture of clout chasing and financial flexing — which the internet, social media, and the virtual world really is anyway — the war rooms or home setups by several coaches and GMs became a story.
Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel had an old school flex. He sat in front of a banner with the team logo on it with two young men — who ESPN analyst Marcus Spears called “Beavis and Butthead” — flanking him on each side. Both looked kind of out of place, with one standing arms crossed in a B-boy stance and the other was wearing a Vrabel No. 50 jersey with some fishing shorts standing with his arms in front of him like he’s at a wedding.
🎙NEW ANDY STAPLES SHOW🎧@NicoleAuerbach and I break down the first round. We try to discern what went on at Mike Vrabel’s house, and we get jealous of Kliff Kingsbury’s Brady Bunch lawn.
Then @BrodyAMiller joins to talk five(!) LSU first-rounders. https://t.co/KEVEE0nQ3e pic.twitter.com/hNHsatlq7W
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) April 24, 2020
Arizona Cardinals HC Kliff Klingbury is supposedly running neck and neck with 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for most eligible bachelor in the NFL. The 40-year-old’s “thirst trap” was also a topic of the night. Kingsbury was sitting in his palatial estate, looking out through clear windows onto what appears to be a mini football field.
War Room 2.0 pic.twitter.com/aCh3GYPVCG
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) April 24, 2020
Kingsbury’s set up was in total contrast to Bengals’ head coach Zac Taylor’s humble war room. It looked like Taylor was in the janitor’s office tucked away somewhere in Paul Brown Stadium. You definitely see the difference between a head coach that makes the $3.5 million a year that Kingsbury does and one that makes between $450-$600,000 per.
Then again, Taylor, a former pro QB and college coach, is supposedly worth $175 million, so his humble appearance may have been a way to gain favor with the people of Cincinnatti and establish a workman-like narrative for himself and the team on what they hope will play out to be a historical day in franchise history.
The NFL Draft last night's unexpected treat was watching the coaches 'virtual war rooms' at home. Here we see Kliff Kingsbury of the Cardinals and Zac Taylor of the Bengals.
It's like Glengarry Glenn Ross. One's Baldwin, one's Lemmon. pic.twitter.com/YKI8nuuG0d
— Rob Williams (@Robwilliams71) April 24, 2020
The war rooms also reflected the attitude of these coaches. Kingsbury is sitting pretty in his second season with tremendous job security and he got his franchise QB last year with the No. 1 overall pick in Kyler Murray. Who by the way, won 2019 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
He’s thinking playoffs in 2020.
Taylor, on the other hand, is coming off a tank job of a rookie season, where he also looked clueless at times. He needs to hit pay dirt with picking Joe Burrow No. 1 overall and the Bengals as a team have a lot of work to do. No time for Taylor to flex fancy. Stay humble, like that suit he had on.
Dallas Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones reminded everyone who the Texas Tornado is. The billionaire owner had the biggest drip of the night with his war room set up on his quarter-billion-dollar yacht.
Is Jerry Jones on a yacht?
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) April 24, 2020
It’s like Jerry is the new age Batman and his elaborate Bat cave was on display for all to see on draft night. Don’t ever forget, there are levels to this and Jones knows how to sell a show.
Jerry Jones’ draft room is on his $250 million super-yacht. Now that’s a super-flex. pic.twitter.com/ZJwgrUcehX
— Don Van Natta Jr. (@DVNJr) April 24, 2020
Most of the war rooms were just guys sitting in their home office, chilling.
We rated all the at-home NFL Draft war rooms 😬 https://t.co/MtOipDCiLV
— SB Nation (@SBNation) April 24, 2020
Call it a sign of the times, but the coaches and head coaches were just as much a part of the narrative as the players drafted. Usually, we get to see the players dressed to impress, hugging their families before strolling to the podium and hugging NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Last night we got to see the various personalities running these NFL teams and it was different, but it worked. With the way Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and Tik Tok have turned everyone into clout chasing exhibitionists, the war room setups were right on time.
