Jason Vrable begins his fifth season with the Packers and his second season as wide receivers/passing game coordinator after being promoted on Feb. 1, 2022.
Vrable spent two seasons as wide receivers coach after being promoted on March 12, 2020. Originally hired as an offensive assistant by Head Coach Matt LaFleur on Feb. 1, 2019, Vrable assisted with the wide receivers during the 2019 season. He will begin his 11th season as an NFL coach, having six years of experience prior to joining the Packers.
In 2022, Vrable helped WR Allen Lazard set career highs in receptions (60) and receiving yards (788). Vrable also worked with rookie WR Christian Watson, who posted a team-high seven TD catches, good for No. 3 in team history among rookies behind Billy Howton (13 in 1952) and Max McGee (nine in 1954). Watson became only the third player in franchise history to post seven-plus receiving TDs and multiple rushing TDs in a season, joining Don Hutson (1941) and Johnny "Blood" McNally (1931). Vrable also tutored WR Romeo Doubs (42, three), who teamed with Watson (41, seven) to become only the third rookie duo in NFL history to each have 40-plus receptions and three-plus receiving TDs.
In 2021, Vrable helped WR Davante Adams set single-season franchise records for receptions (123) and receiving yards (1,553) on his way to earning unanimous first-team All-Pro honors from The Associated Press, the first Green Bay WR to earn first-team honors in back-to-back years since Sterling Sharpe (1992-93). Adams added a team-high 11 TD catches, becoming the first player in league history to record three seasons (2018, 2020-21) with 110-plus catches, 1,350-plus receiving yards and 11-plus receiving TDs. He earned Pro Bowl honors for the fifth consecutive season as he joined James Lofton (1980-85) as the only WRs in team history to be named to the Pro Bowl in five-plus consecutive seasons. Vrable also tutored Lazard, who posted 40 catches for 513 yards (12.8 avg.) and a career-high eight TDs, with all eight of his TD catches coming in Weeks 6-18 (tied for No. 5 in the NFL over that span).
Under Vrable's direction in 2020, Adams matched Sharpe's single-season team record (1994) for receiving TDs with 18 and became the first player in NFL history to register 100-plus receptions (115) and 18-plus receiving TDs in a single season. Adams led the NFL in receiving TDs, receiving yards per game (98.1) and receptions per game (8.2), becoming the first NFL player to lead the league in all three categories since Sharpe in 1992. Vrable also coached WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who led the NFL in yards per reception (20.9), the top mark in the NFL from 2011-20 among players with 32-plus receptions in a season.
While assisting with the wide receivers in 2019, Vrable worked with Adams, who ranked No. 5 in the NFL in receiving yards per game (83.1) and No. 4 in receptions per game (6.9) on his way to earning Pro Bowl honors for the third straight season. Adams led the team with 83 catches for 997 yards (12.0 avg.) and was tied for the team lead with five receiving TDs despite missing four games due to injury. Vrable also assisted in the development of Lazard in his first season, who posted 35 receptions for 477 yards (13.6 avg.) and three TDs, with all of his catches coming in the final 11 contests.
Vrable arrived in Green Bay after serving two seasons (2017-18) as an offensive assistant for the N.Y. Jets. With the Jets, he worked with WR Robby Anderson, one of only nine WRs in the NFL to register 50-plus catches, 750-plus receiving yards and six-plus receiving TDs in both 2017 and 2018, highlighted by career highs in 2017 (63 catches for 941 yards and seven TDs). Vrable also worked with veteran WR Jermaine Kearse, who posted a team-high 65 receptions for 810 yards (12.5 avg.) in 2017, both career highs, as he and Anderson formed one of only three WR duos in the NFL to both post 60-plus receptions and 800-plus receiving yards in 2017.
Prior to his time with New York, Vrable spent four years with the Buffalo Bills, working as an offensive quality control coach from 2013-15 and then as an assistant quarterbacks coach in 2016. He also assumed the role of interim running backs coach following Anthony Lynn's promotion to offensive coordinator in Week 3 of the 2016 season. For the final 15 weeks of the season, Vrable helped RBs Mike Gillislee (5.71) and LeSean McCoy (5.67) rank No. 1 and No. 2 in the league in yards per carry, respectively, among all qualifying NFL runners. The duo also accounted for 23 total TDs on the season as the Bills ranked No. 1 in the league in rushing offense (164.4 ypg), the team's best rushing average since 1976 (183.3 ypg). Vrable also helped QB Tyrod Taylor earn his second consecutive Pro Bowl selection in 2016 after completing a career-high 269 passes on 436 attempts (61.7 pct.) for 3,023 yards and 17 TDs.
Before entering the NFL coaching ranks, Vrable coached at the college level for six years. From 2011-12, he worked at the University of Charleston as the school's offensive coordinator/quarterbacks/running backs coach. Notably, he led a Golden Eagle offense that led the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in total offense (392.4 ypg) and rushing offense (246.1 ypg) in 2012.
From 2009-10, Vrable worked for Syracuse University as an offensive quality control/assistant to the wide receivers coach (2009) and graduate assistant/assistant to the quarterbacks coach (2010). Vrable helped mentor QB Ryan Nassib, who set the Syracuse single-season record with 202 completions in 2010 and led the Orange to an 8-5 record, including a victory over Kansas State in the inaugural Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.
In 2008, Vrable coached quarterbacks at Robert Morris University (Moon, Pa.). In the fall of 2007, he returned to his alma mater, Marietta (Ohio) College, to coach quarterbacks after beginning his coaching career as a strength intern at the University of South Florida in the summer of 2007.
Vrable played QB at Marietta from 2003-06, finishing his career ranked No. 1 in school history in passing yards (6,102), completions (495) and TD passes (41). He was twice named the Pioneers' Most Valuable Player and served as a team captain his final two seasons, earning all-region honors as a senior. Additionally, Vrable was named Marietta's Clyde Lamb Award winner in 2007, recognizing him as the school's male scholar-athlete of the year. He was inducted into the Marietta College Athletic Hall of Fame in February 2018.
A native of South Park, Pa., Vrable graduated with a bachelor's degree in sports medicine in 2007 and completed a master's degree in sports management from Robert Morris University in 2009.
Born Jan. 23, 1985, Vrable lives in Green Bay with his wife, Jill, son, Drake, and daughters, Brooklyn and Teegan.
