A return to his alma mater may not be off the table for former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, according to ESPN's Dan Graziano.

Graziano reported people around the NFL believe Vrabel could land with the Dallas Cowboys or Las Vegas Raiders if they fire their head coaches. There are also "rumblings that Vrabel could be a top candidate" at Ohio State, where he was a star linebacker and assistant coach.

From the moment the Titans fired him, Vrabel became a popular choice among Buckeyes fans to replace Ryan Day.

Day remains in the job despite OSU suffering a fourth straight loss to Michigan, this time to an unranked Wolverines squad. Athletic director Ross Bjork hasn't publicly raised any doubts over the coach's job security, either.

Still, the fan unrest in Columbus, Ohio, might be too much to bear if Ohio State does anything short of winning a national championship.

In the event Day does get the axe, Vrabel will be one of the most prominent candidates on the board due to his connection to Ohio State and NFL coaching experience. He had a .545 winning percentage in six years with the Titans and took them to the postseason on three occasions.

The big question, however, is how much Vrabel would relish a move to the college coaching ranks.

For a long time, the NFL was perceived to be a less demanding atmosphere. Sure, there's plenty of stress, but you don't have to deal with the year-round grind of recruiting, which has only been exacerbated with the arrival of the transfer portal.

The pendulum may be shifting, however, with high-level college sports beginning to look more and more like their pro equivalents.

That's partially what drew Bill Belichick to North Carolina. A large part of his sales pitch for the Tar Heels is that they intend to become an NFL-style program both in structure and with player development.

Vrabel knows the expectations with coaching Ohio State are unforgiving. Between the massive salaries on offer in college and the fact he might be able to delegate a lot of recruiting tasks to a de facto general manager now, the opportunity to rejoin the Buckeyes may be tough to pass up.