The most obvious hire of the 2025 coaching carousel has been made official, as Mike Vrabel will make his way back to New England, this time as a coach.
After being dismissed from the Tennessee Titans following a 6-11 2023 campaign, Vrabel accepted a job as a coaching and personnel consultant with the Cleveland Browns. After the 2024 season, he left Cleveland and immediately became the favorite for the Patriots Head Coaching job following their firing of Jerod Mayo. Sure enough, on January 12th, Vrabel signed a multi-year contract to return to NE, where he spent the bulk of his playing career. His history with the Titans has shown that he can have success with a below average roster, so let's take a look at how Vrabel can improve the Patriots, whether it be in 1 year or 5.
When he accepted the Titans job, they were fresh off of a 9-7 season that cultivated in a visit to the divisional round with Marcus Mariota. Vrabel's first 2 seasons in Tennessee resulted in the same regular season records, but the 2019 team -- boosted by a midseason QB change that sent Mariota to the bench in favor of Ryan Tannehill -- earned Vrabel his first playoff berth as a Head Coach. During this playoff berth, the Titans ended Tom Brady's Patriots career and took down the 1 seeded Ravens before falling short in the AFC Championship game to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Chiefs.
Fast forward 2 years, where an underwhelming roster suffered another hit when future Hall of Fame RB Derrick Henry went down with a season-ending injury. Vrabel somehow mustered up the strength to get this roster the 1 seed with a 12-5 record. Although they did lose in the first round, it seemed like an insurmountable climb for the Titans to even make the playoffs.
The next couple of seasons, the team was simply not good enough, and GM Ran Carthon won a power struggle with Vrabel, opting to go with a different coach for their unavoidable rebuild. Still, Vrabel's legacy in Tennessee remains strong, and made him an attractive candidate this offseason. I can't help but wonder whether the Patriots decided to fire Mayo because they knew it would be their last chance at bringing Vrabel back.
The Patriots went in to the 2024 season knowing they'd be in for a long one. Outside of a surprise win in week 1 against Cincinnati, they only won 2 other games before watching the #1 overall pick fall out of their hands against Buffalo backups in week 18. Still, their were many positives to be taken away from a year that started with 31 year old Jacoby Brissett and ended with a promising rookie in 22 year old Drake Maye. The UNC product flashed ability both through the air and on the ground despite a lackluster supporting cast.
On the topic of the supporting cast, GM/Owner Robert Kraft will have a tall task to bring in at least a little more talent on offense, because you can't bring in a new coach and have his top talents at WR be Kayshon Boutte and Demario Douglas. The defense wasn't perfect, but CB Christian Gonzalez had a strong sophomore season coming off of a season ending injury in his first year. I think the priority in year 1 has to be improving the offense, as Mike Vrabel has consistently proven that he can create a serviceable defense out of literal ashes.
Vrabel will likely look to bring in his own coordinators, as new Head Coach candidates regularly do. With Tennessee, he had a huge hit in Arthur Smith, although he was promptly hired by the Falcons as a HC. From there on out, it was disappointment on the offensive side of the ball, even with Derrick Henry at RB, as he brought in two separate offensive coordinators that didn't have much success.
So what can Patriots fans expect? Success will come slow and steady, but Vrabel should be able to grind out wins, even if the stat sheet doesn't always look the best. I'm not entirely sure how good he will be with developing Drake Maye, as the only QB he truly had success with was Ryan Tannehill, who was sent over from Miami. Vrabel also worked through extensive offensive line issues in Tennessee, so he'll be used to dealing with it when he arrives in New England.
Because this hire was so painfully obvious, I don't know if many casual fans really took a look to see just how good of a fit this is. Vrabel will bring a new, gritty identity with him. He specializes in winning games in the trenches, and can give any team a legitimate shot in this league. It may take a while, and I would certainly expect him to have more of a buffer period than Jerod Mayo, so Patriots fans will have to be patient as Mike Vrabel works to bring New England back to their glory days.
Eli Knight
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