New England Patriots appoint former player Mike Vrabel as their new head coach
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The New England Patriots have hired their former player Mike Vrabel as the team’s next head coach. The news comes a week after Patriots owner Robert Kraft fired another former Patriots player, Jerod Mayo, after the team finished 4-13 in his lone season as coach.
Vrabel, a fan favorite during eight seasons as a player in New England where he was a member of the franchise’s first three Super Bowl titles and an inductee into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2023, was the preferred candidate because of his long association with the Pats and coaching success during six seasons in Tennessee.
In hiring the 49-year-old, Kraft is turning to another former Patriots defensive standout who, like Mayo, built a reputation as a coach for his ability to relate to players. But Mayo, who served as assistant under former longtime Patriots coach Bill Belichick, was a first-time head coach and struggled to get results from a young roster led by rookie quarterback Drake Maye. Kraft said that while he thought he had identified the successor to Belichick in Mayo, in hindsight he now believes he wasn’t quite ready to be an NFL head coach.
In Vrabel’s case, however, he arrives with a head coaching resume burnished by a 56-48 overall record in Tennessee from 2018 to 2023. That includes a 2-3 record in the playoffs and AFC championship game appearance in 2019 as part of a run of three straight postseason berths.
Vrabel served in a consultant role with Cleveland this season, but his contract expired, allowing him to speak with other teams. He also was interviewed by the New York Jets. The lure of New England won out and now he will look to rebuild the franchise he has been associated with most during his NFL career.
