Patriots hiring Mike Vrabel as next head coach

Doug Kyed, Boston Herald on Jan 12, 2025

Published in Football

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BOSTON — A new regime has arrived in New England.

The Patriots are hiring Mike Vrabel to become their newest head coach, sources confirm to the Boston Herald.

Vrabel, a Patriots Hall of Famer and ex-Titans head coach, was considered the team’s top candidate as soon as they fired Jerod Mayo an hour after the team’s Week 18 win over the Bills.

Vrabel returns to the same organization where he played as a versatile linebacker from 2001 to 2008 and helped win three Super Bowl championships. He spent the 2024 season with the Browns as a coaching and personnel assistant after being fired as the Titans’ head coach after the 2023 season.

He assembled a 54-45 record in six seasons with the Titans with two playoff wins, including one against the Patriots in Tom Brady’s final game in New England. He picked up the 2021 NFL Coach of the Year honor after going 12-5 with the Titans. He was fired after a 6-11 campaign in 2023.

The 49-year-old head coach finished his Patriots career with 606 tackles, 48 sacks, 55 tackles for loss, 13 forced fumbles and 12 receiving touchdowns on 12 catches before being traded to the Chiefs.

“I don’t want you to take this organization for granted,” Vrabel told Patriots fans in a halftime hall of fame ceremony last season. “I’ve been a lot of places. This is a special place with great leadership, great fans, great direction, and great coaching. Enjoy it. It’s not like this everywhere.”

Vrabel was selected in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft by the Steelers out of Ohio State. One of Bill Belichick’s best-ever signings, Vrabel joined the Patriots as a free agency in 2001. He finished his 14-year NFL career with 762 tackles, 57 sacks, 41 pass breakups and 11 interceptions.

Kraft was asked Monday if Vrabel was at or near the top of his list of candidates.

“Before I make a comment like that, I don’t know all the people involved, and there are some wonderful people that we’ve heard about,” Kraft said. “So, I’d rather respond to that after I’ve seen everyone.”

Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf and senior personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith were be part of the hiring process, along with team president Jonathan Kraft.

The Patriots elected to keep their succession plan in place and hire Mayo as their next head coach last offseason. With Vrabel still available, the Patriots didn’t want to let him go elsewhere.

Vrabel, like Mayo, is a former Patriots defender, but he comes with considerable experience and the ability to assemble an impressive staff of assistants. He twice had offensive coordinators hired away as NFL head coaches with Matt LaFleur leaving Tennessee to go the Packers in 2019 and Arthur Smith using the Titans OC job as a stepping stone to be hired as the Falcons’ head coach in 2021.

Prior to his time in Tennessee, Vrabel spent three seasons at his alma mater as an assistant with Ohio State, 2014 through 2016 as the Texans’ linebackers coach and 2017 as their defensive coordinator.

Vrabel also interviewed with the Jets and Bears during the hiring cycle. He interviewed with the Patriots in Boston on Thursday.

The Patriots interviewed former NFL offensive coordinator and longtime assistant Pep Hamilton, former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.

Johnson, another top candidate in the current NFL coaching carousel, interviewed virtually on Friday. He cannot officially be hired until the Lions are out of the playoffs. The Patriots were impressed in their interview with Johnson, per a source.

The Patriots requested to interview Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn but were turned down. Glenn has received interest from all six teams hiring a head coach, the Patriots, Jets, Bears, Jaguars, Raiders and Saints and seems like a shoo-in to get a job.

Having interviewed Leftwich and Hamilton, both minorities, the Patriots satisfied the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which mandates franchises conduct at least two in-person interviews with minority and/or female candidates for head-coaching positions.

The Patriots had one of the most appealing jobs on the market with Drake Maye at quarterback, the No. 4 overall pick, $130 million in salary cap space and steady ownership in the Krafts.

The Patriots now must figure out if Wolf will remain as the team’s de-facto general manager. Vrabel’s most important hires will be at offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator.

Former Patriots OC Josh McDaniels, who still lives in the area, has been heavily connected to Vrabel as a possible coordinator choice.

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