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With the New England Patriots sitting at 2-7, the end to head coach Bill Belichick‘s storied tenure looks all the more closer.
It looks like former Patriots linebacker and current Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel could take over in 2024 according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. Vrabel has a 51-39 regular season record and a 5-2 playoff mark with the Titans in six seasons while Belichick has slid in the post four years with a 27- 32 regular season mark and no playoff wins amid one appearance.
“Two sources close to the Patriots have independently said the same thing: They believe Vrabel, currently the Titans’ coach, is the Krafts’ ‘home run’ choice to succeed Belichick,” Volin reported on November 3.
Dream scenario for the 2024 Patriots
HC: Mike Vrabel
OC: Josh McDaniels
DC: Jerod Mayo
Front office: Caserio, Ziegler, Groh, Wolf
Volin also wrote there’s a chance Belichick doesn’t finish the 2023 and that “barring a miracle turnaround, it seems increasingly likely that this season is Belichick’s last in Foxborough”. Belichick’s season has been full of all kinds of firsts and rarities of the wrong kind up to this point.
The Patriots suffered their worst losses under Belichick, the worst start during his tenure, and the team appears on the fast track for his worst record in Foxborough. New England went 5-11 in Belichick’s first season in 2000, but the Patriots became a dynasty the following year from 2001 to 2019.
Former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady played a perennial role in the team’s unprecedented run with six Super Bowl wins, and things haven’t looked the same since his departure in 2019. That’s when Belichick’s win-loss decline began amid quarterbacks Cam Newton and Mac Jones not finding a way to fill the Brady-sized void.
It’s more than Brady’s absence, too. The Patriots defense has given up more points in two of the past three seasons than any of the dynasty era seasons.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft has been adamant about his team getting back to winning ways. He expected this season to go much better, which only elicited more about Belichick’s future despite his contract extension.
Vrabel, who played for the Patriots from 2001 to 2008, could turn that around. His only losing season came in 2022 at 7-10, but it could wind up back-to-back seasons with a 3-5 record at the moment.
If the Patriots pursue Vrabel in 2024, it will take a trade since he signed on a contract extension last year. New England did that before in a trade for Belichick with the New York Jets two decades ago.
Bill Belichick: ‘It’s Probably up There’
Amid Belichick’s nearly half century of coaching, he admits that this takes the cake for most frustrating.
“It’s probably up there, yeah,” Belichick told WEEI on Monday, November 6 as transcribed by the station. “But we’ve just gotta keep grinding away here and turn things around this week.”
Belichick’s comments came on the heels of a 20-17 loss to the Washington Commanders, a game where the Patriots blew a 17-10 third quarter lead at home. Jones tried to save the day, but his late interception ended the Patriots’ comeback hopes.
“I think some of our fundamentals are, yeah, they’re definitely inconsistent and we need to be a better, more consistent fundamental team,” Belichick said. “There’s no doubt about that.”
“We work on that every week. We talk about it. There’s some things that are improving and some things that need to show up,” Belichick added. “Now every team in the league has missed tackles. Every game, so. But we had a couple bad ones on the long scramble play obviously. It hurt us.”
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Patriots Insider Reveals ‘Home Run’ Plan for After Bill Belichick