After a brief and failed attempt to ignite a new era of New England Patriots dominance after the firing of legendary, six-time Super Bowl winning coach Bill Belichick — an attempt that ended with a dismal 4-13 record in 2024 and the firing of Belichick’s replacement, Jerod Mayo — owner Robert Kraft is taking a second shot at restarting the Patriots dynasty. On January 13, New England officially announced the hiring of another new coach.
This time, it was Mike Vrabel, the former Patriots All-Pro linebacker who played eight seasons under Belichick including in four Super Bowls, three ending with championships. Vrabel was also head coach of the Tennessee Titans from 2018 through 2023, taking the team to the AFC Conference Championship game in the 2019 season.
So when Vrabel was introduced at a press conference at the Patriots’ Gillette Stadium home on Monday, the vibes were good all around. Except on Boston sports talk radio. Because there was one very important member of the Patriots missing from the audience at the press conference for the coach expected to lead the next great Patriots era, and that was the quarterback expected to lead the next great Patriots era, 22-year-old Drake Maye.
Radio Talker Slams Patriots Quarterback Drake Maye
“It’s not like this guy, this kid, is like an electrician and he gets four weeks and he’s got three days and then he’s back on the job,” said 98.5 The Sports Hub host Michael Felger during one broadcast of many devoted to Maye’s Monday no-show. “He doesn’t have to report to work for three months!”
When the reasons for Maye’s absence became public, during one of Felger’s on-air segments, the 55-year-old radio personality refused to back down. As it turned out, Maye missed the Vrabel presser because he was on a beach, down on one knee proposing to his high school sweetheart, Ann Michael Hudson. (She accepted.)
Upon hearing the seemingly happy news, Felger was unmoved, declaring that Maye should have made his job with the Patriots his top priority..
“All I’m saying is, it’s not unusual to make work a priority and for it to be important and for you to balance the two,” Felger said. “So just because he got engaged, I’m still not sitting there saying, ‘OK, well I get why he didn’t come back.’ You can still come back. You can get engaged and come back.”
Bill O’Brien Offers His Take, Though Vrabel, Maye Have Not
As of January 17, neither Maye nor Vrabel have made any publicly reported comments responding to the Felger criticisms, which dominated the New England sports media for much of the week. But one former Patriots coach went on the record to speak out about the radio-manufactured controversy — Bill O’Brien, who was offensive coordinator for the Patriots in 2011, when the Patriots went to their fifth Super Bowl of the Belichick-Tom Brady era only to lose to the New York Giants 21-17.
“I could care less,” O’Brien said, appearing Thursday on a rival sports talk station, WEEI. “When the offseason program starts, you want the guy in the front row ready to go. It’s not about press conferences. Someone told me, ‘It’s all great at the press conference and then it’s all downhill from there.’ The press conferences are great, but who cares who’s at the press conference?”
As Boston.com writer Conor Ryan noted, when the Patriots held a press conference to announce Mayo’s introduction as head coach in on January 17, 2024, Patriots then-starting quarterback Mac Jones was indeed present.
On March 14, the Patriots traded Jones to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
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Drake Maye vs. Mike Vrabel Controversy: Former Patriots Super Bowl OC Speaks Out