Getty Mike Vrabel, potential candidate to be the next Patriots coach
Depending on whom you’re listening to, you might think former Titans coach Mike Vrabel is no question the guy the New England Patriots are focused on hiring to replace the now-departed Bill Belichick. Or you might think that, no, Mike Vrabel has no chance of being the next Patriots coach, and they’re sticking with linebackers coach Jerod Mayo.
We know, obviously, that Belichick is leaving New England. And there are reports that the team’s owner, Robert Kraft, will stick with the succession plan he has had in mind all along: to bring up Mayo and make him the head coach despite his age (37) and lack of head-coaching experience.
But going back to a report from Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz three days ago, there is interest on both sides in making Vrabel taking over as Patriots coach.
“Sources to @BleacherReport: As the Titans weigh HC Mike Vrabel’s future this week, he’s interested in the idea of returning to the Patriots, should New England part ways with Bill Belichick,” Schultz wrote on Twitter/X.
Next Patriots Coach: Mayo or Bust?
All right, chalk that up as a Vrabel-to-Patriots possibility. That possibility was also raised in The Athletic this week, though it was more speculation than sourced reporting.
Here’s what the site’s Mike Sando wrote in predicting Vrabel to the Patriots: “Lots of moving parts here. New England seemed to be grooming Jerod Mayo as Belichick’s replacement. That could still be the case. But if Vrabel becomes available, as many in the league think he could, he would be a logical consideration as a beloved Patriots alumnus.”
But the authority on the Patriots, typically, is Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston. And from Curran’s standpoint, the fact that Vrabel was fired in Tennessee won’t sway Kraft.
Here’s what Curran had to say on the air on Wednesday night about Vrabel as the next Patriots coach: “There are so many things that argue in favor of perhaps considering Mike Vrabel as a strong candidate—the experience, the link to the area, the way maybe he is a player’s coach in a way that Bill is not. … The things said in the offseason by Robert Kraft indicating he felt Jerod Mayo is the heir apparent, the things he said with the letter to season-ticket holders and the press release saying that Mayo would be the successor, I think they’re very methodical in the way they do things.
“The fact that Mike Vrabel has cannonballed into the coaching pool here, I don’t know that that would cause them to alter the course of what they’re planning to do.”
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Vrabel played eight seasons for the Patriots from 2001-08, and was a Pro Bowler who helped the team to three championship rings. He was also, briefly, a teammate of Mayo, adding a layer of intrigue to the notion that he could battle Mayo for the Patriots job.
He had a 54-45 record as coach of the Titans, and made three playoff appearances. It was reported by Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network that Vrabel’s trip to New England during the Titans’ bye week, when he was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame, was one of the drivers for Vrabel’s firing in Tennessee.
“This was Amy Adams Strunk making the decision based on a LOT of things. Including what happened when he went to New England for the Hall of Fame thing, and not dispelling rumors in house that he was going to be the Patriots coach, ” Rapoport said.
In that light, well, maybe the Patriots owe Vrabel the job.
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