The 2024 was the second straight season the New England Patriots finished 4-13. It was also Jerod Mayo’s first season as head coach. His tenure with the Patriots lasted just one year.
Owner Robert Kraft parted ways with Mayo after the 2024 season. The Patriots wasted no time and were ready to start interviewing candidates. To no surprise, the team hired former three-time Super Bowl champion with New England, Mike Vrabel. After The Athletic interviewed NFL executives, they stated that Vrabel was the best head coaching hire this offseason.
Can Mike Vrabel help turn around the New England Patriots?
.@TheAthletic ranks the #Patriots‘ Mike Vrabel hire as the league’s best of the offseason. One executive on the hire:
“He’s really organized situationally….His personality fits the northeast, where they’re going to run the ball and play good defense. And he has a quarterback.” pic.twitter.com/HlOL5Cd14B
— New England Sports Fellow (@NESportsFellow) February 12, 2025
New England went with an inexperienced head coach in 2024 and it led to poor results on the field. On top of that, the Patriots had a rookie QB. It was not an easy first head coaching job for Jerod Mayo. He went 4-13 with the Patriots and was fired after one season. To replace Mayo, New England is bringing in a familiar face. Mike Vrabel played eight seasons professionally for the Patriots.
After his playing career was over, Vrabel got into coaching. He got his start in the NFL in 2014 as linebackers coach of the Texans. He held that posistion for three seasons before he was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2017. Following his 2017 campaign with the Texans, Vrabel was hired as the Titans head coach in 2018. The 49-year-old was head coach for six seasons and finished with a 54-45 record.
During the playoffs, he was 2-3 with Tennessee. That included a trip to the AFC championship game in 2019. Mike Vrabel did not land a head coaching job in 2024. Instead, he was a consultant for the Cleveland Browns. The Athletic polled 10 NFL executives and they concluded that Vrabel was the top head coaching hire ahead of 2025. Vrabel received nine of 10 first-place votes in this poll. We’ll see how quickly Vrabel can get his former team back on track.
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