Mike Vrabel brings ‘clear, focused strategy’ to get Patriots back in contention, owner Robert Kraft says

FOXBORO, Mass. — A minute before noon Monday, the future of the New England Patriots was smiling alongside owner Robert Kraft as Kraft recalled the moment Mike Vrabel brought his new 2019 Tennessee Titans to Gillette Stadium and ended a dynasty.

Now, Vrabel stood alongside Kraft as the Patriots’ next head coach, tasked with leading New England back to success after 4–13 consecutive seasons.

The Patriots turned to Vrabel after their rapid coaching search ended just seven days after the team fired Jerod Mayo following the Jan. 5 regular-season finale. The next day, they interviewed two black non-league head coaches, Byron Leftwich and Pep Hamilton, who satisfied the league’s Rooney Rule, before speaking with Vrabel and Ben Johnson. In a move that shocked no one, they chose Vrabel.

“During the interview process, Mike showed us that he had a very deep understanding of our current team – and more importantly, he had a clear, focused strategy on how to get us back on championship path” , Kraft said Monday.

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Vrabel arrived in New England in the midst of a period of tumult and change. Bill Belichick’s quicker-than-expected separation led to Eliot Wolf taking over the front office. The team’s draft class outside of Drake Maye was a huge whiff, and nothing Wolf did in free agency helped significantly.

Between that and the end of Vrabel’s time at Tennessee, it was thought that Vrabel might bring an executive with him to New England, perhaps Ryan Cowden, who was vice president of player personnel during Vrabel’s time with the Titans and spent this season with the Titans. Giants. Vrabel said no decision had yet been made on the matter, but added he would discuss it with Wolf.

“I’m confident these kinds of decisions will work themselves out,” Vrabel said of whether he will have control of the roster. “We don’t always have to be on the same page. But we want to have a common vision.

Vrabel, of course, won the Super Bowl three times as a linebacker for the Patriots. But even though he spent the majority of his playing time under Belichick, he never worked as a coach under Belichick.

Before landing the Titans’ top job, Vrabel worked under Bill O’Brien with the Houston Texans and Urban Meyer and Luke Fickell at Ohio State.

But these Patriots that Vrabel is about to take over are a far cry from the version that Vrabel played for. His to-do list will be long. First: choose offensive and defensive coordinators.

“It’s far from set in stone,” Vrabel said of who he might choose for these roles. “We want to put the best talented coaches in front of our players. So when they stand in front of the players, I want them to embrace what each coach teaches.”

Part of the reason the Patriots position was so attractive was the success of quarterback Drake Maye during his rookie season. Maye, the third overall pick in last year’s draft, threw 15 touchdown passes in 11 games last season. Vrabel primarily worked with Ryan Tannehill during his time at Tennessee, and if he can continue to develop Maye, it would go a long way toward his success in New England.

“Put great people around him,” Vrabel said of how he will develop Maye. “I would say my involvement will be in game management and situational awareness…and trying to develop him as a leader of the offense. …Drake will be his own person, but I’m going to give him some things that I think are necessary to help him win matches. We have to be a very efficient passing team.

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(Photo: Billie Weiss/Getty Images)