NFL insiders: Mike Vrabel a ‘natural fit’ to coach Patriots

"All I'm saying is if the job comes open, Vrabel would have to be at the top of the list of predicted hires.”

Mike Vrabel was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2023. Matthew J. Lee / The Boston Globe

January 2, 2025

2 minutes to read

The rumors continue to swirl around Mike Vrabel and his potential candidacy as Patriots head coach in 2025 and beyond.

Even though Jerod Mayo remains as New England’s head coach, it’s far from a given that the first-year coach will remain on the sideline moving forward — especially after a disastrous 2024 campaign.

If New England does opt to move on from Mayo, a former Patriots player with an already established coaching resume in Vrabel feels like an obvious fit for Robert Kraft and Co.

Such a sentiment is also shared by ESPN NFL insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano, who noted in a new column that Vrabel would be an obvious choice for New England if it opened up a surprise head-coaching search this winter.

“If the Patriots job comes open, Mike Vrabel makes a ton of sense as a proven head coach who also happens to be in the team’s Hall of Fame,” Graziano said. “New England looks to have its quarterback of the future in Maye and needs to build up the culture and roster around him.

“Again, I’m not saying Mayo can’t do that. It’s possible he can, and it’s possible Patriots ownership will decide to stick with the guy it believed in enough to make him coach-in-waiting while Belichick was still there. All I’m saying is if the job comes open, Vrabel would have to be at the top of the list of predicted hires.”

“That would be a natural fit,” Fowler added.

Even if Vrabel does check off plenty of boxes as an appealing coaching candidate in New England, it still remains to be seen if Kraft and the Patriots will move on from Mayo this offseason.

While little has gone right for Mayo and New England in 2024, the case can be made that Kraft will not want to commit to such an about-face, especially after seemingly tabbing Mayo as Bill Belichick’s successor five years ago.

Replacing Mayo with a veteran head coach like Vrabel might stand as the best long-term move, but it would require Kraft admitting in the short term that avoiding a legitimate coaching search in 2024 was a major mistake.

“One-and-done for [Titans coach Brian] Callahan seems a bit harsh,” Graziano added. “Same with Mayo in New England, given how little he had to work with on that roster. Plus, ownership selected Mayo as the successor to Bill Belichick before Belichick was even finished, and it doesn’t seem like it’d want to give up on him after one season.”