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Kraft: Vrabel’s playoff win over Belichick convinced him that he’d be a fit as Patriots head coach
"I think he has that relatability factor but he also has the football knowledge and he’s brought a team of people with him who are on the same agenda."
The Patriots officially hired Mike Vrabel as head coach in January.
But team owner Robert Kraft said that the former Patriots linebacker put himself on New England’s radar over five years earlier — back when a Vrabel-coached Titans team bested Bill Belichick and ended Tom Brady’s two-decade run in Foxborough.
Speaking to Kay Adams during a new episode of “Up & Adams” on Wednesday, Kraft said that the Titans’ victory over New England during the 2019 AFC Wild Card round made a sizable impression on the Patriots’ top brass.
“That magic moment came to me in the last game [Tom] Brady and [Bill] Belichick ever played as a unit — right here —— and he beat us in the playoffs,,” Kraft told Adams. “And I looked over and thought, ‘He’s a guy who’s been exposed to the greatest coach and the greatest quarterback, and he was able to overcome.’
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“And he has knowledge that’s intrinsic to being in this system, and he knew how to use it in a way to benefit his team. So ever since that moment, I’ve thought, ‘Wow, this is a guy one day we should consider to lead our efforts.'”
Vrabel and the Titans’ 20-13 victory over New England at Gillette Stadium was more than just a shocking end to the Brady era.
Despite Belichick’s standing as one of the greatest coaches of all time, Vrabel got the upper hand against him in this matchup — exploiting a loophole in the rule book that Belichick himself took advantage over earlier that same season.
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During that playoff matchup, Vrabel and his staff shaved close to two minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter without running a single play — limiting the amount of time Belichick, Tom Brady, and the Patriots had to try and orchestrate a late-game comeback.
Vrabel drained the clock by getting called for both an intentional delay of game and an intentional false start during a punt — exploiting a lapse in the rulebook (now shored up by the NFL) where teams would intentionally draw penalties while the clock is running, which means the game clock would continue to tick down after the penalty was enforced.
It was a move that led to a very frustrated Belichick, who carried out the same clock-draining scheme against Adam Gase and the Jets earlier that season.
“I mean, he kind of outplayed Belichick in that situation, because Belichick was the master of knowing the rules inside and out and using that to his advantage,” Rob Gronkowski said of Vrabel in January. “And this is a time when Vrabel used it to his advantage, and it was against the mastermind Coach Belichick. Pretty incredible by him to do that.”
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Beyond his coaching victory over New England in 2019, Kraft also said he had plenty of interactions with Vrabel during his playing days — especially as the team’s NFLPA representative. While Kraft said that Vrabel “knows how to be hard-nosed when he has to”, he added that the Patriots new head coach also “knows how to bring out the charm and the positive side.”
“And his football knowledge is really good,” Kraft continued. “And seeing him coach, he’s out there with the players. The key to leadership is how you relate to people, and can people trust you?
“And I think he has that relatability factor but he also has the football knowledge and he’s brought a team of people with him who are on the same agenda. And that’s the key. So hopefully we have a good year here.”
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