Patriots assistants point to Mike Vrabel’s value on family for why they joined him in New England
“He’s raised two boys, always asking about my daughter, and cares about just our lives outside of football."
Sunday’s Patriots-Titans game might be a revenge game for Mike Vrabel, but he isn’t the only member of New England’s coaching staff who is returning to a place they once called home.
Several members of Vrabel’s coaching staff with the Patriots worked with him during his six-year tenure as the Titans head coach, such as defensive coordinator Terrell Williams and wide receivers coach Todd Downing. But while Vrabel had a relatively successful tenure in Tennessee, assistant coaches followed him to New England for off-field reasons, according to safeties coach Scott Booker.
“He’s a guy that cares about family,” Booker told MassLive’s Mark Daniels. “He’s raised two boys, always asking about my daughter, and cares about just our lives outside of football.”
Former coaches following a head coach to a new team isn’t uncommon. For instance, Josh McDaniels took a handful of Patriots offensive assistant coaches with him when he became the Raiders’ head coach in 2022.
Usually, those moves come with a promotion, too. But for the Patriots coaches who made the move to New England alongside Vrabel, they also valued how much their boss respects their family time.
“Any opportunity I can have to tell them to stay a little later at home on a Monday and have breakfast with their family, take their kids to school. That’s important,” Vrabel told Daniels.
Vrabel has also gone to watch his fellow coaches’ kids’ high school games without telling his assistants he’s coming, running back coach Tony Dews told Daniels. He’s also forced coaches to go home when they have urgent family matters to take care of.
“[Vrabel] was like, ‘No, Ashton, go home before I call your wife and tell her to come pick you up.’ I said, ‘All right, cool,'” quarterbacks coach Ashton Grant recalled to Daniels.
Being an NFL coach is a grueling job, as they often spend long nights watching film and are on the road half of their weekends. Of course, Vrabel knows this as he’s experienced it as a player and a coach.
Whatever Vrabel’s doing on- and off-the-field is working, though. The Patriots have gotten out to a 4-2 start and lead the AFC East entering their Week 7 matchup against the Titans.
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