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Mike Vrabel points to Drake Maye for why he ended up with Patriots over Jets, other suitors last offseason
"I came here because of Drake."
In case you forgot, or didn’t know, Thursday’s Jets-Patriots game was a matchup between the two teams that were most interested in Mike Vrabel this past offseason. If Thursday was any indication, Vrabel’s decision was validated by the top reason he decided to go to New England.
Following the Patriots’ 27-14 victory over the Jets, Vrabel pointed to Drake Maye for the reason he wound up with New England.
“I came here because of the familiarity. I came here because of Drake,” the Patriots head coach told Prime’s “TNF Postgame Show.” “I knew what he would be, and it was important for me to come here. And that’s someone I wanted to coach. And so building a program is about that. It’s about putting great people around your really good players. That’s what Drake is for us.”
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Vrabel agreed to a deal to become the Patriots’ head coach exactly one week after the team fired Jerod Mayo at the end of the 2024 regular season. However, two days prior to Mayo’s firing, the Jets were able to interview Vrabel for their head coach vacancy as they fired Robert Saleh during the season.
While Vrabel ended up with the Patriots, he left a strong impression on the Jets in his lone interview with the team. In fact, the Jets were willing to give Vrabel complete roster control in order to hire him, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini’s reported in January.
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SNY’s Connor Hughes also reported that the Jets were trying to make a strong push to hire Vrabel before he agreed to a deal to become the Patriots’ head coach.
“The Jets interviewed Mike Vrabel and I cannot express how much they loved him, and they wanted him,” Hughes said on SNY’s “Jets Final Drive” show. “He was their 1.1. They wanted Mike Vrabel more than anything else, so much so that I heard that when he was on his way to take the Patriots job, they made a last-second call to say, ‘Is there anything we can do to give you this job? Full control, more money, what do you want? What can we do to change your mind?'”
There was also speculation at the time that Vrabel was using the Jets in order to get the Patriots to come after him, but Hughes reported that wasn’t the case.
“Truthfully, I know this from talking to people close to Vrabel,” Hughes said on SNY’s “Jets Final Drive.” “He did not use the Jets as this toy. He wasn’t just playing with them just to have some fun and then shipping them off and completely ignoring them. He was as interested in the Jets as the Jets were interested in him. If the Patriots job had not opened, I genuinely believe that Mike Vrabel was going to take the Jets job.”
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Regardless of Vrabel’s intentions with the Jets, he’s gotten off to a good start at his new home. The Patriots won their eighth straight game on Thursday, improving to 9-2 and becoming the league’s first nine-win team this season.
With the Patriots already notching more wins this season than they had the last two years combined, Vrabel has garnered some pretty strong buzz to win Coach of the Year. He’s currently the betting favorite to win the award, holding +100 odds at DraftKings Sportsbook.
But Vrabel isn’t the only member of the Patriots receiving buzz for a major award. Maye is also the betting favorite to win MVP, improving his odds following his 281-yard performance in Thursday’s win.
Maye’s put up some MVP numbers throughout the whole season as well. He’s seventh in passing yards per game (257.8), tied for second in touchdown passes (20), and fifth in passer rating (113.2).
As some have pointed Maye’s progression for the top reason for the Patriots’ turnaround, the quarterback credited his head coach for the culture shift in Foxborough.
“He brings it every day and he cares about us,” Maye told the “TNF Postgme Show” of Vrabel. “He coaches hard, but he cares about us. We love playing for him. I love playing for him. He’s coaching me on different things besides where to throw the ball.
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“I think that’s the biggest thing about him is coaching leadership and coaching me every day. And he says something to me almost after every drive, and I just appreciate what he’s done for me and what he’s done for this football team.”
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