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ESPN ranks Mike Vrabel as second-best NFL head coaching hire of the year
Chicago's Ben Johnson got the top spot over Vrabel.
Mike Vrabel inherited a Patriots team that had gone 4-13 in each of the two previous seasons and immediately turned them into a playoff caliber team, but he’s still not the best among this year’s NFL head coaching hires, according to ESPN’s latest rankings.
Chicago’s Ben Johnson took the top spot. The Bears (7-3) have won seven of their last eight after dropping the first two games of the season. They’ve been winning close games; Caleb Williams has five game-winning drives under his belt this season.
The expectation, ESPN’s Ben Solak wrote, was that Chicago’s offense would be complex and take time to install with the offensive line and run game needing a ton of work.
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“On these benchmarks alone, Johnson has been a smashing success,” Solak wrote. “Chicago could be 2-8 right now, had all those winning drives not gone its way, and I’d still be saying it. Johnson’s status as a top-five playcaller in the league has been clearly cemented in his first season outside Detroit. The Bears’ offense works. And it is significantly ahead of schedule.”
The Patriots have experienced a major offensive turnaround too, but Zolak gives more of the credit to Drake Maye than Vrabel.
Vrabel finished second behind Johnson in the new rankings despite the Patriots having a better record (9-2) and longer win streak (8) than Chicago.
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Maye’s play had flown under the radar last season, Solak argued, stating that he thought Maye had a more impressive rookie season that Jayden Daniels. Maye clearly didn’t have much to work with last season, but the team still finished 4-13.
Vrabel deserves more credit for the revamp of the roster than the Patriots’ new found success on offense, Solak said.
“As such, I give Vrabel less credit for Maye’s leap into MVP-hood than the average pundit might,” Solak said. “But Vrabel has not misstepped once in his construction of the team around Maye, and for that, he deserves bouquets of flowers. Four new starters man the offensive line — two via free agency, two via the draft — and while the line is still below average, it’s not prohibitive to offensive success like it was last season.”
The defense, which has been one of the best against the run in the entire league, cannot be ignored either.
“Vrabel’s hiring of Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator was a strong one, but the defense has taken the bigger leap,” Solak wrote. “The entire unit has been reimagined under Vrabel, who brought in DT Milton Williams, DT Khyiris Tonga, edge rusher Harold Landry III, DT Cory Durden, edge K’Lavon Chaisson, LB Robert Spillane, LB Jack Gibbens, CB Carlton Davis III and safety Craig Woodson. That’s 3,909 defensive snaps from acquisitions made this offseason, and each player has met or exceeded expectations.”
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Vrabel earned praise for his work as a “quasi GM” and situational awareness in clutch situations. But, the Patriots’ easy schedule means that it’s not exactly clear where their ceiling is.
Solak noted that three of the new head coaching hires have their teams in position to make the playoffs. Vrabel and Johnson are the only two leading their respective divisions.
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