Patriots/NFL Patriots hiring Mike Vrabel, a franchise Hall of Famer, as head coach

[Oates2Neely]

The Pats don’t have a Derrick Henry who can run for 1,500 to 2,000 yards while banking 15+ TD’s. I think Vrabel is an upgrade over Mayo, but is he the guy to take Maye under his wing? I hope so

 

[DKH]

I just don’t see it with Vrabel. He sunk the ship in Tennessee as fast as he grew it. He constantly butted heads with the GM.

He interviewed with the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons last year, neither of them were impressed enough to hire him. No one around the league wanted him to the point he took a consulting job with the Browns.

The Jets are the only other team besides the Pats to request an interview with him.

Not to mention all of his passing offenses were bottom 1/3 of the league in Tennessee. Not the guy you want to build around Drake Maye IMO.

Also sounds like his OC is going to be Tommy Rees, another guy who has never called plays at the NFL level.

Love Vrabel

Bought my only Patriots jersey - Vrabel at the old Modell’s in Beverly around 2003

If you people think I like Don Sweeney wait if Vrabel hired

Sweeney is not even in that universe

#TeamVrabel

 

[BradPark22]

Vrabels culture/style also pushed guys like AJ Brown out of Tennessee.

Wrong.

 

[Boston Bandit]

Gronk, Drew Brees push back on concern about Patriots hiring Vrabel

Ex-Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Zolak & Bertrand on Tuesday and explained why Vrabel's defensive background shouldn't be an issue for New England.

"I feel like New England fans will be happy if either one of them gets hired here," Gronkowski said of Vrabel and Johnson. "But a defensive-minded head coach, you've definitely got to have defense to win a championship, and a guy like Mike Vrabel who is defensive-minded, he's ready to go to run a team and he's gonna put a guy around him as well on the offensive side of the ball to run the offensive schemes and to do a solid job on that side.

"So, yeah, it doesn't matter. As long as you're ready to go, a defensive-minded coach is no problem."

Gronkowski brings up two important points. First, the Patriots' defense also desperately needs to improve after ranking 22nd in the NFL in points per game allowed (24.5) and in the bottom third of the league in several other defensive metrics. So, if Vrabel can help shore up that side of the ball, that's a win for the Patriots.

Second, Vrabel still could set Maye up to succeed if he hires the right offensive coordinator. Former Patriots OC Josh McDaniels has been speculated as one potential option, so perhaps a setup where McDaniels -- or another experienced OC -- has full control of the offense and works closely with Maye could pay dividends.

Brees co-signed Gronkowski's take, adding that the coach's top priority would be to act as "CEO" and empower his coordinators.

"At the end of the day, your No. 1 job is to create culture and to create a standard and then hold everybody accountable to that," Brees said. "We've seen plenty of head coaches throughout the years that, maybe they weren't the defensive play-caller, or they weren't the offensive play-caller, but they were the CEO, right?

"They were this guy who could lead, who could hold guys accountable, could put together a great staff and then say, 'Hey, offense, put the best guys in place to help teach and coach that side of the ball.'"

 

[PatriceBergeron]

I think it gets underestimated how amazing the Lions offensive line is and how much it helps Goff.

They have two of the top 10 Tackles in the league (including the #1 RT), a top 2 center, and a top 5 guard. All 1st round picks.

You’d have to be truly incompetent to not look like a good offensive coordinator when your RBs are 3 yards past the LOS before they’re even touched.

 

[Troublesome 85]

Lmao theyre making Mayos firing about race on some FB page

 

[EverettMike]

Vrabels culture/style also pushed guys like AJ Brown out of Tennessee.

Vrabel was furious they traded Brown. It was the idiot GM.

Also, Vrabel has been totally vindicated when it comes to the GM issues in Tennessee.

I'm in favor of Johnson, but Vrabel did a really good job with the Titans despite never having a QB.

 

[Smitty93]

I feel like there's this view that Vrabel is a lower risk than Johnson, and I'm just not sure I agree.

My view on a Vrabel hire entirely depends on who he picks as OC. If it's McDaniels, as frustrating as he can be, I have faith that he can do a good job and we know he's not leaving for a HC job, which is imperative when looking at a head coach who doesn't call the offense. He had 4 OCs in 6 years in Tennessee and that kind of inconsistency can't continue if he wants to succeed in his next job. I really don't trust Tommy Rees, if he is the guy, and if he is good, he'll get a HC job in a couple years and they'll have to go find someone else. I don't have any numbers on this, but it just feels much easier to find a good DC than OC.

With Johnson, I have complete faith that he'd be able to develop a good offense, so the questions are whether he has the leadership and game management skills. We don't know what those will be until he gets on-the-job experience. Some guys have it, some don't. Who he hires for his staff will be very important, especially in terms of coaches who have been head coaches before.

Neither's a guarantee, but they've also separated themselves from the rest of the list, so it'd be a win to land either.

 

[Seidenbergy]

Lmao theyre making Mayos firing about race on some FB page

Given the active lawsuit and the fact that 2 black head coaches were fired after their first seasons and at least 1 of them will be replaced by a white guy, that narrative won't be going away any time soon.

 

[FrankerC]

Brady and Belichick reunion?

 

[UncleRico]

Vrabel was furious they traded Brown. It was the idiot GM.

Also, Vrabel has been totally vindicated when it comes to the GM issues in Tennessee.

I'm in favor of Johnson, but Vrabel did a really good job with the Titans despite never having a QB.

He also took over a playoff team and ran them into the ground in 5 years

 

[GordonHowe]

Hmm.

Tom Brady's Raiders are reportedly among teams that have reached out to Bill Belichick

Tom Brady's Las Vegas Raiders, who he is a minority owner of, are reportedly among teams that have reached out to Bill Belichick

www.boston.com

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

He also took over a playoff team and ran them into the ground in 5 years

Been a while since I've seen a poster be so determined to be so wrong

 

[CDJ]

Brady and Belichick reunion?

But they hate each other!


The only real rift is between BB and Kraft. And that’s fair on both sides- BB wanted to replace Brady and that irked Kraft, and Kraft didn’t let BB replace McCorkle with Mayfield.

 

[EverettMike]

He also took over a playoff team and ran them into the ground in 5 years

I can't ever remember you being this off on any topic but boy you are really off on this one!

 

[StreetHawk]

Hmm.

Tom Brady's Raiders are reportedly among teams that have reached out to Bill Belichick

Tom Brady's Las Vegas Raiders, who he is a minority owner of, are reportedly among teams that have reached out to Bill Belichick

www.boston.com

BB's style of coaching, you need to win early. Raiders not at that level.

 

[Johnnyduke]

Love Vrabel

Bought my only Patriots jersey - Vrabel at the old Modell’s in Beverly around 2003

If you people think I like Don Sweeney wait if Vrabel hired

Sweeney is not even in that universe

#TeamVrabel

You like anyone in current mgmt position with Boston sports team. Don Sweeney tells Eliot to hold his beer when it comes time to drafting bust after bust.

 

[Johnnyduke]

Given the active lawsuit and the fact that 2 black head coaches were fired after their first seasons and at least 1 of them will be replaced by a white guy, that narrative won't be going away any time soon.

I think it's more than a narrative at this point. Off the top of my head I can think of:

Wilks
Lovie Smith
Culley
Mayo

The numbers might not back it up but it at least seems disproportionate on the surface. I can understand the questions about this.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

BB's style of coaching, you need to win early. Raiders not at that level.

Neither were the Pete Carroll led Patriots

 

[Johnnyduke]

But they hate each other!


The only real rift is between BB and Kraft. And that’s fair on both sides- BB wanted to replace Brady and that irked Kraft, and Kraft didn’t let BB replace McCorkle with Mayfield.

I think people have acknowledged that whatever rift they had has been patched up. Don't pretend like there wasn't a rift.

 

[UncleRico]

I can't ever remember you being this off on any topic but boy you are really off on this one!

We will see, but there’s a reason the falcons and panthers didn’t hire him after their interviews and went with other candidates.

And there’s also a reason only the Jets and Pats have asked this year.

 

[Smitty93]

I hate the whole ranking of jobs, but I think that Raiders job might be the worst. It's between them and the Jets. I'm thinking it looks something like this:

1. Patriots
2. Bears
3. Jaguars
4. Saints
5. Jets
6. Raiders

First 3 have QBs. Would rather be in the AFC East and than NFC North. Jaguars might have broken Lawrence (TBD). Saints have a bad division. Jets in a mediocre division (and bad owner). Raiders in a good division and owner has had 5 head coaches (excluding interims) in 13 years of running the team.

 

[Ten Bears]

My hope is the Krafts take this coaching search seriously and don’t hire Vrabel on the spot tomorrow. It helps to hear perspectives from as many coaching candidates as possible. Maybe someone unexpectedly stands out. Also I would give Brian Flores an interview. Smart kid and strong defensively.

 

[rfournier103]

My hope is the Krafts take this coaching search seriously and don’t hire Vrabel on the spot tomorrow. It helps to hear perspectives from as many coaching candidates as possible. Maybe someone unexpectedly stands out. Also I would give Brian Flores an interview. Smart kid and strong defensively.

Brian Flores would have been a better choice than Jerrod Mayo last year. However, given the current legal issues surrounding him, I would not interview him unless I knew I was going to hire him.

 

[UncleRico]

I hate the whole ranking of jobs, but I think that Raiders job might be the worst. It's between them and the Jets. I'm thinking it looks something like this:

1. Patriots
2. Bears
3. Jaguars
4. Saints
5. Jets
6. Raiders

First 3 have QBs. Would rather be in the AFC East and than NFC North. Jaguars might have broken Lawrence (TBD). Saints have a bad division. Jets in a mediocre division (and bad owner). Raiders in a good division and owner has had 5 head coaches (excluding interims) in 13 years of running the team.

I would almost flip these. All of those other GMs spend more on the roster and have more up to date facilities than the patriots.



All those other teams owners invest far more into their team, program and facilities than the Krafts.

Patriots graded among league’s worst teams in new NFLPA player survey

The team’s facility, treatment of families, and ownership in particular were criticized in the league-wide survey.

www.patspulpit.com

Players view the patriots facilities and amenities as one of the worst in the NFL and the owner has been the cheapest owner in the NFL the last decade.