ESPN Analyst Backs Mike Vrabel To Have A Better First Year With The Patriots Than Bill Belichick Has At UNC

Mike Vrabel was just a depth player for his first four years with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1997 to 2000. But it changed in 2001 when Bill Belichick, heading into just his second year as the head coach of the New England Patriots, took a chance on the linebacker. Vrabel started 12 games in that Super Bowl-winning 2001 season as a key cog of Belichick’s dominant defense.

The pair spent eight years together in New England, winning three Super Bowls and falling just short of another in 2007. Vrabel also happened to have a career year that season, recording 12.5 sacks and earning First-Team All-Pro honors. Belichick gave Vrabel his chance, and he grabbed it with both hands.

Fast forward 15 or so years, and Belichick is kind of doing it again. He departed the Patriots for the greener pastures of the college game with UNC, which allowed Mike Vrabel to step in as New England’s head coach following a transitional year under Jerod Mayo. Both are now in new positions, but as ESPN analyst Harry Douglas argued today, Vrabel has a much better chance of having a successful first year in his new job.

“I’m going with Mike Vrabel. I really am. I talked about the most prestige position, at all these levels, and that’s the quarterback. We know who the quarterback is for the New England Patriots. That’s Drake Maye,” he stated.

“So all you had to do was just surround him with the little pieces. So you go get a Stefon Diggs, you draft a human joystick in Kyle Williams from Washington State. You go get Treveyon Henderson, who can not only rush the football, but also beat you in the pass game as well, and block in pass protection,” he added.

Vrabel was previously a head coach in the NFL for six years (2018-2023) with the Tennessee Titans. And he was pretty good. He amassed a 54-45 overall record, won two division titles, made it to the 2019 AFC Championship Game, and earned the 2021 Coach of the Year honor. That tenure also included a 2-1 record against Belichick, including a 20-13 Wild Card win in 2019 that ended Tom Brady’s Patriots career.

Vrabel has been there and done it in the NFL. Belichick can’t say the same about coaching in the NCAA. He coached in the NFL from 1975 to 2023 without a break. Douglas believes that familiarity—and an improved defense—will be the reason Vrabel has more success in 2025.

“You look at that defense and you say, man, we’ve got two No. 1 corners now too. We have Carlton Davis, we also have Christian Gonzalez. We have some guys that can rush the passer. I’m putting my faith in a guy that has already done it in that position, versus a Bill Belichick, where everything is new to him.”

Whoever has the better season between Mike Vrabel and Bill Belichick in 2025 might not necessarily have a successful campaign. Vrabel’s Patriots do have some encouraging pieces, but they were 4-13 last year for a reason. And in North Carolina, Belichick takes over a program that has only been ranked twice since 1997 and is coming off a 6-7 mark in 2024.

The bar for success will be low in this comparison, but Vrabel seems like the likelier winner of this little debate.