Mike Vrabel essentially took the 2024 season off after he was fired by the Tennessee Titans following the 2023 campaign. He did some work for the Cleveland Browns as a consultant, but really, what he was doing was biding his time… Biding his time until the Patriots gave up on Jerod Mayo (which took less time than expected) and came calling for him.
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And they did just that. Vrabel was signed by the club just a week after Mayo was fired. Some suggested Vrabel had been the plan all along, but with Bill Belichick tapping Mayo as his successor, they had to give him a shot. Now, the 2021 Coach of the Year takes over the team he won three Super Bowls with as a player during the early 2000s.
He not only brings a lot of pedigree and experience to a young team. But he also brings a defensive mindset that puts importance on physicality and toughness. Vrabel’s former teammate with the Pats, safety Rodney Harrison, and another Patriots veteran, former CB Devin McCourty, talked about the new head coach recently.
Harrison says after speaking to Vrabel, the soon-to-be 50-year-old coach seems like he’s having the time of his life.
“I texted Mike Vrabel, my former teammate, last week. And I said, ‘Coach, you look like you’re having a blast’. And he’s out there, he’s smiling, he’s laughing, I hadn’t seen him that happy in years… Mike Vrabel is the real deal, he is the real deal. And the players love him and respect him,” said the former safety.
McCourty went on to talk about the similarities between Vrabel and Belichick, and how both are so well-versed in the game that players and coaches trust them unconditionally. He also pointed out that Vrabel’s presence will allow New England’s more violent, hard-hitting players to have more success.
“Especially some of those younger players, who maybe caught one year of Bill, then Jerod, and now Vrabel. They’re like, okay, now I’m seeing some of these differences. … This defense had already been confident. And I think they’re even more confident because of the style. Everything over there now on defense is about violence. They’re gonna be violent.”
McCourty listed a few players—Jabrill Peppers, Kyle Dugger, Christian Barmore—who will specifically benefit from that new defensive approach. And that will help improve on a defense that was already pretty tough, as McCourty pointed out.
The Patriots have the third-easiest strength of schedule next season, with a .429 opponent win percentage from last year. If Drake Maye and the retooled offense can rise up to the defense’s violent standards, New England’s rebuild might be finished quicker than most non-Patriots fans were hoping for.
