The smell of the offseason is here as the firings are now leading to new hirings. The New England Patriots became the first team to get a new head coach after parting ways with Jerod Mayo last week.
The former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel has landed the job in Foxborough, Mass. Apart from the owner’s support, Vrabel has the confidence of his former teammate Tedy Bruschi.
Tedy Bruschi Believes Mike Vrabel Is the Man Fit for the Patriots’ Job
Bruschi and Vrabel played together for eight seasons and lifted the Lombardi Trophy thrice. The former Pro Bowler conceded his biases for Vrabel during his appearance on ESPN’s “NFL Countdown” but stated that he will do right by the fans.
ESPN reporter Mike Reiss transcribed Bruschi’s words and posted them on X (formerly Twitter). Reiss highlighted that Bruchi stated that Vrabel is not going to follow Mayo’s mantra of “collaboration” since that is what has led the Patriots down this stretch of losses.
Tedy Bruschi on ESPN NFL Countdown (on Mike Vrabel, his former teammate): "He's the right man for the job … it's been bad for the last two years with the New England Patriots organization.
"When they hired Jerod [Mayo], at the press conference, a big word that was used was…
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) January 12, 2025
“Vrabel isn’t going to joke around, Vrabel is going to tighten the screws,” Bruschi said. “In my opinion, there are some people in the front office that need to be told, ‘You don’t know what you’re doing and you need to take a step back.’
“I love the hire. Of course, this guy is a friend of mine. But there is going to be a change. I’m a little bit surprised that this happened because there are some people upstairs in the organization that want to be heard.
“And sometimes they’re going to have to take a bite of ‘humble pie’ and understand ‘Your opinion doesn’t matter on this one’ because there are people in the building that know more,” he added.
The fans have already had their say on Vrabel’s appointment. The 49-year-old led the Texans for six seasons and was let go at the end of the last season with a 54-45 record. In 2024, he worked as a consultant for the Cleveland Browns.
Vrabel’s hiring by the Patriots will go a long way in solving the puzzle of which HC fits with which team. As per reports, the 2021 NFL Coach of the Year was targeted by several teams, and one of the hopefuls is using Vrabel’s name to secure a job for himself.