PATRIOTS NEWS Patriots hire Mike Vrabel to be HC

[FCB02062]

Ernie

Seems like the opposite of the Patriots CEO

 

[Thelonious]

The question is not whether he "loves evaluating players" but whether he is any good at it. The evidence under both Bill working with Mayo, is that he absolutely does not.

 

[vicspats]

I hope Old man Kratchet realizes he isn’t the coach, or the GM and allows Vrabes the leeway to be successful. I also hope Vrabes learned from his mistakes in Ten and has grown from them. I for one think this is a great hire

 

[Kdo5]

I think this is a great hire, I’ve hired a lot of folks myself. Sometimes the new shiny penny isn’t all that, while I think Ben Johnson will be a good HC he is the wrong person for this particular job. There is now an adult in the room and I like others think Bruschi has inside info on how this goes down. However I don’t understand the hate with BB guys as an OC, or even the hate with Josh, we had dam great offenses for many years with BB, Charlie, Josh, Bill all did a really good job. Granted they all had Brady and we had some dam solid receivers throughout that time. Maybe Drake is the next star, maybe not, he kinda looks like he could be.

Josh served as a bandaid for an atrocious offensive roster in 2020 and the early Mac Jones-era when he looked competent.

I’ve never thought “Fire McDaniels as OC” ever during his tenure. Wouldn’t be upset with him returning.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Oh come on!

1. The draft was terrible. Yes, they made the obvious decision to draft Maye but not one other pick except Milton has looked worthy.

2. Free Agency was terrible. Both what they did (Osborne, Takitaki) and what they didn't.

3. A special circle of GM hell for their treatment of the Offensive Line. He brought in Okorafor, Leverett, Fornadel, Diesch, Jordan. What do they have in common? They are none of them on the team at the end of the season, having been displaced by such luminaries as Tyrese Robinson, Ben Brown, Lecitus Smith, Lester Cotton and Demontrey Jacobs. What was he trying to do? If he was trying to assemble the worst offensive line in football, he certainly succeeded.

4. Then, when poor Fall Guy Mayo was axed, he has the effrontery to start leaking criticisms of the coaching. Yes, the coaching sucked. But who was responsible for AVP and the Cleveland Browns (Cleveland Browns -- not San Francisco, not Kansas City, not Buffalo, not Baltimore -- Cleveland!) re-treads and second-stringers? Yes, it's you Mr Wolf.

5. All he seems to be good at is blame-deflection and managing upwards.

Go! Get you out! Make haste! In the name of God, go!

Don’t like it ? Too bad, that’s my opinion and I’m standing by it.

 

[archstanton543]

OK maybe but so what? They got their first choice and beat out several other teams who had him as first choice.
They did not beak ANY rules.

I don't get the "the process is bad" take.

It's just the Fellowship of the Miserable looking for something to be upset about. Vrabel was/is a successful HC in the NFL. And people are upset that they didn't do a "thorough" search (whatever that means). They knew who they wanted. Interviewed who they needed to and got him (beating out the Jets, Raiders and Bears). What's the problem?

 

[Ring 6]

Yes, I do. The last time Wolf picked this high he got them their franchise QB.And while people keep pretending it was a “ slam dunk,” I have gone back and read the draft threads leading up to the draft, and they are nowhere near as “ unanimous” as people pretend they were. There was a contingent saying “ take the haul,” and their argument was that only 33% of 1st Round QB’s succeed. and they wanted a trade down. There was a contingent who wanted Joe Alt, and said they could go QB this year. There was a contingent that wanted JJ McCarthy, one of whom instantly changed his username pretending he was Drake Maye’s number 1 fan the moment he was picked. And there was a contingent who wanted Marvin Harrison Jr. So no, it was by no means a slam dunk, and at least half of Patriot fans wanted a different outcome. Wolf did the right thing, resisted the trade offers, and got them their franchise QB, and just as he would have had to take all of the blame if Maye ended up sucking, he deserves the credit for picking him, and stabilizing QB for years to come. As for the rest of the class it’s too early to know, like most classes I think some will succeed and some will fail, but young players need a year or two to develop, and unfortunately Mayo’s staff did them no favors in that regard. But I will be willing to pass some judgement on them by this time next year.


I also think Vrabel is going to have a significant say on who they are picking. And it may even be the case that Vrabel will end up with more say in the draft than Wolf has, as Kraft could have made that part of the deal. So overall I have faith that Vrabel and Wolf will have a strong offseason, and I think Vrabel’s presence will both help with free agent recruitment, and will give every player on the roster serious incentive to work their asses off this off-season out of fear that they may end up out of a job if they don’t. I’m also hoping that guys like Keion White, who wanted out, will no longer be looking for the door, and will be excited to work with the new coaching staff.

So overall I’m very happy about the change of coaches, and the direction they appear to be headed in. I’m really looking forward to the offseason, and to see what the roster looks like after the draft.

Random people posting on this board don’t qualify as whether the luck was a no brainer. Otherwise trading Brady and keeping Matt Cassel was a legit option

 

[Real fan 02]

I'm optimistic but I do feel this is just more of the same. We have been starving for offense for years now. I want our team to have the ability to win a shootout.

It's the roster. We have a great young QB. Vrabel is huge step in getting where we need to go. But the roster is going to have to be vastly improved. Once we get some guys on the outside for Drake the ability to score quickly and win shoot outs will be more apparent.

 

[KCSVEN]

That's not true Mac fell off a cliff in the last 5 games of 2021 aside from the Jacksonville game he was the Mac Jones he's been ever since.

Josh did a good job of covering all Mac's flaws for most of the season, then teams realized Mac's limitations and, as we've seen, not sure there was much anyone could do at that point
.
Also to be fair in 2021 Mac ended the year not as horrific as people make it sound.

Indy: 299 yards passing
Buf: Terrible game, 14/32 for 145 and 2 picks
Jax: Blowout win, played well, but blowouts are meaningless
Mia: Rating of 91.1, threw for 261, not a terrible game

Buf Playoffs; Blowout, entire teams stunk, meaningless, still had a 75.8 rating and 63% complete in that game

Bills had a top ranked defense that year. #1 defense in points allowed.

Patriots had a top 10 offense with the same skill players they currently have, basically. Much better line of course. Meyers, Bourne, Henry were top 3 pass catchers.

 

[Real fan 02]

Hire Josh as a consultant. Not the OC. McDaniels’ offense is wrong for Maye.

 

[festy1986]

OK maybe but so what? They got their first choice and beat out several other teams who had him as first choice.
They did not beak ANY rules

Tunnel vision.

It's a sad state of affairs when a couple 8 win seasons has people feeling good about each other.

Because that's where they're heading at best if they keeping Wolf.

 

[ScottishPatriots]

Keeping Wolf and bringing in Cowden is just asking for disfunction, what have Wolf and Groh done that makes them worth risking that for?

If Vrabel is bringing in Cowden what's the point of having the other 2? Makes no sense.

 

[SacPete1]

I hope some of the local scribes dig a bit on the Titans draft evaluation and structure while Vrabel was there because outside of one draft where they landed Jeffrey Simmons and AJ Brown, their drafts weren't much to write home about.
I'm assuming this was asked about during the interview process and while it may be premature to expect much detail during tomorrow's press conference, I will want to hear at some point what Vrabel learned about his previous drafting process and what changes and process (evaluations, scheme fit, grading, etc.) will be in place here.

 

[Thelonious]

The jest mocking thread never left. no matter how bad the pats have been we will always have the jest, they're suckage is eternal

lol. I figured it was there somewhere, but it hasn't been floating as high on list of threads as it used to. i know I hadn't been looking at it much this year.

 

[upstater1]

Yes, I do. The last time Wolf picked this high he got them their franchise QB.And while people keep pretending it was a “ slam dunk,” I have gone back and read the draft threads leading up to the draft, and they are nowhere near as “ unanimous” as people pretend they were. There was a contingent saying “ take the haul,” and their argument was that only 33% of 1st Round QB’s succeed. and they wanted a trade down. There was a contingent who wanted Joe Alt, and said they could go QB this year. There was a contingent that wanted JJ McCarthy, one of whom instantly changed his username pretending he was Drake Maye’s number 1 fan the moment he was picked. And there was a contingent who wanted Marvin Harrison Jr. So no, it was by no means a slam dunk, and at least half of Patriot fans wanted a different outcome. Wolf did the right thing, resisted the trade offers, and got them their franchise QB, and just as he would have had to take all of the blame if Maye ended up sucking, he deserves the credit for picking him, and stabilizing QB for years to come. As for the rest of the class it’s too early to know, like most classes I think some will succeed and some will fail, but young players need a year or two to develop, and unfortunately Mayo’s staff did them no favors in that regard. But I will be willing to pass some judgement on them by this time next year.


I also think Vrabel is going to have a significant say on who they are picking. And it may even be the case that Vrabel will end up with more say in the draft than Wolf has, as Kraft could have made that part of the deal. So overall I have faith that Vrabel and Wolf will have a strong offseason, and I think Vrabel’s presence will both help with free agent recruitment, and will give every player on the roster serious incentive to work their asses off this off-season out of fear that they may end up out of a job if they don’t. I’m also hoping that guys like Keion White, who wanted out, will no longer be looking for the door, and will be excited to work with the new coaching staff.

So overall I’m very happy about the change of coaches, and the direction they appear to be headed in. I’m really looking forward to the offseason, and to see what the roster looks like after the draft.

It's not just the first pick; it's picking high at the top of each round.

So picking #34 is much like picking #32 in the 1st round after winning a Super Bowl.

I was down on Polk and Wallace long before the Patriots picked them so high.

Obviously that means I have little faith in Wolf.

And given Bruschi's comments this morning, I really wonder who was the target of his front office criticism. Jonathan or Wolf

 

[Real fan 02]

??

You need to look at Vrabel's highly successful defenses in Tennessee.

Top 5 or top 10 in points allowed, bottom 10 in yards allowed.

Sound familiar?

Get ready for bend-but-don't break.

Personally, I like it when my defenses don't give up many points.

Same here. You can still be aggressive while not always allow trams to march between the 20s on you. That type of defense allows the QB to stay in rhythm.. with all the rules today geared towards offense I'd rather the defense attack put pressure on the passer and get off the field on 3rd down.. red zone and 3rd defense is what a good defense excels at.

 

[upstater1]

Rushing is filed under offense if I’m not mistaken

I'd quibble with the idea that people are really thinking about rushing when they talk about the current great offenses. It's the passing game that is always emphasized. The Ravens are of course the team that broke the Patriots 1978 rushing record, but usually people think of run-heavy as a thing of the past

 

[Huckleberry1]

• As an executive, I find that one of the biggest challenges and most important parts of my role is “being one of the gang…” but also not. There are times when I need to separate myself from the group to bring down the hammer or make tough decisions or simply think about the business and not friendship first and foremost. People need leadership and whether or not they admit it, most people crave it.
• 
  
• I sense this trait in Vrabel, which is one reason why I am so excited about this hiring. it seems so night and day from Mayo.

I like the Vrabel hire because there is no ********. I think he will be exactly what they need. I believe that he’s been preparing to be a head coach since he was in high school, whereas with Mayo I think it was more of an afterthought.

 

[KDPPatsfan85]

I posted this earlier in the week...

 

[Mike the Brit]

Don’t like it ? Too bad, that’s my opinion and I’m standing by it.

I wouldn't expect anything else. Immunity to evidence isn't necessarily a strength anywhere except on the internet, though.