The Official Vrabel vs Ben Johnson Discussion Thread

[cmasspatsfan]

Feeling bad for my man Ben but elated we are getting a true leader and if we get Josh McDaniels he’s essentially a Ben Johnson himself.

Vrabel, McDaniels and Saleh would be a huge upgrade.

 

[Love The Drake]

Vrabel, McDaniels and Saleh would be a huge upgrade.

I’m seeing Saleh to San Fran, where are you seeing him here as a DC?

 

[Sect140]

It’s a tough situation for coaches whose team makes a deep playoff run, hard to do all the interviews, visits and putting staff together, oh ya don’t forget putting game plans together. Some teams are willing to wait as long as possible and some aren’t and I don’t blame them.

 

[Aussie Patriot]

Interesting interview with a writer from Tennessee when Vrabel was there if anyone is interested.

 

[captain stone]

Kraft: "Happy ending is on me Mike then we'll go back and sign the contract."

"OK who next? You want long time or short time? Remember, anal cost extra... except on Anal Wednesdays!"

 

[captain stone]

Agree. My coaching preference for 2024 was...

1. Harbaugh
2. Vrabel
3. Kingsbury
4. Flores
5. Mayo

If Mayo was #5, who was #6...?

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

I noticed also that Vrabel was supposedly going to interview with the Jaguars as well but I can’t find anything on a scheduled interview with them either.

Nothing out there yet

If Vrabel is not accepting interviews even though he does not want that job
It would help him with driving up his price
There has to be a wink wink nod nod
BJ interview is probably going to be more of a information interview for the Pats considering it’s a zoom and you probably won’t be able to talk to him again until February
Kraft said in his presser that “they will move fast”
I think it all leads to a announcement by Monday

 

[imahobgoblin]

It’s not that it’s the media saying Pats made a mockery of the Rooney rule.

The Rooney Rule is patronizing and a mockery. The Patriots complied and did not violate the rule. It makes no difference what moral high ground the media all of a sudden finds. What a refreshing well of honestly and new found faith the media now has, but don't worry they will be back to their filthy lying, backstabbing, and manipulative ways tomorrow.

 

[captain stone]

Vrabel sighting at Logan ...

Funny, looks like Ben Johnson to me...

 

[tuckeverlasting]

Maybe he thinks Vrabel is a formality and he, and possibly by inference, Ben Johnson are wasting precious time. Just comes across as extremely unprofessional and disrespectful by Kraft if this is what's happening. Pats kinda piss me off at times.

maybe he saw our defense play this year.

 

[dliverey44]

Influenced, yes but sorry but the perception that Vrabel was inculcated all he knows by BB by is wrong.

Hes is own man. Period.

I agree that he is his own guy, but I was pointing out how well he is able to manage a game and especially the clock.

 

[lancerman]

Let's see the timeline/reported things here...

1) Pats reported favorite candidate is one that can be hired right away (Vrabel) but they also request to talk to Johnson
2) BUT they have to meet the Rooney rule first
3) they immediately interview two seemingly unqualified candidates that "check the box" so they can hire someone right way if they wanted
4) after a day of backlash over it they request to interview Glenn, who every other team already requested as one of their FIRST orders of business

Seems very obvious that they have no intention of hiring Glenn. They just wanted to do it as a token interview not to satisfy the Rooney rule but as a defense against people who said the first two interviews were token interview to satisfy the Rooney rule.

It's a shame too because it's not crazy to think Vrabel and Johnson end up in one of the other openings and in that case they need someone else and Glenn might be the next best candidate. It's frustrating that they're only interviewing two serious candidates and even more frustrating that they managed to piss off other serious candidates in the process with a real possibility they could lose out on their top 2.

Yup. Pretty much this. The whole Mayo debacle put a lot of egg on Kraft's face and a big part of the narrative around that was "Kraft didn't conduct a serious HC search and just picked someone he knew that he was comfortable with". While Vrabel has a much better resume and history, the way the Kraft's handles this process has made a lot of people feel like they went into it with no intention of hiring anybody but Vrabel. And it might end up being a good hire, but people are right to look at the org and say "oh so they didn't learn their lesson and just zeroed in on one guy who they knew".

Imo they settled on Vrabel as a favorite from the beginning and had Ben Johnson as a backup because of his high profile. the first two Rooney Rule interviews made this even clearer and only after they got bad press they started throwing out some filler requests because Bob Kraft simultaneously cares heavily about looking bad via optics but has zero ability for nuance in how he handles things.

 

[mgteich]

If Vrabel decides not to come, and Ben Johnson chooses CHI as expected, then Kraft needs other choices. Perhaps, Robyn pointed that out to him. My response would have been to say that Hamilton is the 3rd choice, do I need more?

 

[dliverey44]

Probably a dumb question but how does a new head coach build their staff when people are still under contract with another team? Does the new hiring team have to buyout the contract so the HC can build the staff?

 

[mgteich]

Probably a dumb question but how does a new head coach build their staff when people are still under contract with another team? Does the new hiring team have to buyout the contract so the HC can build the staff?

The coach requests an interview.

If the position is a promotion, then the request must be granted.

If the position is a lateral or demotion, the request can be denied. The hiring team could offer compensation in order to acquire the new coach.

 

[PWRxWLF]

Yup. Pretty much this. The whole Mayo debacle put a lot of egg on Kraft's face and a big part of the narrative around that was "Kraft didn't conduct a serious HC search and just picked someone he knew that he was comfortable with". While Vrabel has a much better resume and history, the way the Kraft's handles this process has made a lot of people feel like they went into it with no intention of hiring anybody but Vrabel. And it might end up being a good hire, but people are right to look at the org and say "oh so they didn't learn their lesson and just zeroed in on one guy who they knew".

Imo they settled on Vrabel as a favorite from the beginning and had Ben Johnson as a backup because of his high profile. the first two Rooney Rule interviews made this even clearer and only after they got bad press they started throwing out some filler requests because Bob Kraft simultaneously cares heavily about looking bad via optics but has zero ability for nuance in how he handles things.

Vrabel is more than likely the reason Mayo is gone. If they knew he was the guy from the get-go, why play games and waste everyones time? Just agreeing with your Vrabel being the favorite from the beginning comment.

 

[lancerman]

Vrabel is more than likely the reason Mayo is gone. If they knew he was the guy from the get-go, why play games and waste everyones time? Just agreeing with your Vrabel being the favorite from the beginning comment.

Because a lot of people are pissed they didn't go through a real search last time and were hoping they'd learn their lesson even if they had a direct favorite. Showing everyone they didn't, even if the hire might be a good one is still showing that Kraft values comfort over a "leave no stone unturned approach". And it better work out this time, because if it doesn't, the Patriots are going to look incredibly dysfunctional.

 

[festy1986]

If Vrabel decides not to come, and Ben Johnson chooses CHI as expected, then Kraft needs other choices. Perhaps, Robyn pointed that out to him. My response would have been to say that Hamilton is the 3rd choice, do I need more?

You just described exactly why it's Vrabel and always has been.

It better not get off to a rough start because Kraft personally will be taking all the flack this time Round.

I'm actually shocked at how little **** he's personally taken.

 

[Aussie Patriot]

I'm actually shocked at how little **** he's personally taken.

I think that's because in the press conference he came out and owned it totally.

I think he's got a lot of leeway due to that and now he's getting the chance to fix it.

However if he doesn't live up to his end of the bargain (Spending in FA, Lots more staff, Analytics etc) it will start up again pretty quickly.

 

[imahobgoblin]

I’m seeing Saleh to San Fran, where are you seeing him here as a DC?

That's what I saw. I think Eberflus would do well as our DC.