As the New England Patriots continue pondering their next head coach, Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson – at least so far – have been the two names we’ve heard talked about the most this week as their potential candidate.
Obviously, everyone in New England is familiar with Vrabel’s history both here and in Tennessee, with the former linebacker having had a significant amount of success in his first head coaching stint with the Titans. Having been coached by Bill Belichick, Vrabel clearly learned quite a bit. He was situationally smart as a player, and it carried over to making the right decisions in key moments on the sideline when he finally got his first head coaching opportunity.
As a former player, many of the guys he’s coached also seemed to relate well to him, albeit he’s also a guy who was tough and – at least judging by some talk as of late – did a good job of striking a good balance between that.
But more importantly, Vrabel seemed to do a good job of not only handling his own role, but also managing the people around him and getting the most out of his players. Given how things just played out with Jerod Mayo, that’s clearly a big concern as the Patriots try to ensure they don’t go through a repeat of some issues that were apparent this past season.
Former NFL Network analyst James Palmer, who is now also an NFL Insider for Bleacher Report and Underdog Fantasy, spoke to Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston in a recent Next Pats Podcast and made a good point when it comes to the challenges of a first-year coordinator adjusting to their role as a head coach. With so many responsibilities, it makes it tougher for guys who are so focused on their side of the ball. Perry asked Palmer what might be the solution for someone like Johnson, and if bringing in more people might be the answer, Palmer explained that it sometimes goes beyond having more guys around them, with being able to manage those people being an even bigger factor.
“I don’t know Phil if it’s more people,” explained Palmer. “I don’t know if [former Raiders coach] Antonio Pierce could have brought more people into the Raiders organization than he did. I think it’s making sure you bring the right people. I think we saw with Jerod Mayo’s staff, and you know the intricacies of that probably better than I do, about what went wrong and went right with the things that were below Jerod. I do think he would be one of those people that you look at, and this is something that I’ve heard during this cycle quite a bit, and I’m glad you asked it.”
“It’s like, these these play callers that are outstanding on the offensive side of the ball. Obviously, a lot of them get attention because they work with quarterbacks, and they work as a play caller, and they work designing schemes and coming up with things, and rightfully so. But we all know that this snowballed after one major hire, right? Like Sean McVay. Well, what did McVay do in that first year when he started with the Rams? He brought Wade Phillips in to run a defense to where it’s like, ‘I don’t have to really be all that concerned, former head coach, guy that’s been around forever, to run one side of the ball so I can maybe have the ability to grow and learn on the job with all of the other intricacies that come with it.’ I think those are, not that Ben can’t answer those questions, but it’s the fact that those questions are definitely much more available and prevalent than they are with Mike Vrabel, allows you to ask this question.”
The point about Phillips is a big one because there were several people who have brought up the fact that Mayo never hired a more experienced coach, who had been a head coach previously, to help him there.
Some felt Ben McAdoo might have been that person, but with Alex Van Pelt overseeing the offense and essentially handling all of that, it didn’t feel like McAdoo made any impact from that standpoint.
But that point is interesting because it was something discussed prior to the final weeks of the season before things melted down. There was discussion that bringing in someone who had been in that position onto the staff to allow Mayo to learn on the job seemed like it might be the plan. But additional factors beyond what happened on the field ultimately ended Mayo’s tenure, which made it a non-factor.
Meanwhile, it sort of fits what they might be thinking with Johnson. Johnson is a guy who is really good at what he does, but Palmer brought up the fact that when you’re the head coach, it changes the way you’re forced to operate given all the other responsibilities.
“I think the best way to describe it is this. I was speaking to a head coach that’s going to get his second goal around, and they’re pretty in vogue in this cycle, Phil, honestly, guys getting their second chance at a head coaching spot,” said Palmer. “I was talking to one of these guys this past weekend, and he said, ‘This is no slight to Ben Johnson at all. He’s the best play caller in football, in my opinion. This guy’s on the offensive side of the ball.’ He said, ‘But there’s zero chance him or anybody coming into their first year as a head coach will be the exact same play caller they are as a coordinator. It’s impossible.’ I asked him, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘Because there’s just not enough hours in the day anymore.’
“‘There’s a knock on your door every five minutes, whether it’s a coordinator, position coach, the PR team, the training staff with injuries. There’s so many other things that go to it. You just can’t have the time to be the same play caller you were when you were just a coordinator.’ So when these guys like Vrabel and others that have been through it as a head coach before in the past, there’s many more boxes checked on time management, on the ability to handle the week.”
“Now, Ben Johnson, this is no slight to him, you can learn those on the job. A lot of guys have, Kevin O’Connell, [Matt] LaFleur, [Sean] McVay, Kyle Shannon, a lot of them. You just have to know that that’s part of what you’re getting, that those boxes aren’t checked. I think they’re just already checked with Mike. Then you’re going to have to look at Mike’s staff as well.”
In the end, for those reasons, that’s why Palmer feels Vrabel may be the better choice for a team that’s looking for the fastest turnaround.
“I’m hiring Mike Vrabel. I might be biased in that sense, but just I’m looking for the CEO,” said Palmer. “I’m looking, if I’m Robert Kraft, for… You look at Robert’s age, you look at where he is, Phil. What did I just describe? Most likely these guys have a quicker turnaround on a program that is near the bottom of the league right now because Mike can check multiple boxes.”
“If you’ve ever seen him work a pro day, it’s one of my favorite times to watch Mike Vrabel. He does it differently than everybody else, finds a way to pull a guy off to the side alone, and he’ll be getting the three-point stance against him, working with technique and all. His player evaluation, he checks so many of these boxes. Not to say Ben won’t be great. I think Ben has a chance to be outstanding. It really does. Really do. But Mike checks more boxes that you’re looking for right now, and he’s had more time to put his staff together. I’m taking Mike Vrabel probably over almost anybody, and I think fit and situation really matter.”
“I don’t see a better fit in New England than Mike. I think it’s why you see both of these guys who have more options than anybody, Phil, being as selective as they are with where they’re taking interviews. I think they know about the fit as well.”
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
