MORSE: With Vrabel Now Patriots’ Coach, Focus Turns to Building the Coaching Staff
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To no one’s surprise, Mike Vrabel has been named the 16th Head Coach of the New England Patriots. The Patriots satisfied the intent of the NFL’s Rooney Rule, aimed at getting more minority candidates interviews for Head Coaching and Front Office personnel positions.
They interviewed Byron Leftwich and Pep Hamilton for the Head Coaching position. Neither was considered a strong candidate and were interviewed for Head Coach by other teams and passed over before. The key to their interviews was that they were available and not serious threats to the prime candidate Vrabel.
After receiving criticism – and only after receiving criticism for their sham interviews of two minority candidates – they asked for permission to interview Detroit’s Defensive Coordinator Aaron Glenn for the job.
Glenn turned down the interview because he saw what everyone knew was that the job was Vrabel’s. They also interviewed Detroit’s Offensive Coordinator, Ben Johnson. All reports indicated that it was a good interview that impressed the Patriots brass, but Johnson was just ‘plan B’ in the event that the Patriots could not come to terms with Vrabel.
The Press Conference is today at noon, introducing Mike Vrabel. I was impressed by the numerous reports and testimonials from players that played for Vrabel. He will coach them hard, but they love his tough love and attention to detail. He holds the players accountable. It’s not just just talk.
Vrabel has a winning record as head coach (54-45) and was NFL Coach of the Year in 2021. He is also 2-3 in the playoffs. Those coaching mistakes we saw made by rookie head coach Jerod Mayo won’t be mad by Vrabel.
The Krafts were not going with a rookie head coach again, no matter how well Ben Johnson interviewed. The big advantage the Patriots had by quickly making their choice of head coach is they got a huge jump on the competition in putting together a coaching staff. If they wanted Ben Johnson, they would have had to wait to interview him in person until at least Jan 20th.
If Detroit ends up in the NFC Championship Playoff game, the team would have had to wait until Jan 27th for in-person interviews, and if they were in the Super Bowl, they couldn’t name them until after the Super Bowl is over. That would have been the earliest they could have named him the new coach since it couldn’t have come until the Lions season is over.
Vrabel will have a big advantage in filling out his coaching staff. I believe some coaches will be retained by Vrabel, such as Mike Pellegrino (DB), Jeremy Springer (ST), and Tom Quinn (Asst ST). Quinn was Vrabel’s ST coordinator at Tennessee in 2023 and had 16 years as the New York Giants Special Team Coordinator. He was also the Army Analytics Coach in 2022, and that’s an area that Vrabel was involved with at Cleveland this past season.
Two areas that shined were the special teams and cornerbacks. Both Brenden Schooler and Christian Gonzalez were named to 1st and 2nd team All-Pro, respectively. Marcus Jones was the top Punt Returner until he hurt his hip and missed the last three games.
Offense
Josh McDaniels – Offensive Coordinator. I think McDaniels did a great job with rookie QB Mac Jones. With a new offensive line, the Patriots could be a dangerous team with the innovative McDaniels calling the plays.
Tommy Rees – Former Offensive Coordinator at Alabama.
Luke Steckel – Tight ends coach for Las Vegas. Rookie Ben Bowers was the top tight end in the League. They would need to give him a promotion to get him away from the Raiders.
Wes Welker – Former WR coach in Miami.
Josh McCown – QB coach in Minnesota. They would need to give him a promotion to pry him away.
Nick Caley – Tight Ends coach and Passing Game Coordinator for the LA Rams: Caley was reportedly offered the offensive coordinator job last season but couldn’t agree on compensation.
Tim Kelly – Vrabel’s Offensive Coordinator in Tennessee. New York Giants tight ends coach in 2024
Tommy Dees – Tennessee RB coach under Vrabel. Currently the New York Jets RB coach. I believe he will be available when the Jets name a new head coach.
Jason Houghtailing – Offensive line coach under Vrabel in Tennessee. Currently Assistant Offensive Line coach in Chicago and will soon be available.
Pat O’Hara – Pass Game Coordinator for 8 years with Vrabel. He did not coach last year and is instantly available.
Defense
Shane Bowen – Defensive Coordinator of the NY Giants. Bowen is under contract and with head coach Brian Daboll. Daboll appears to be staying, and reports are he will be retained by Daboll.
Robert Saleh – Forner NY Jets Head Coach and candidate for other head coaching jobs. He’s also the former defensive coordinator for the 49ers.
Matt Patricia – He has stayed in the local area. Despite what he did as an offensive coordinator, he is still a brilliant defensive coordinator.
Ephraim Banda – Cleveland’s Safeties Coach. Vrabel is very familiar with him from the Browns but they would need to give him a promotion to pry him away.
Terrell Wiliams – Detroit Defensive line/Run Game Coordinator. Williams was with Vrabel in Tennessee. They would need to vie him a promotion to defensive coordinator to get him to leave Detroit (and that might not be enough).
Vrabel is expected to bring in Ryan Cowden, a former Assistant GM in Tennessee to a yet-to-be-determined front office position.
Cowden is presently an advisor to New York Giants GM Joe Schoen. Yahoo’s Charles Robinson reported that Eliot Wolf will retain the decision-making role. This needs to be watched as I believe that Vrabel wants his guy in there so that he can “shop for the groceries.” I can’t believe Vrabel would take the job without having that control, so this bears watching.
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