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Mike Reiss,
ESPN Staff Writer
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Mike Vrabel has returned to the New England Patriots, who hired the former longtime
player to become their new head coach.
The Patriots did not disclose terms, but sources told ESPN's
Adam Schefter that Vrabel and New England agreed to a multiyear contract. The
team confirmed the hiring Sunday morning, announcing Vrabel as the 16th head
coach in franchise history.
Vrabel played linebacker for the Patriots from 2001 to 2008 and was an
integral member of three Super Bowl championship teams. He served as Tennessee Titans coach from 2018 to 2023, posting
a 54-45 regular-season record and 2-3 mark in the playoffs, which included a
trip to the AFC Championship Game in 2019.
Vrabel, the Associated
Press NFL Coach of the Year in 2021, replaces Jerod Mayo, who was fired Jan. 5 after posting a 4-13
record in his one season as Patriots coach. The Patriots will formally
introduce Vrabel during a noon ET news conference Monday at Gillette Stadium.
The Patriots also interviewed Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson,
former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron
Leftwich and former Houston Texans offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton
for the opening.
While Vrabel is identified
most as a Patriot from his playing career that also included time with
the Pittsburgh Steelers (1997-2000) and Kansas City Chiefs (2009-10), he has never served
in New England as a coach. His coaching career began in 2011 working with
linebackers at Ohio State, his alma mater.
Vrabel spent three seasons at
Ohio State then four with the Texans before his six-year stint as Titans head
coach that ended when he was fired after consecutive losing seasons. In 2024,
he was a coaching and personnel consultant for the Cleveland Browns.
Vrabel, 49, was inducted
into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2023 and shared his affinity for the franchise and owner Robert
Kraft that day, saying, "This is a special place with great leadership,
great fans, great direction and great coaching. ... It's not like this
everywhere."
He noted that day that it was only the fifth time he had
returned to New England since being traded to Kansas City in 2009 and shared
fond memories of his life there, including he and his wife, Jen, raising two
sons, Tyler and Carter, in their early years.
As a player in New
England, Vrabel was credited by coach Bill Belichick for his fundamentals,
commitment to team success, toughness, leadership, situational awareness and
intelligence, among other things. Vrabel's Titans teams mostly reflected that,
with his command of game management -- which include many things learned from
Belichick -- among the areas that impressed Kraft, according to a team source.
One example came in the Titans' 20-13 road playoff win over the
Patriots on Jan. 4, 2020, when Vrabel took advantage of a loophole in the
rulebook that allowed him to burn 1:49 off the clock in the fourth quarter
without running a play -- helping keep quarterback Tom Brady off the field.
In his Patriots Hall of
Fame speech in 2023, Vrabel said what he experienced in the locker room as a
player in New England remains the standard of what he hopes to achieve as a
coach.
"We held each other
accountable, because there was trust, there was an understanding, a respect
that you could say things that needed to be said to each other," he said.
"Every day that's what I'm trying to recreate wherever I coach. I don't
know if we'll get it, but every day I'm going to try because nothing was more
important than the team."
