Former Ohio State Star Mike Vrabel Wins AP NFL Coach of the Year Award for Second Time

 

By Dan Hope on February 5, 2026 at 9:46 pm @dan_hope

Mike Vrabel is officially the NFL’s best coach for the 2025 season.

After leading the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl, Vrabel won the AP NFL Coach of the Year award at Thursday night’s NFL Honors.

x.com/NFL/status/2019603458723311977?s=20

Vrabel, who previously won the award in 2021 as the head coach of the Tennessee Titans, becomes the seventh coach in NFL history to win the award with two different teams.

The former Ohio State defensive end orchestrated one of the NFL’s all-time great turnarounds in his first season with the Patriots. Taking over a team that went 4-13 in 2024, Vrabel led the Patriots to a 14-3 regular-season record and a run through the AFC playoffs, earning them a spot in Sunday’s Super Bowl (6:30 p.m., NBC) against the Seattle Seahawks.

The only Buckeye to win AP NFL Coach of the Year honors, Vrabel – who won three Super Bowls as a player for the Patriots – will now be the second former Ohio State player to coach in the Super Bowl as a head coach, joining Don McCafferty, who led the Baltimore Colts to a win over the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V. 

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2026/02/161472/former-ohio-state-star-mike-vrabel-wins-ap-nfl-coach-of-the-year-award-for-second-time

Seeing, finding success through Stephen Neal's experiences

 

BY RYAN T. BLYSTONE
rblystone@bakersfield.com

Feb 2, 2026

When you hear about Stephen Neal, there’s many ways to approach his sports credentials.

He is a two-time NCAA Division I heavyweight champion and four-time All-America selection at Cal State Bakersfield. His international accomplishments in the sport are equally impressive. And then there’s the rare 10-year NFL career he carved out without playing college football. He was a guard from 2001-11, all with the New England Patriots. He was with the team for four Super Bowls, awarded three rings for victories in 2002, 2004 and 2005.

Last October, he was part of CSUB Athletics’ inaugural Hall of Fame class — but wasn’t there in person, keeping family first and attending a key volleyball match in support of his daughters, Colby and Jillian, at Arizona State.

Neal, who was in town Sunday to watch the 2025-26 CSUB wrestling team compete in a unique home dual match — outdoor wrestling on a mat on the CSUB soccer field — and join fellow CSUB wrestling alumni to be recognized during intermission, stands out.

Not just because he still looks imposing as his 6-foot-4, 305-pound NFL body did back then.

Familiar surroundings such as the CSUB campus are comfortable places for Neal. But ask him about this coming Sunday’s Super Bowl 60 between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks in Santa Clara and he’s planning to watch the game on television and not at Levi’s Stadium in Northern California.

“Absolutely not,” the 49-year-old said. “I’m not a fan of big crowds. I can’t relax in a place that’s super crowded like an NFL game.”

No fear. He’s just happier to follow things from afar and still appreciate everything about the game.

It’s a matchup he thinks has great potential to be a great championship game. It’s also a certainty that he’s leaning toward a Patriots victory, mainly because one of his former teammates, Mike Vrabel, is the current New England head coach.

“When I had my first tryout for football in 2001, Mike gave me my first pair of cleats. He was the first football player I met. I’m a big fan of Mike,” Neal said. “I think the buy-in he’s established with his players is amazing.”

Vrabel, as a teammate, was someone Neal said was all about being a team player.

“He was always one of the smartest players around,” Neal said. “To do special teams, be a linebacker on defense and he caught six touchdown passes and was always in our goal-line package. Whatever it took for his team to win, he was all about doing it. We all knew he’d be a coach. I have nothing but respect for him.”

Neal also enjoyed Vrabel’s antics that endeared him to the team.

“I remember he’d get on a scout team at safety and he’d (tick) off (Tom) Brady. The players are supposed to do what’s on the card and he’d do what he wanted. Brady would get so mad at him,” Neal said.

It was one example of the New England Patriots that isn’t talked about enough. The Patriots were always about business and doing what they could to maintain their success. The leader of this directive was Bill Belichick, head coach of the Patriots during Neal’s entire NFL career.

“I’d say he’s the greatest head coach of all time,” Neal said of Belichick, who was in the news last week when it was learned that he had missed out on being a first-ballot member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame by one vote. He was on 39 of the 50 ballots needed to be picked.

The news caused a viral reaction in the sports world. Add Neal to a long list of current and former athletes, coaches, who felt Belichick’s exclusion from the newest Hall of Fame class, scheduled to be announced on Thursday, was a snub.

“The Pro Football Hall of Fame doesn’t really matter,” Neal said. “You don’t set up your career just to make it to the Hall of Fame. If you do that, it’s going to be pretty hard. He’s someone who wanted to win — every single day. He won every single day as far as practices, preparation and scouting.

“It was a pleasure to be in the presence of greatness,” Neal said of Belichick, marveling at his ability to always be thinking several steps ahead of his peers and his staffs in terms of being a winner.

“He held every coach accountable and every coach would then hold every player accountable.

Many believe the New England Patriots were all business, all the time.

“It is what it was,” Neal said. “But to say there was no fun in New England? Nah. We worked hard during the week, but we had a lot of fun winning on Sunday.

“It was worth all the sacrifice to get those experiences, and knowing that you had a chance, no matter who you were playing against, to win.”

Belichick and the Patriots signed Neal for the practice squad initially in 2001.

He was cut, spent some time with the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad, and was re-signed to the Patriots’ active roster in the same season. The Patriots reached the Super Bowl that season. He went from watching Super Bowls on the couch to being there with a front-row view.

Neal didn’t play a down for the Patriots that first season but was on the sideline when New England beat the St. Louis Rams in 2002.

He blew out both shoulders in his first start of the 2002-03 season and had surgeries on them.

The next year, when the Patriots returned to the 2004 Super Bowl against Carolina, he was recovering from another shoulder surgery.

In the 2005 Super Bowl, a 24-21 win over the Eagles, Neal did start and experience the game as a player. The fourth and final Super Bowl for Neal was the 2008 meeting, a 17-14 loss to the New York Giants.

When Neal finished his NFL career, he had played in 86 games, 81 as a starting right guard.

“They don’t come any better than Steve Neal,” Belichick said in a Patriots team statement when Neal retired in 2011.

“In terms of improvement and development as a player, Steve may have accomplished more than any player I’ve ever been around. His toughness, intelligence and competitiveness were rare levels and all contributed to him going from being a champion in an individual sport to being an integral part of championship teams.

“I congratulate Steve for an incredible career and thank him for everything he did for me personally, our team and organization.”

Neal’s appreciation for Belichick was equaled in wrestling by Darryl Pope, a top assistant coach with CSUB wrestling and a two-time All-America selection in the mid-1980s, when Neal arrived in 1996.

Neal was fourth his freshman year in the NCAA Tournament and second as a sophomore.

Pope was constantly motivating Neal to be at his best. All the work, all the preparation and listening to Pope took Neal to incredible heights.

Neal holds career records for wins, he was 156-10, and pins (71) from 1996-99. He won the 1999 Danny Hodge Trophy as the collegiate wrestler of the year.

“One hundred%, Darryl Pope,” Neal said. He explained how Pope’s motivation, even after success in his early seasons at CSUB, laid the foundation for the national titles he won his junior and senior years.

“I was so programmed, I beat a lot of guys I shouldn’t have. He was able to put things in my head that prepared me for success.”

https://www.bakersfield.com/sports/seeing-finding-success-through-stephen-neals-experiences/article_3e40e25b-3ef9-4281-a074-05e5c05be04d.html

Patriots Head Coach Mike Vrabel Selected 2025 Pro Football Writers of America Coach of the Year

 

Mike Vrabel, who led the New England Patriots to a tie for the best record in the NFL, is the 2025 NFL Coach of the Year, chosen in voting conducted by the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA).

Jan 22, 2026 at 01:01 PM

Mike Vrabel, who led the New England Patriots to a tie for the best record in the NFL, is the 2025 NFL Coach of the Year, chosen in voting conducted by the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA).

Seattle president of football operations/general manager John Schneider, whose personnel moves helped the Seahawks earn the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs, is the 2025 NFL Executive of the Year.

Denver defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, who oversaw a stingy defense that helped the Broncos capture the AFC's top playoff seed, is the 2025 NFL Assistant Coach of the Year.

Vrabel led the Patriots to a 14-3 record including a 10-game win streak from Weeks 4-13 in his first season coaching the franchise. He joins George Seifer (1989 San Francisco) and Jim Caldwell (2009 Indianapolis) as the only coaches to win 14 games in their first season with a franchise. The Patriots improved 10 games from the 4-13 finish in 2024, which ties for the best turnaround in NFL history (Indianapolis 1999 and 2008 Miami). New England had a +170-point differential (third in the NFL) and were second in the league with 490 points scored. The 6,449 total offense yards were third in the league, and the 22 rushing touchdowns were tied for fourth in the NFL. The defense allowed just 18.8 points per game (fourth in the NFL). Quarterback Drake Maye was selected to the PFWA's All-AFC team, while running back TreVeyon Henderson and placekicker Andy Borregales were selected to the PFWA's All-Rookie Team.

This is the second PFWA Coach of the Year honor for Vrabel as he won the 2021 award with the Tennessee Titans, and the eighth Coach of the Year award for the Patriots' franchise, as Vrabel joins Chuck Fairbanks (1976 AFC), Raymond Berry (1985 AFC), Ron Meyer (1987 AFC), Bill Parcells (1984) and Bill Belichick (2003, 2007 , 2010) as New England honorees.

Schneider's work helped the Seahawks to the NFC's No. 1 seed in 2025. Seattle was 14-3 this season, and the Seahawks won their first division title since 2020 while claiming the franchise's fourth No. 1 playoff seed. The 14 victories set a franchise record, and the Seahawks' eight road victories were also the most in their history. Seattle's draft success in recent seasons has solidified the on-field results. The players drafted by Schneider since 2023 who received 2025 PFWA honors include cornerback Devon Witherspoon (2023), an All-NFC selection, wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (2023), the PFWA's Offensive Player of the Year and an All-NFL and All-NFC choice, and both safety Nick Emmanwori (2025) and guard Grey Zabel (2025), who were selected to the PFWA's All-Rookie Team. Schneider also added defensive tackle Leonard Williams in a 2023 trade, who became an All-NFL and All-NFC pick this season, and wide receiver Rashid Shaheed in a 2025 trade, who was named to the PFWA's 2025 All-NFC team as a punt returner. Schneider also drafted 2025 All-NFC punter Michael Dickson (2018). In free agency, the Seahawks made a key acquisition as the franchise signed quarterback Sam Darnold, who threw for 4,048 yards and 25 touchdowns.

This is the first PFWA Executive of the Year honor for Schneider and the Seahawks since the award was established in 1993.

Joseph completed his fifth season with the Broncos, and his third as defensive coordinator in 2025, after serving as Denver's head coach from 2017-18. The Broncos defense was third in average points allowed (18.3), led the league in sacks (68; tied for fifth-most in NFL history), held opponents to under 20 points 10 times, including five games when opposing offenses did not score a touchdown – a franchise record. The Denver defense also was stout in the red zone, holding opponents to a league-low 42.6 percent of touchdowns scored on red zone trips (20 of 47). Denver was second in total defense yards (278.2), second in rushing yards allowed (91.1) and passing yards allowed (187.2). Two of his defenders were PFWA honorees in 2025 as outside linebacker Nik Bonitto was an All-NFL and All-AFC choice, and cornerback Patrick Surtain II was an All-AFC selection.

Joseph is the second Broncos assistant to receive the PFWA award established in 1993, as he joins Wade Phillips (2015) as a Denver honoree.

2025 COACH OF THE YEAR: Mike Vrabel, New England Patriots

2025 EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR: John Schneider, Seattle Seahawks

2025 ASSISTANT COACH OF THE YEAR: Vance Joseph, Denver Broncos

Who is the best NFL head coach in the playoffs? Ranking all 14

 

Jack McKessy

USA TODAY

Jan. 7, 2026, 11:22 a.m. ET

All 14 NFL teams in the playoffs made it this far, in part, because of the leadership of their head coaches. Who among the 14 head coaches in this year's postseason field is the best of those strong leaders?

It's not an easy question to answer. Each one of the head coaches to make it this far has an argument for why he deserves a shot at the top spot in the power rankings.

A couple of first-year head coaches have accomplished major turnarounds to bring their teams from among the league's bottom-feeders to division titles. Some others have years of playoff – and Super Bowl – experience under their belts.

USA TODAY Sports has power ranked the head coaches of the 14 NFL playoff teams entering the looming six-game wild-card weekend. Here's how it went:

NFL head coach power rankings: Wild-card round

1. Mike Vrabel, New England Patriots

The top spot on the list goes to the coach that executed the biggest one-year turnaround of any head coach in 2025. Vrabel inherited a Patriots team that had just gone 4-13 in back-to-back seasons and didn't have much of its roster figured out outside of upstart quarterback Drake Maye. In Vrabel's first year in charge, he brought back offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels for a third stint and led the Patriots to a 14-3 record that was tied for the league's best.

2. Liam Coen, Jacksonville Jaguars

The second spot on the list goes to the coach that put together the second-best one-year turnaround of any head coach this year. Like Vrabel in New England, Coen inherited a Jaguars team that had just gone 4-13 one year prior and turned them into a contender for the AFC's No. 1 seed as late as Week 18. The offensive-minded, rookie head coach also helped get quarterback Trevor Lawrence playing more like the top prospect he was promised to be.

3. Mike Macdonald, Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks have one of the best home-field advantages in the NFL with their "12s" among the loudest fanbases in the sport. Yet Macdonald, in his two years as head coach in Seattle, has his team playing better on the road. The Seahawks are 17-2 on the road over the last two seasons with just one loss as the away team in each of the last two years.

Macdonald, who was formerly a defensive coordinator, has also molded Seattle's defense into the top scoring defense in the league, something the Seahawks haven't been since the "Legion of Boom" era in the early 2010s. That strong defense, along with the work offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak did with quarterback Sam Darnold and the offense this year, pushed Seattle to the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

4. Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers

Shanahan has long been considered part of the "cream of the crop" of NFL head coaches. His offensive mastery and scheming, partly inherited from his father, Mike, is lauded as one of the league's best in the present day. The work that Shanahan did with the 49ers this year amidst a plethora of injuries to key players deserves extra recognition. San Francisco was playing for the NFC's No. 1 seed in Week 18 despite missing lead receiver Brandon Aiyuk all season, top wideouts Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall for some time and losing top defenders Fred Warner and Nick Bosa to season-ending injuries.

5. Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams

McVay is up there with Shanahan as one of the head coaches considered to be among the best offensive minds in the NFL. In 2025, his ninth season as the Rams' head coach, McVay put a new twist in his playbook that returned Los Angeles to its spot as the leagues' top scoring offense: 13 personnel. In other words, deploying one running back and three tight ends along with just one wide receiver in a formation. McVay and the Rams ran over 30% of their offensive plays out of 13 personnel, per Sumer Sports, more than twice as much as the team with the next-highest usage rate. The result? Los Angeles led the NFL in total yards, passing yards and points scored per game.

McVay's ability to adapt and change as defensive coordinators came up with ways to stop previous iterations of his offense are part of what makes him such a valuable head coach.

6. Ben Johnson, Chicago Bears

Johnson is one of two rookie head coaches to lead his team to the playoffs this year, joining Coen. While Johnson didn't quite have the Bears fighting for their conference's top seed as Coen did with the Jaguars, Chicago's 2025 turnaround looked quite similar to Jacksonville's. The Bears were coming off of a 5-12 2024 season that resulted in the firings of their head coach and offensive coordinator. In his first year, Johnson catapulted Chicago from last place in the NFC North to first place and the NFC's No. 2 seed. He's also helped unlock more of second-year quarterback Caleb Williams' potential by tailoring the offense to his skill set, much like Coen has with Lawrence in Jacksonville.

7. Sean Payton, Denver Broncos

Payton didn't pull off quite the same turnaround as other coaches on this list, but he deserves his flowers for breaking the Chiefs' stranglehold on the AFC West and leading the Broncos to the No. 1 seed. While defensive coordinator Vance Joseph helped Denver's defense shine in 2025, Payton continued to mold the Broncos' offense around second-year quarterback Bo Nix. Payton has maximized what Nix is able to do with a skilled group of playmakers around him and rode that momentum – and that from the defense – to the top seed in the AFC. Worth noting too is Payton's nine playoff wins as a head coach, which puts him 20th all-time in the category.

8. Sean McDermott, Buffalo Bills

Since 2019, McDermott's third year as the Bills' head coach, Buffalo has won at least 10 games each season. This year, the Bills won 12 games but fell one win short of a sixth straight AFC East division title. The biggest stain on McDermott's résumé so far has been his inability to win big games – mostly against the Chiefs – in the playoffs. The Bills have not been to the Super Bowl with McDermott and have been eliminated from the postseason by Kansas City in four of their last five playoff appearances. With the Chiefs out of the playoff picture this year, McDermott and the Bills have a clearer path to an AFC title.

9. DeMeco Ryans, Houston Texans

After back-to-back 10-win seasons to begin his coaching tenure in Houston, Ryans led the Texans to tying their franchise record of 12 wins during the 2025 regular season. These last three seasons of success followed three straight years of four or fewer wins before Ryans came in. With Ryans, the Texans haven't won fewer than 10 games, have two division titles and have made the playoffs each year. In addition, the former NFL linebacker has had success coaching in the wild-card round with two wins in two appearances. So far, the third-year head coach has not been able to push his team past the divisional round and into the conference championship.

10. Jim Harbaugh, Los Angeles Chargers

Harbaugh is in his sixth season of coaching in the NFL – his second season in his second stint at the pro level. In each of the last two seasons, he's led the Chargers to 11 wins. In his NFL coaching career, Harbaugh-led teams have won fewer than 11 games just one time: the 2014 San Francisco 49ers, which went 8-8. The former 49ers head coach has yet to win a playoff game since making his return to NFL coaching. Last year, the Chargers lost in the wild-card round to Ryans and the Texans as quarterback Justin Herbert threw four interceptions.

11. Dave Canales, Carolina Panthers

On paper, Canales' team's record would indicate that he belongs at the bottom of this list. The Panthers eked into the playoffs despite an 8-9 record because of the poor state of play in the NFC South this year. But there should also be an argument that Canales' ability to get Carolina up to eight wins and a division title two years after the Panthers won two games is a story of success. The second-year head coach has built a serviceable offense despite the limitations of quarterback Bryce Young and has kept the Panthers on an upward trajectory in the win column for two consecutive years. Bringing a team from two wins to the playoffs in two years is laudable.

12. Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles

Sirianni is coming off of a Super Bowl win last year with a team that consistently looked capable of dominating both sides of the football. This year's team, despite returning almost all of last year's roster, seemed to take a sizable step back, particularly on offense under new offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. Despite Philadelphia's second straight NFC East win – making them the first team to win that division in back-to-back years in two decades – and a recent Super Bowl victory, Sirianni's decision to stay in-house with Patullo and inability to find a solution to star receiver A.J. Brown's frustrations early in the year drop him further down the list. Sirianni's decision to rest the Eagles' starters in Week 18 to miss out on the NFC's No. 2 seed after the Bears' loss is something that will also come into question pending how their outing against the 49ers goes.

13. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers

Tomlin just led the Steelers to their 22nd consecutive non-losing season and sixth straight winning season. Pittsburgh also won an AFC North title this year for the first time since 2020, and the Steelers are back in the playoffs for a third straight year and fifth time in the last six years. In their last five postseason appearances, Tomlin and Pittsburgh have been one-and-done. The Steelers haven't won a playoff game under their current head coach since the 2016 season. Until Tomlin breaks that streak, it's hard to rank him any higher in a playoff coaches power ranking list.

14. Matt LaFleur, Green Bay Packers

The Packers won 13 games in each of LaFleur's first three seasons as their head coach and won a playoff game in each of those first two. The sailing hasn't been quite as smooth in the four years since. Last year's 11-6 campaign was the Packers' best regular season outing since 2021, and Green Bay still finished third in the NFC North and flamed out in the wild-card round of the playoffs. LaFleur has one playoff win since 2020 in three trips to the postseason in that time. To close out this year's 9-7-1 showing, the Packers lost four straight games with LaFleur struggling to right the ship in the wake of injuries to edge rusher Micah Parsons and quarterback Jordan Love. Love will return for the wild-card round, but LaFleur has his work cut out for him ahead of a third meeting with the Bears this year.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/playoffs/2026/01/07/nfl-playoffs-head-coach-power-rankings-vrabel-coen/88048687007/

 

Before attending NFL Combine, Mike Vrabel made special visit at children's hospital

 

Before Mike Vrabel and his staff took off for Indianapolis to interview prospects at the NFL Scouting Combine, there was one special man he wanted to meet first locally: a long-term patient at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Mar 06, 2025 at 11:22 AM

Before Mike Vrabel and his staff took off for Indianapolis to interview prospects at the NFL Scouting Combine, there was one special young man he wanted to meet first here in Boston.

You won't find Jayden's name on any mock drafts or college football rosters – he's a 15-year-old from Cape Cod. But after he wrote a letter to the newly hired New England Patriots coach, Vrabel made it a priority to visit him before leaving town.

 "Jayden is a long-term patient at Boston Children's Hospital, and he's just an awesome kid," said Jane Searfoss, a child life specialist in the pediatric intermediate care unit.

"He makes everybody smile. We're always talking about Boston sports. He's a huge sports fan and he is always craving connection."

For his care team, sports have been a go-to way to give Jayden that connection.

His tutor, an Ohio State University graduate, was hoping to get the teenager motivated for a writing project back in January – right around the time when the Patriots hired Vrabel, another former Buckeye.

Inspiration struck.

"They connected over Ohio State and the Patriots and decided to make the writing project a letter to Mike Vrabel, and it was an awesome letter," Searfoss said.

"They got some Ohio State gear to send off to Mike in hopes of getting a letter or a video back."

Ultimately, Jayden got much more than just a letter or a video response.

When Boston Children's staff contacted the Patriots community relations team to deliver Jayden's message, Vrabel didn't just respond—he wanted to do more.

"(Vrabel) read what was going on with Jayden and asked to just come see him," said Alexandra Hladick Bueno, the hospital's media relations manager.

"He was like, 'Can I come? Can I come tomorrow to meet him?' And this was all right before he had this huge trip. For me and all of us here at the hospital that just says so much about who he is, coming here on a Friday night at 6 p.m. to see one patient."

Staff couldn't wait to share the news with Jayden. His first question? Whether his tutor could be there too.

Fortunately, his care team had already taken care of those logistics, so they got to work to give Vrabel a warm welcome.

"We spent the day getting his room decorated," Searfoss said.

"He got to tell his family and he talked about it all day. He was so excited. Things like this are so amazing because it gave him something to look forward to. It's hard to be here for so long. Days can pass by and just feel the same. That's why this was so important. He's already printed out the pictures for his room and has been showing everybody the Polaroids of them both."

Having two sons of his own, staff says Vrabel was a natural in his attempts to get through to the teenager.

They played catch, took photographs, and even talked about the upcoming NFL Draft. Jayden had plenty of insight to offer Vrabel, and the head coach was sure to instruct John Streicher, Patriots vice president of football operations and strategy, to write it all down.

"It was just awesome to see that connection because they clearly bonded immediately," Searfoss said.

"I know to see Jayden sit up and smile like that is really heartwarming for everybody on our staff. And for someone like Mike to talk to our staff and take a photo was a huge morale boost for everybody involved. It's a hard job to be here and support these patients through everything and he was just amazing."

At the visit, Vrabel also met with about 20 staffers at Boston Children's, who largely benefited from the morale boost.

"One thing that really stuck with me that he said while we were leaving was, "You know, those ladies up there, they really love him,'" Hladick Bueno shared.

"Just having that moment where he totally recognized how much our care teams love our patients. He was very struck by that."

Before leaving, Vrabel signed a football for Jayden, writing 'We're so proud of you." He told the boy that he'd be hanging up the letter inside his office at Gillette Stadium.

The head coach left with one request: for Jayden to keep writing to him.

New coaching metric offers praise for Vrabel, concerns over Callahan

 

SIS formula aims to calculate expected wins number

John Glennon

Feb 12, 2025

A new metric aimed at grading coaches’ performance offers some long-term appreciation for former Titans coach Mike Vrabel while forecasting concern over current Titans coach Brian Callahan.

Sports Info Solutions, a sports data website, recently debuted an “expected wins stat,” measuring how many games a team should have won based on measurables from every play of every game. The formula uses a summed version of each player on a roster’s “wins above replacement,” which SIS takes from its Total Points player value stats.

SIS then uses the players’ performance on the field as a measure of the team’s quality and converts it to an expected wins number for the team — and the coach.

For example, the Kansas City Chiefs, per the SIS formula, should have been expected to win only 9.8 games during the 2024 season. The Chiefs won 15 games, meaning coach Andy Reid is credited with 5.2 wins over expected.

Reid has three of the best six wins over expected seasons since 2016, which is when SIS began tracking football. In 2016, the Chiefs produced 4.4 wins over expected during a 12-4 season. And in 2020, Kansas City totaled 3.7 wins over expected during a 14-2 season.

Which NFL coach has the most wins over expected since 2016, based on the SIS formula?

It’s Vrabel, whose 10.1 wins over expected as Titans coach from 2018-23 have him ahead of Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin (9.9), Las Vegas’ Pete Carroll (9.7), Minnesota’s Kevin O’Connell (8.1) and former Houston coach Bill O’Brien (7.9).

Jeff Dean of SIS writes that Vrabel’s position atop the list “may be a little bit of a surprise, but he overperformed his team’s expected wins in five of his six seasons as the Titans head coach. The only season the team underperformed was his last [in 2023]. If you hear anyone say that Vrabel gets the most out of his players, think back to his presence atop the list here.”

The coach who fared worst in combined wins over expected since 2016 was former Buffalo and Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone (-9.6), followed by ex-Indianapolis, Arizona and Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians (-9.2).

Former Dallas coach Jason Garrett had the worst wins over expected in a single season, with a minus 5.2 figure in 2019.

Callahan was not listed among the five individual worst seasons for wins over expected since 2016.

But SIS compiled another list — "most and fewest total wins expected per three seasons since 2016” — that included Callahan. He has obviously coached only one season, but the formula is designed “so everyone with at least 16 games coached, this is what we’d expect from them in 3×17 = 51 games.” 

Using that system, Callahan — if his Titans continued on the same path as 2024 — would be expected to compile by 2026 a minus 7.3 figure, which would rank fourth-worst among all coaches since 2016. Former San Diego Chargers coach Mike McCoy currently has the worst mark in that measurement at minus 12.9.

Callahan took his share of blame for the Titans’ 3-14 season, which netted Tennessee the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. He has every intention of changing the team's direction in 2025.

“Ultimately, I have to do a better job as a head coach so we're not in this position again at any point,” Callahan said following the season.

“Don't have any interest in repeating this season, although there's lots of things to glean from it lessons wise. I don't want to be in this position again, and I'm fully determined and resolved to get us to a point where we don't have to talk about how many games we've lost. We can talk about how many games we won.”

Patriots hire Mike Vrabel as 16th head coach in franchise history

 

Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff Writer

Jan 12, 2025, 10:23 AM ET

 

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."