Mike Vrabel made a triumphant return to New England as head coach of the Patriots on Monday.
A former linebacker and Tremendous Bowl champion underneath Invoice Belichick, Vrabel stated he felt the transfer again to Foxborough was proper “in his soul.” Vrabel beforehand coached the Tennessee Titans and spent final season as a guide for the Cleveland Browns.
“I am humbled, I am grateful,” Vrabel stated Monday, recalling being inducted into the staff’s Corridor of Fame in 2023. “Excited to get to work. Excited to fulfill the folks on this constructing who’ve made this place particular.”
The Patriots final reached the playoffs on the finish of the 2021 season, shedding 47-17 to the Buffalo Payments within the wild-card spherical. Since that loss, New England is 16-35 and transferring to a 3rd head coach in three seasons.
Vrabel credited earlier coaches and mentors from Belichick to Invoice O’Brien, who made him a linebackers coach with the Houston Texans, for getting him again “to the place the place I needed to be.”
“After I began my teaching profession, I feel it was necessary to go some place else to begin one other teaching journey,” Vrabel stated Monday. “I felt prefer it was necessary to forge my very own path some place else and if all these experiences led me again right here and the correct alternative, then that was the place to be.”
Vrabel, 49, takes over for former teammate Jerod Mayo, who was fired after one season as Belichick’s substitute as hand-selected by Robert Kraft. The Patriots’ proprietor stated Mayo was positioned in an untenable state of affairs and took fault for New England ending 4-13 for the second consecutive season.
Vrabel spent 4 seasons within the NFL with the Steelers earlier than signing with the Patriots in 2001 and profitable three Tremendous Bowls in eight seasons. Kraft took a stroll down reminiscence lane Monday, reflecting on Vrabel’s development and what introduced them to the reunion.
“These private traits additionally made him a really high-performing coach,” Kraft stated of Vrabel’s six years operating the Titans. “In 2019, he beat us proper right here within the playoffs in Tommy’s (Tom Brady) final sport as a Patriot. In 2021, he completed as one of the best file within the AFC at 12-5.
“Within the interview course of, Mike confirmed us that he had a really deep understanding of our present staff. Most significantly, he had a transparent and centered technique of find out how to get us again to a championship means that’s so necessary to all of us, but additionally one thing I feel our fan base deserves and expects.”
Vrabel stated he needs to deal with as many factors of contact — personnel, coaches and himself — as doable to make all workers really feel the identical quantity of care that they put money into the staff.
“This connection piece,” Vrabel stated. “I will have a relationship with each single one among them. … That is what I need to construct.”
–Discipline Degree Media