The New England Patriots are hiring Mike Vrabel as the team’s next head coach.
Bill Belichick left the New England Patriots after the 2023 NFL season, a move that was described as a “mutual parting of ways” at the time. It took one day for the Patriots to promote their linebackers coach Jerod Mayo, who spent eight years as a linebacker with the team, to be their new head coach. Mayo lasted one season before team owner Robert Kraft fired him on January 5, 2025, about two hours after the team’s Week 18 season finale against the Buffalo Bills.
Learning from their experience last year, the Patriots conducted a detailed search for their 2025 head coach, taking a full week to hire Mike Vrabel. The former Patriots linebacker returns to New England where he played eight years of his 14-year career. Vrabel began his NFL playing career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who selected him in the third round of the 1997 Draft out of Ohio State. He joined the Patriots in 2001, then finished his career in 2010 after a two-year stint with the Kansas City Chiefs.
He began his coaching career in 2011 with Ohio State as a linebackers and defensive line coach. He moved to the NFL level in 2024 as the linebackers coach for the Houston Texans. He moved up to the Texans’ defensive coordinator role in 2017 before being hired as the Tennessee Titans head coach in 2018. He earned NFL Coach of the Year honors in 2021 and remained with the Titans through the 2023 season. He served as a coaching and personnel consultant with the Cleveland Browns for the 2024 season.
The Patriots finished 2024 with a 4-13 record. The have the fourth pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
For more on the Patriots’ hiring of Vrabel, check out Pats Pulpit.