Dan Graziano
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- Dan Graziano is a senior NFL nationwide reporter for ESPN, protecting the complete league and breaking information. Dan additionally contributes to Get Up, NFL Live, SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, Sunday NFL Countdown and Fantasy Football Now. He is a New Jersey native who joined ESPN in 2011, and he’s additionally the creator of two revealed novels.
Hours after the New England Patriots vanquished the Houston Texans final Sunday to advance to the AFC Championship Game, it appeared like previous occasions at Gillette Stadium, the place the giddy chatter was nonetheless bouncing off the cinder block partitions in the tunnels beneath.
“It’s not supposed to happen this fast!” one safety guard stated to one other.
He’s right. Teams aren’t supposed to have the ability to miss the playoffs three seasons in a row, end 4-13, change head coaches for a second straight yr … after which go 14-3 en route to the Super Bowl. And it’s particularly not supposed to occur this quickly after the finish of one in every of the nice sports activities dynasties we have ever seen.
But the Patriots have executed just that, clinching a visit to Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8 with a 10-7 win Sunday over the Denver Broncos. And an enormous a part of the purpose they’ve pulled off this turnaround is that they acquired the head coach hire right final January.
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This offseason will see a staggering 10 of the NFL’s 32 groups change head coaches, and a handful of these franchises are nonetheless working their manner by means of the interview course of, making an attempt to work out which coordinators will make good head coaches and which former head coaches will do higher this time round. Mike Vrabel and the Patriots stand as a stark instance of what it appears to be like like when groups get this right. It appears Vrabel has pushed each right button at each flip. Schematically, strategically, emotionally and motivationally, he has had the right concept for what to do in any given state of affairs — at the same time as these conditions get greater and extra intense.
“He’s just got a great sense of what’s needed,” Patriots middle Garrett Bradbury stated not too long ago when requested what makes Vrabel a profitable head coach in a league that so usually struggles to discover them. “He played, obviously, and at a high level, so he knows the players’ perspective. But he’s not just strictly, like, ‘player’s coach’ because there’s never any doubt who’s in charge. I think the way he’s been all year has just prepared us all to meet this moment, because you can see the vision and the belief, and you know he has your back.”
In the massive image, this wasn’t actually a fast or straightforward turnaround for the Patriots. There was the powerful tail finish of the Bill Belichick period, with Cam Newton and Mac Jones underneath middle as New England watched Tom Brady go win the Super Bowl in his first yr in Tampa Bay. In 2024, the Pats changed Belichick with defensive coordinator Jerod Mayo and drafted Drake Maye with the third decide in the draft. Maye showed promise as a rookie, however the staff went 4-13 for the second straight season and fired Mayo after just one yr on the job. New England pivoted shortly to Vrabel, the former Titans head coach and former Patriots participant who’d been inducted into the staff’s Ring of Honor months earlier and appeared like the good match.
But it’s one factor to appear to be the good match and fairly one other to do the job, particularly on the degree at which Vrabel has executed it in Year 1. He constructed the right type of infrastructure round Maye, together with the return of Josh McDaniels to the group as offensive coordinator to the addition of QBs coach Ashton Grant — a younger, up-and-coming coach with whom Vrabel crossed paths throughout his time as a guide for the Cleveland Browns final season. New England additionally signed veteran receivers equivalent to Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins, and drafted working again TreVeyon Henderson in Round 2. All of that resulted in an MVP-caliber season from Maye.
As a former linebacker and a defensive-minded coach, Vrabel additionally helped overhaul the protection forward of his first season. The staff threw massive cash at defensive sort out Milton Williams in free company and introduced in edge rusher Harold Landry III, who performed for Vrabel in Tennessee. Vrabel is a “walk-around” CEO-type head coach and does not name the defensive performs on sport day, however he has been a stabilizing drive on that facet of the ball whereas defensive coordinator Terrell Williams has been away from the staff battling most cancers and Zak Kuhr has taken over the playcalling duties.
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The Patriots’ Four H’s: History, Heroes, Heartbreak and Hope
Coach Mike Vrabel requested gamers in a staff assembly to share a narrative about their hometown, a hero, heartbreak, and hope.
More than any particular strikes, although, it’s the day-to-day, week-to-week facet of Vrabel that has stood out since this particular Patriots season began.
“He’s continued to learn throughout his journey as head coach,” stated Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane, who performed for Vrabel throughout his rookie season in Tennessee in 2018 (Vrabel’s first yr as a head coach) and signed as a free agent to play for him once more this season in New England. “He’s built up a résumé of scars from things he’s been burned on and other things that maybe have worked out. But he’s very consistent in his messaging. Details, technique and fundamentals are required on a weekly basis.”
That’s the basis, and Vrabel spent the offseason laying it down. Before you possibly can accomplish something as a head coach, you will have to be certain that expectations are understood. The nice ones discover methods to do it with out just preaching and giving orders. Vrabel’s reward appears to lie in his means to ship his message in a manner that connects together with his gamers.
Examples? How a lot time do you will have?
How about the “four H’s,” one thing Vrabel stated he picked up whereas working with Kevin Stefanski’s employees in Cleveland final season. He requested gamers in a staff assembly to every determine part of their historical past, one in every of their heroes, one instance of a heartbreak and one second of hope. Players have stated all through the season that the idea helped them open up to one another and join on a deeper degree.
“Those things help out for us whenever we get onto the field,” Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones advised ESPN’s Mike Reiss final month. “Playing harder for your brother because you know what he’s been through and you know how he’s overcome those situations.”
There had been the particular person participant introductions earlier than video games — one thing the Patriots hadn’t executed in additional than 20 years. Vrabel acquired the concept earlier than one in every of the staff’s early dwelling video games this season, requested the gamers in the event that they’d be up for it after which determined to do it (offense one week, protection the subsequent, and so on.). “Guys didn’t really know what to do at first,” tight finish Hunter Henry recalled. “I think some guys tried to do something cool as they ran out, but it was new to all of us, so a lot of guys screwed it up the first time. But that was part of the fun.”
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There was additionally early-season dealing with of working again Rhamondre Stevenson and his fumble issues, which might have resulted in a benching in numerous locations. Yes, a part of what stored Vrabel going again to Stevenson was necessity. Once Antonio Gibson tore an ACL, the solely different actual choice at working again was Henderson, who was nonetheless getting acclimated to the NFL as a rookie. But Vrabel confused publicly and privately that the Patriots had been going to want Stevenson and that they’d to assist him by means of the issues slightly than merely penalize him for them. As a end result, New England has an especially efficient working again tandem at the most vital time of the season. Vrabel acquired there by straddling the line between holding the backs accountable for his or her errors and supporting them by means of their struggles.
“Just told us our coach is going to have our backs, no matter what,” Henry stated.
Watching Vrabel on the sideline throughout a sport, as I used to be in a position to do throughout the Patriots’ Week 18 victory over the Miami Dolphins, is eye-opening. He went over to Henry to speak to him one-on-one after an offensive move interference name. Vrabel took over the particular groups huddle earlier than an vital Miami kickoff late in the first half. He celebrated with the protection after an interception. And in fact, there are these postgame handshakes. Vrabel stands outdoors the locker room, greeting every participant individually on their manner in and congratulating them on robust efficiency. Or, as he did with Will Campbell after the rookie left sort out struggled in the divisional spherical victory over Houston, consoling them and telling them to maintain their chins up.
“It’s about authenticity,” stated Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, who performed for Vrabel in Tennessee and believes he is taking part in for a equally efficient head coach now in DeMeco Ryans. “Everybody knows the difference between someone who’s in a position and someone who’s a leader. You can be in a position of leadership and not be a great leader. You can be a great leader and not be put in a position to lead. But when you’ve got a great leader who’s in a position of power, then there’s no limit to what you can accomplish as an organization. The great teams I’ve been on, at the very highest level, everybody has a goal and there’s no indecision, no discrepancy.”
Authenticity is fairly straightforward to spot. Vrabel will not be pretending about something. He’s not maintaining secrets and techniques for secrets and techniques’ sake. He’s not imposing seriousness when it’s higher to be relaxed, neither is he flippant when the state of affairs requires earnestness. He is aware of he has a younger staff, he is aware of his gamers effectively, and he is aware of what they’re and what they are not.
Someone requested him at Friday’s information convention if he tried to maintain gamers from checking their telephones forward of an enormous sport for worry of distraction, and he scoffed at the concept that such a factor would even be attainable if he needed to do it. You can inform he is having enjoyable, and it’s apparent from the Patriots’ play that he has fostered a deep reference to this group of gamers.
“I just enjoy coaching these guys,” Vrabel stated. “You probably take it for granted, coaching and getting another opportunity, and I’ve told them that. And so, to do it with guys that are fun to be around and nobody takes themselves too seriously, they give it to me, I give it back to them and we try to get ready to go play a game. You go through a lot. Games are tight, they’re close. There’s good times, there’s bad times. Every week is its own saga. So the closer you can become, the more it helps you get through the rigors of this league, as opposed to being independent contractors.”
This season’s Patriots had been the fourth staff in the Super Bowl period to attain the convention championship spherical in its head coach’s first season after profitable 4 or fewer video games the earlier yr. And in accordance to ESPN Research, they’re the solely staff in NFL historical past to win 14 video games with a first-year head coach after profitable 4 or fewer just one season prior. It’s a ridiculously fast turnaround the likes of which might be powerful for any coach to replicate.
But in an offseason when virtually one-third of the NFL’s groups are on the lookout for new head coaches, what Vrabel has executed in his first yr in New England is a shining instance of what groups making adjustments are hoping to discover. Not that it’s straightforward. A entrance workplace can usher in a talented coordinator and never know for certain if he is going to be a talented head coach. Teams can usher in skilled head coaches and never know what they’re going to do with their second or third likelihood. It’s onerous to put your finger on one factor and say that is what groups are on the lookout for in a head coach, however you do know it whenever you see it.
And it’s fairly clear at this level that the Patriots have it in Vrabel.
