The New England Patriots have decided to start the new year with a clean slate by bringing in an entirely new coaching staff. The team fired former head coach Jerod Mayo on Jan. 5, and hired former Patriots legend and Tennessee Titans head coach, Mike Vrabel on Jan. 12. Vrabel is already an extremely qualified candidate for the job as he successfully brought the Titans from a record of 51-77 form 2010 until 2017, to .500, from 2018 to 2023. During his tenure in Tennessee, the team won over 10 games twice and had three playoff appearances and one American Football Conference (AFC) Championship during his coaching tenure in Tennessee.
However, it takes more than just one coach to rebuild a team and bring it to greatness. So far, Vrabel has brought in and put together an extremely impressive coaching staff. On Jan. 21 and 22, the Patriots made their offensive and defensive coordinator hires with former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels, and Detroit Lions defensive line coach Terrell Williams.
McDaniels has been with the Patriots as an assistant and offensive coordinator for different stints since 2001 and was with the team for all six of their Super Bowl wins. However, he had two less successful head coaching jobs with the Denver Broncos (2009-2010) and most recently got hired by the Raiders in 2022, but was fired in the middle of the 2023 season.
Williams was the defensive line coach for the Titans the entire time Vrabel was the coach, so clearly Vrabel sees something special in Williams, and will hopefully prove to be a successful hire. As for their special teams coordinator, the Patriots were able to obtain Jeremy Springer, a highly credible special teams coordinator who was with the Los Angeles Rams before being hired by Mayo in 2024.
Vrabel didn’t miss a beat with the hires of his supporting staff either. Most recently, on Feb. 4, Vrabel hired his former offensive coordinator with the Titans, Todd Downing, as the Patriots new wide receivers coach.
Since 2020, Thomas Brown has been moving around the league as a running back and tight end coach, assistant head coach and offensive/passing game coordinator. Most recently, Brown took the role as offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears, until their head coach, Matt Eberflus, was fired, allowing Brown to become the interim head coach.
Vrabel also brought in former NFL head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Doug Marrone, to be the Patriots offensive line coach. As for another former NFL head coach, Ben McAdoo, who was an assistant under Mayo’s staff, coached the New York Giants from 2016-2017, decided to stay with the Patriots under the new staff and was granted the title senior defensive assistant.
Ashton Grant (quarterbacks) and Tony Dews (running backs) both coached their current respective positions on past teams with Vrabel, such as the Titans and Cleveland Browns, who Vrabel was in a coaching and personnel consultant role with for the 2024 season.
Lastly, Vrabel brought in Frank Piraino to be the director of strength and conditioning for the Patriots. Piraino is a very well respected strength and conditioning coach and had the same role at Boston College before getting hired by Vrabel and the Titans. When Vrabel got fired by the Titans, Piraino went on to be the strength and conditioning coach for the Giants in 2024.
Now, as Vrabel makes the final touches on his defensive staff, he will also look to begin scouting college prospects at events like the Reese’s Senior Bowl, East West Shrine Bowl and the NFL Scouting Combine before the draft. There are also possibilities that Vrabel and his new staff are making moves for stars that are requesting trades or in free agency like Cooper Kupp, DK Metcalf or even Myles Garrett who will most likely be traded before the start of next season. Vrabel might even try to reunite with Philadelphia Eagles’ star wide receiver, AJ Brown, who was drafted by Vrabel’s Titans and spent his first three years in the NFL with the team.
All in all, there is a lot to look forward to for Patriots fans going into the 2025 season.
