Mike Vrabel's latest Patriots hires represent exactly what New England needs

The New England Patriots replaced one former linebacker with another as their head coach. After just one year under player-turned-coach Jerod Mayo, New England opted to hire former Patriots legend Mike Vrabel as their head coach.

Unlike Mayo, Vrabel has already found prior success and failure as a head coach. He found early success during his six-year tenure with the Tennessee Titans, but was ultimately fired after two consecutive losing seasons. 

Now, Vrabel is hoping to take the lessons he learned from his prior experience to rebuild the fallen Patriots dynasty. In many ways, he has a blank canvas to work with. New England’s established figures have mostly aged and retired, and Vrabel is beginning the rebuild by reshaping the team’s coaching staff. 

Mike Vrabel’s Patriots staff is full of former head coaches

The Patriots hired Thomas Brown as their tight ends coach and passing game coordinator, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported on Monday.

Brown previously served as the interim head coach, offensive coordinator and pass game coordinator for the Chicago Bears, where he coached rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. Although Brown found little success in Chicago, he reportedly impressed Vrabel in interviews for the Patriots offensive coordinator role. 

The 38-year-old coach wasn’t put in a great position to succeed in Chicago, where he held three different roles in the same season. He began as the pass game coordinator, but was elevated to offensive coordinator after the team fired Shane Waldron. When former Bears head coach Matt Eberflus was fired after Thanksgiving, Brown became the interim head coach. 

New England also reunited with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who returns after a disastrous stint as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. In McDaniels’ last season with the Patriots, he helped develop former Patriots quarterback Mac Jones into a Pro Bowl player.

Doug Marrone was also hired to the Patriots staff, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss. His position is yet to be determined, but it is widely believed that he will help with the offensive line. Marrone’s head coaching career hasn’t panned out — he has a 40-61 record — but he is one of the league’s most experienced offensive line coaches. The 60-year-old has been coaching since 1992 and spent the past two years as the offensive line coach for the New Orleans Saints. 

Vrabel seems to be prioritizing coaches who have experience — which is vastly different from last year’s Patriots team, which paired a first-time head coach and first-time general manager with a rookie quarterback.