I will never understand why other NFL teams did not hire Mike Vrabel sooner. The former head coach of the Tennessee Titans is back leading the former team he used to star for. While so much has gone wrong of late for the New England Patriots, they seem to have finally gotten out of their own way in the post-Tom Brady and Bill Belichick era. It all starts with hiring an alpha male head coach in Vrabel.
In Mike Reiss' latest for ESPN, he divulged the latest peak behind the curtain on the State of the Patriots. One key nugget in his article resonated with me the most. It was how the Patriots arrived at the decision to take former Ohio State Buckeyes running back in the second round of the NFL Draft. It was between two players at No. 38, but the other guy the Patriots wanted was already off the board.
It was an easy decision to make with Vrabel sitting at the front of the war room, executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf on one side of him, and their new vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden on the other. Cowden is one of 11 new hires Vrabel made that share a Tennessee connection with him. Their collaboration shall be key in the Patriots turning it around.
There was some murkiness in the chain of command in a post-Belichick world but now we found it.
New England Patriots' brain trust seems to have franchise back on track
It would not surprise me if the Patriots ended up finishing in second place in the AFC East this season. The Buffalo Bills are on a shortlist of serious Super Bowl contenders, so it is their division to lose. As for the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets, neither franchise has done enough recently to merit anyone outside of their loyal fan bases to trust them. New England could take advantage.
What I like about the Patriots' current setup is it could be a lethal combination of old and new, with new being old and old being new. What am I even talking about? Vrabel bringing in a lot of guys with Tennessee ties injects something new into the Patriots franchise it did not have. As for Vrabel and the Tennessee newcomers, it is a chance for them to sit at the table of a franchise that used to dominate.
There are other things at play here, but the emerging partnership between Wolf and Cowden has my intrigue. Obviously, Vrabel will have to be the intermediary, but it could work out for the best for the Patriots. It had long been the voice of one man. It was Belichick's way or the highway for oh so very long. His departure created a leadership void at the top that was not appropriately filled until recently.
Vrabel is the straw that stirs the drink, but he will need Wolf and Cowden to occasionally stir it as well.