FOXBORO -- The New England Patriots have hired Mike Vrabel to be the team's next head coach. For Vrabel, it's a return to the franchise that he won three Super Bowl titles with as a player.
Sources confirmed to WBZ-TV's Dan Roche Sunday morning that the Patriots have hired Vrabel.
The Patriots later confirmed the news on social media. Vrabel will be introduced as head coach during a press conference Monday at noon.
Vrabel will now look to bring the Patriots back to glory from the sideline. Vrabel, 49, becomes the 16th head coach in New England history. He's the third head coach for the team in the last three seasons.
Vrabel, who interviewed with the team on Thursday, inherits a Patriots team that went just 4-13 under first-year head coach Jerod Mayo in 2024. Mayo was fired by owner Robert Kraft just hours after the team's win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 18.
There was speculation that Kraft and the Patriots may have turned to Vrabel last offseason after Bill Belichick's run in New England ended, but there was a succession plan in place for Mayo to take over. But with Mayo dismissed after one season, the Patriots are now Mike Vrabel's team.
Mike Vrabel's coaching career
Vrabel has six seasons of NFL head-coaching experience, after guiding the Tennessee Titans to a 54-45 record and three playoff berths from 2018-2023. Following a 9-7 regular season in 2019, Vrabel and the Titans made a run to the AFC Championship Game, which included a wild-card round win over the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. That was Tom Brady's final game as Patriots quarterback, and it saw Vrabel out-Belichick his former head coach.
The Titans upset the Ravens in Baltimore the following week, before falling to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.
The Titans then won back-to-back AFC South crowns under Vrabel and he earned NFL Coach of the Years honors after a 12-5 season in 2021. But the team failed to win a playoff game in either of those seasons, as Tennessee lost to the Ravens in the wild-card round in 2020 and then to the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round in 2021.
That was the last time the Titans made it to the playoffs under Vrabel. The team went just 7-10 in 2022, and Vrabel was dismissed after a 6-11 season in 2023.
Vrabel was not hired during the 2023 offseason, and served as a consultant for the Cleveland Browns in 2024.
A native of Akron, Ohio, Vrabel got his start in coaching in 2011 at his alma mater, Ohio State, as the school's linebackers coach. He was promoted to the Buckeyes defensive line coach for 2012 and 2013, before making his jump to the NFL.
Vrabel joined Bill O'Brien's staff on the Houston Texans in 2014, serving as the team's linebackers coach in 2014. He was promoted to Houston's defensive coordinator in 2017 before he was hired by the Titans the following year.
Mike Vrabel's career with Patriots
Vrabel is beloved in New England after he was a key member of the Patriots defense from 2001-08. The linebacker helped the Patriots win three Super Bowls, and was named a First-Team All Pro and Pro Bowler in 2007. Vrabel is also part of New England's All-2000s Team, 50th Anniversary Team, and All-Dynasty Team. He was elected into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2023.
Vrabel was a tenacious linebacker that finished his career with 57 sacks, 11 interceptions and 19 forced fumbles. But he also had an occasional role on offense, catching 12 passes for the Patriots. Each of those dozen receptions went for a touchdown, and Vrabel caught touchdown passes in New England's Super Bowl XXXVIII win over the Carolina Panthers and another in the team's Super Bowl XXXVIX victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
In his three Super Bowl wins with the Patriots, Vrabel had three sacks and 15 combined tackles.
Now he'll look to win another ring with the Patriots, but this time from the sideline.
