The New England Patriots are one of several teams looking for a new head coach after they fired Jerod Mayo immediately after they closed their 2024 campaign with a 23-16 victory over the Buffalo Bills. They are quickly making their way through their head coaching search, and it appears as if Mike Vrabel has emerged as their top target.
Vrabel had been getting linked to the Patriots even before Mayo got fired, and it's not too hard to see why. Vrabel played for New England from 2001-2008 and won three Super Bowls with them, so it would make sense for him to want to return to Foxboro in an effort to help the team rise from the ashes.
The Patriots have to comply with the NFL's Rooney Rule before hiring a new head coach, which they did on Tuesday when they interviewed Byron Leftwich and Pep Hamilton for their opening. NFL insider Jordan Schultz wasn't happy with that move, though, as he accused the Pats of simply "sidestepping" the Rooney Rule.
"The NFL's Rooney Rule has been around for years, but watching teams blatantly sidestep its intent never stops being frustrating. The Patriots checked the box by interviewing Byron Leftwich and Pep Hamilton — high quality coaches, but clearly not the front-runners for the job. Everyone knows it. Now, with that formality out of the way, they're free to move forward and hire Mike Vrabel as soon as Thursday," Schultz said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Rooney Rule has been one of the more divisive rules implemented by the NFL, as it requires team's with a head coach or general manager opening to interview at least two ethnic-minority candidates before officially making a hire. The Pats fulfilled the rule by interviewing both Leftwich and Hamilton on Tuesday.
In concept, the Patriots could hire Vrabel on Thursday, which is when they will bring him in for an interview. However, that isn't guaranteed to happen, as Vrabel has several interviews lined up for head coaching vacancies, and the Pats have requested to interview other candidates, such as Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
It's clear that Vrabel is New England's top head coach target, though, and it wouldn't be a great look if they do hire him immediately on Thursday. But they did fulfill the requirements set in place by the NFL, so if this is how they play things, the league may be forced to make some changes to the Rooney Rule.
