The New England Patriots made the change from Jerod Mayo to Mike Vrabel at head coach to begin the offseason. Immediately after the final game of the 2024 season, Robert Kraft decided to fire Mayo.
Right off the bat, Vrabel was viewed as the favorite to end up being his replacement. In fact, the rumors about Vrabel started well before Mayo was actually fired.
A new shocking theory has been shared about the hiring of Vrabel.
On a segment of "The Dan & Ninko Show," the hosts discussed the Vrabel hiring. Dan O'Brien stated that he thinks Vrabel knew he would get the job back in December.
"They have the money to revamp this whole roster. I'm assuming Vrabel has a plan. I mean, this was all in the works. When do you think Vrabel was actually hired? The last four weeks of the season?" O'Brien questioned.
"[Josh] McDaniels did an interview saying he picked Vrabel up from the airport to bring him to Foxborough for his interview. Obviously, McDaniels was hired whenever Vrabel knew he was hired. I think Vrabel knew he got the job in December. Like the beginning of December."
That would explain how things moved so quickly following the regular season finale. Mayo was fired before even having a chance to address the team.
Kraft clearly knew what he was going to do. Is it crazy to think that he had conversations with Vrabel to gauge his new head coach's interest in coming to the Patriots?
Honestly, it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Vrabel is a big-time upgrade for New England. He will give the franchise much-needed stability from the head coaching role.
Regardless of when Vrabel knew, the job is now his. He's ready to get to work and help get the Patriots back to contention.
Some may not love hearing that New England may have come to some kind of an agreement before Mayo was even fired, but at the end of the day things went very smoothly for the Patriots.
