Insider: Three-time Super Bowl champion is 'home run' choice to replace Bill Belichick
Bill Belichick's seat as the head coach of the New England Patriots continues to get hotter.
Following a 20-17 defeat at the hands of the Washington Commanders in Week 9, the Patriots dropped to 2-7 on the season — their first time being five-plus games below .500 since the end of the 2000 campaign.
Whenever the Patriots ultimately opt to move on from their legendary coach, owner Robert Kraft may have Belichick's successor in mind. According to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, multiple sources close to the Patriots have echoed the belief that current Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel is Kraft's "home run" choice to succeed Belichick.
Vrabel, 48, won three Super Bowls as a player with the Patriots dynasty from the early to mid 2000s. Since taking over as the head coach in Tennessee, Vrabel has led the Titans to three postseason appearances, including a conference championship appearance in 2019.
Tennessee extended Vrabel's contract in 2022, meaning luring the Patriots legend back to Foxborough would likely entail trade compensation. Fittingly enough, the Patriots acquired Belichick for a first-round draft pick in 2000 via a trade with the New York Jets.
Belichick, a shoo-in Hall of Famer, has struggled to further beef up his resume since the departure of quarterback Tom Brady. New England did earn a wild-card berth in 2021, but still remain winless in the postseason since 2020, owning a regular season record of 27-31 over that span.
Parting with a legendary coach like Belichick will be an uneasy situation for Kraft to navigate. However, replacing him with a previous franchise staple should help ease that burden from a fan's perspective.
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