Analyst Predicts Patriots' Mike Vrabel Wins Coach of the Year

The New England Patriots had one head coach for over two decades in Bill Belichick. Now, they have their second different head coach in two years. After hiring Jerod Mayo to be the potential heir apparent to Belichick, the Patriots fired him after one season in which New England went 4-13. The ensuing move surprised no one, as the Patriots hired former Tennessee Titans head coach and former New England linebacker Mike Vrabel to be their next head coach.

Since hiring Vrabel, the Patriots have gone to work in building a great roster around second-year quarterback Drake Maye. They entered the offseason with the most money to spend in the NFL by a wide margin, and they spent it. New England brought in defensive tackle Milton Williams and cornerback Carlton Davis as big splashes in free agency. They also added Vrabel's former player in Tennessee Harold Landry. Offensively, the Patriots used their first three draft picks on offensive players. LSU left tackle Will Campbell was the team's first pick and they followed that up by taking Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson and Washington State wide receiver Kyle Williams.

With all this improvement on the roster, several are projecting the Patriots to be one of the most improved teams in the NFL. In his piece with 100 bold predictions for the NFL season, Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated predicts that Vrabel will win Coach of the Year in 2025.

"The Patriots will nearly sneak into the playoffs as a seven-seed but miss the postseason," Orr writes. "While the AFC, particularly in the West, feels ruthless at the moment, there is still an opening for a grimy and competitive Patriots team to finish second in the East behind Buffalo. I make this prediction in full awareness of what was likely the worst prediction I’ve ever made, also in this space, when I projected a God-awful Patriots team to win the AFC East in 2023."

Vrabel winning the award without making the playoffs would be a unprecedented. It would also mark the second time he's won the award, as he won it back in 2021 while with the Titans.