Mike Vrabel misses out on Patriots job, where the former Titans coach could land next
NASHVILLE — Mike Vrabel will not be the next head coach of the New England Patriots. New England promoted Jerod Mayo internally after parting ways with future Hall-of-Famer Bill Belichick. Vrabel, fired by the Tennessee Titans last week, seemed like a shoe-in for the Patriots gig. After months of rumors and gaslighting about mutual interest […]
NASHVILLE — Mike Vrabel will not be the next head coach of the New England Patriots. New England promoted Jerod Mayo internally after parting ways with future Hall-of-Famer Bill Belichick.
Vrabel, fired by the Tennessee Titans last week, seemed like a shoe-in for the Patriots gig.
After months of rumors and gaslighting about mutual interest between New England and Tennessee's former coach, The Athletic reported that Vrabel was never even contacted by the Patriots about their vacancy. New England wrote into Mayo's contract last January that Mayo would succeed Belichick as the next head coach. Communicating their intentions with the league allowed Patriots owner Robert Kraft to circumvent a full coaching search following the NFL's Rooney Rule policy.
What could that mean for Vrabel?
As of Sunday morning, Tennessee's former coach has not had interviews with any of the six teams with job openings. Multiple sources close to Vrabel have said not to rule out the idea of the coach taking some time off as opposed to jumping right into his next job. The last two year's have been taxing on everyone in the Titans organization, including the ousted Vrabel.
There are teams currently playing on Super Wild Card Weekend that have coaches on less than solid ground, pending their postseason results.
The Dallas Cowboys are one such team. Hosting the Green Bay Packers on Sunday as the NFC's No. 2 seed, Dallas owner Jerry Jones has been making headlines in the lead-up to the game. Jones was asked about the status of Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy following the Week 18 victory against the Washington Commanders.
"We'll see how each game goes in the playoffs," Jones told reporters.
Jones was asked again about McCarthy last Tuesday in a radio appearance on 105.3 the Fan. The Dallas owner clarified that McCarthy was under contract through 2024. Jones added that he "couldn't be more pleased with what (McCarthy)'s done, and how he's coached."
Still, if the Cowboys make an early playoff exit, the 81-year old Jones could make a change.
Vrabel is a name to watch if things go South in Dallas. The only person with a better resumé than the fired Titans coach is Belichick. Vrabel also has a good relationship with Cowboys executive vice president, CEO, and director of player personnel Stephen Jones as two of eight sitting members of the NFL's competition committee.
Tennessee would love to see Vrabel land a coaching job in 2024.
Paying out contract extensions given out less than two years ago to Vrabel and former Titans general manager Jon Robinson is one of implications of the club's decision to move on from both. Vrabel getting hired by another team would offset some of that financial burden.
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