Patriots already have viable interim HC candidates in place if Mike Vrabel situation tied to Dianna Russini keeps escalating
Vrabel took the Patriots to the Super Bowl in his first season as a head coach in New England, but this has been an intense offseason off the field.
Nobody in New England wants Mike Vrabel out as the Patriots head coach at this point. In his first season on the job, the coach led the team to the first Super Bowl appearance after the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady era.
But this has been a wild offseason. The drama involving Vrabel and former The Athletic NFL insider Dianna Russini is not stopping, and the details are getting more and more intense. Therefore, it warrants a serious conversation about a potential Mike Vrabel successor, if he eventually needs to step away from his position.
At least, the Patriots have several options on the current coaching staff to step in if needed, even if those are never ideal circumstances.
Josh McDaniels
The offensive coordinator has had two head coaching experiences, with the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders. He didn’t have success in either one, but the experience to execute the position is there. Before going to the Raiders, McDaniels was perceived as the natural successor to take over after Bill Belichick retired. However, that never materialized.
Doug Marrone
The offensive line coach also has two NFL head coaching tenures, for the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars. In the second one, by the way, he initially took over as the interim HC following the firing of Gus Bradley. Then, he got promoted on a full-time basis. He also had a college HC experience at Syracuse. An experienced offensive line coach, he’s been with the Patriots since last season. The decision to put him at HC would allow Josh McDaniels to stay as the offensive coordinator and avoid disruption for quarterback Drake Maye.
Jeremy Springer
Springer is the youngest of the options at 37. Teams like to utilize special teams coordinators as interim head coaches because they already have a complete understanding of the entire roster. And, usually, strong connections on both sides of the ball. That would allow McDaniels to stay as the offensive coordinator and Zak Kuhr as the defensive coordinator.
Terrell Williams
Initially hired by Vrabel as the defensive coordinator, he missed a significant portion of the 2025 season due to a medical condition. With Zak Kuhr ascension as the defensive play-caller, Williams was moved to an assistant head coach position. His promotion to interim HC would offer the least disruption on the staff, even though he has no head coaching experience.