It looks like Robert Kraft got lucky.
The Patriots owner probably should have hired Mike Vrabel a year ago, when the former Titans coach was unexpectedly available. But he’d already made his ill-fated contractual promise to Jerod Mayo which left him stuck.
All of that should have had longer-lasting consequences. Vrabel probably should have been snapped up by somebody else last year. But in an odd cycle, he wasn’t hired, making him available this time around. Maybe if Vrabel had been employed elsewhere, Kraft would have convinced himself to stick with Mayo for another year.
But Vrabel’s availability gave Kraft the ultimate mulligan, one that will allow the New England owner to introduce the former Patriots linebacker as his new head coach on Monday.
Kraft could acknowledge the failure of hiring Mayo without having to gamble on another first-year boss, a college coach or somebody else’s castoff. But maybe most important to Kraft, he didn’t have to hire somebody he doesn’t know.
The fact that Vrabel was available made the best choice an easy one. Kraft hasn’t run an actual coaching search since 1997 when he hired Pete Carroll. The two hires that followed — Bill Belichick in 2000 and Jerod Mayo last year — were both examples of Kraft selecting people who he already knew, liked and trusted.
It had worked so well with Belichick that it made Kraft overconfident enough to choose Mayo.
With Vrabel, Kraft could hire a candidate who was widely considered one of, if not the best candidate available this offseason. At the same point, he’s choosing someone who knows how to make the Patriots and Kraft feel appropriately important. A large percentage of the fan base will love that Vrabel is a walking trigger of good memories, while the Krafts can appreciate that he played for Belichick, but isn’t part of the estranged coach’s inner circle.
When Vrabel was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2023, the highest honor Kraft and the franchise can bestow, Vrabel addressed the Gillette Stadium fans.
“I don’t want you to take this organization for granted,” Vrabel said. “I’ve been a lot of places, this is a special place with great leadership, great fans, great direction, and great coaching. Enjoy it, it’s not like this everywhere.”
Foxborough, MA – October 22: Mike Vrabel speaks during his induction into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame. The Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills, 29-25. (Photo by Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)Boston Globe via Getty Images
Vrabel, intentionally or not, likely planted a seed in Kraft’s mind. He still had the love and devotion for the franchise that the Patriots owner craves. It reportedly had the opposite effect in Tennessee.
“This was Amy Adams Strunk making the decision based on a lot of things,” NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport said after Vrabel was fired. “Including what happened when he went to New England for the Hall of Fame thing, Including not dispelling rumors, in-house, that he was going to be Patriots coach. There was a lot there.”
The rumors were premature. There’s no way Vrabel could have seen the future enough to set up some long-game plan. There were too many potential roadblocks.
- The 2023 Patriots could have finished strong enough to save Bill Belichick’s job.
- The Titans could have chosen to keep him instead of Ran Cathorn, the G.M. he was at odds with (who they ended up firing this year).
- Somebody else could have hired Vrabel last year.
But none of those things happened allowing Robert Kraft to reverse a mistake and perhaps fix his franchise and his legacy all in one shot.
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.
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