Mike Vrabel Makes Admission About Journey Back To Patriots

Mike Vrabel officially became a Patriots coach Sunday, but he apparently could have occupied that tile earlier if he felt so inclined.

Speaking with the media at his introductory press conference in Foxboro, Mass., Vrabel was asked if he ever dreamed about one day becoming Patriots head coach. The former New England linebacker acknowledged such a hypothetical didn’t cross his mind until he started his coaching career, which could have included a stint on Bill Belichick’s staff if Vrabel wasn’t motivated to cut his teeth outside of One Patriot Place.

“I think it was important for me to go somewhere else, to start another coaching journey,” Vrabel told reporters, per a team-provided video. “The opportunity at one point probably presented itself to be here coaching, but I felt like it was important to forge my own path somewhere else. If all of those experiences led me back here at the right time and the right opportunity, then that was gonna be what was meant to be.”

Vrabel started coaching at his alma mater, Ohio State, before gaining his first NFL coaching experience with the Houston Texans. Of course, the three-time Super Bowl champion gained most of his critical acclaim in Tennessee, where he won Coach of the Year in 2021 and earned a significant playoff road win over the Patriots in early 2020.

The idea of Vrabel coaching in New England didn’t seem likely at this time last year when Jerod Mayo was named Belichick’s successor. But the sides eventually came together, proving it was, indeed, “meant to be.”