Why Leaving Patriots Bubble Was Important For Mike Vrabel’s Development

Mike Vrabel feels at home with the New England Patriots now that he has returned as the franchise’s head coach.

But the Patriots aren’t all that Vrabel knows as a coach. Vrabel, who played eight seasons for the Patriots under Bill Belichick and helped the organization capture three Super Bowl titles in the early 2000s, got vital experience outside the walls of One Patriot Place.

Vrabel started off coaching linebackers and the defensive line at Ohio State immediately after he retired from the NFL following the 2010 season. He then made the jump to the NFL, taking a positional coaching job with the Houston Texans before being promoted to that team’s defensive coordinator. Then came his first crack as a head coach with the Tennessee Titans, which lasted six seasons. Vrabel even used this past season to be a consultant for the Cleveland Browns.

But in the back of Vrabel’s mind was the thought of coming back to the Patriots — an organization where he’s enshrined in the team’s Hall of Fame. He didn’t want to force things, though. Instead, he feels he found his way back to the Patriots at the right time.

“I think it was important for me to go somewhere else, to start another coaching journey,” Vrabel told reporters, per team-provided transcript. “The opportunity at one point was probably presented itself to be here coaching, but I felt like it was important to forge my own path somewhere else, and if all those experiences led me back here at the right time and the right opportunity, then that was going to be what was meant to be. … That was never something that took my time (with the Titans).

“But I think that, when I started my coaching career, I said, ‘Man, let’s go, and let’s see where we can go and take this and work with other people. If the time’s right to go back, then there will be a right time.'”

The experience is where Vrabel vastly differs from his predecessor in Mayo. Mayo spent all eight of his NFL seasons with the Patriots and never coached outside the organization.

Vrabel got different ideas, and saw different ways of thinking put into practice at his various stops. That should aid him tremendously as he looks to facilitate a critical and quick rebuild for the Patriots following a second consecutive 4-13 season.

Vrabel certainly was a sought out candidate on the coaching market this offseason. But after getting looks from several teams, he felt there was only one place where he truly belonged.

“I want to thank the teams that were willing to meet with me through this process to give me an opportunity to potentially lead their team, but in the end, it was clear to me and to my family and my soul that this was the place that I wanted to be,” Vrabel said.