Patriots Mike Vrabel Wins Prestigious End Of Season Award

The New England Patriots exceeded all expectations this season, going 14-2, winning the AFC East and making it all the way to the AFC Championship Game.

The Patriots’ turnaround started with the hiring of Mike Vrabel. Vrabel was the 2021 Associated Press Coach of the Year and is a finalist for the Award again this season. Liam Coen, Ben Johnson, Mike Macdonald and Kyle Shanahan are the other finalists.

While the AP Award winner will not be announced until later, Vrabel has already started collecting awards. He was named the Professional Football Writers of America Coach of the Year for this season.

“This is the second PFWA Coach of the Year honor for Vrabel as he won the 2021 award with the Tennessee Titans, and the eighth Coach of the Year award for the Patriots’ franchise, as Vrabel joins Chuck Fairbanks (1976 AFC), Raymond Berry (1985 AFC), Ron Meyer (1987 AFC), Bill Parcells (1984) and Bill Belichick (2003, 2007, 2010) as New England honorees,” wrote the PFWA.

Vrabel joins Drake Maye, TreVeyon Henderson and Andy Borregales as Patriots to earn PFWA honors this season. Henderson and Borregales were named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team and Maye was named the PFWA All-AFC Team quarterback.

Vrabel joined George Seifert and Jim Caldwell as the only coaches to win 14 games in their first year as head coaches of a franchise. The PFWA has named a coach of the year every year since 1966.

Vrabel joins some legendary coaches and Hall of Famers as the latest to win the award multiple times. However, the Patriots still have work to do to achieve their ultimate goal. They must win their matchup with the Denver Broncos on Sunday to advance to the Super Bowl.

Vrabel won three Super Bowls as a player with the Patriots, and now he is trying to bring the Lombardi Trophy back to New England as a coach.