What a difference a year makes. The New England Patriots, late in 2024, were on their way to the bottom of the AFC East for the second straight year. They won a meaningless game gifted to them by the Bills and, in so doing, blew the first overall pick in the draft.
Jerod Mayo was fired before the dust had hardly settled on the fake turf. In came Mike Vrabel and his now MVP candidate, quarterback Drake Maye, who can't say enough positive things about their relationship.
Patriots' owner Robert Kraft finally snapped out of a half-decade of poor and worse decision-making when he hired Vrabel. It was a year late, but better late than ... Vrabel took command, and the team hasn't looked back.
Maye was mishandled to a fare-thee-well by whoever was making the decisions for the Patriots in early 2024. Whether it was personnel head Eliot Wolf, Mayo, or a combination of both, they failed Maye, and the team suffered.
The rookie never got a snap with the first team the entire preseason, nor until the fourth game of the regular season, in favor of journeyman Jacoby Brissett. The results were predictably awful, and another 4-13 season ensued.
Mike Vrabel knew he had a gem in Drake Maye
When Mike Vrabel came aboard the Patriots' listing ship, he knew he had a massive salvage operation to undertake. Yet the veteran, experienced head coach and NFL personnel evaluator cited two major reasons why he chose New England over other suitors, a year after the befuddled Tennessee Titans had dumped the former 2020 NFL Coach of the Year.
Vrabel made it clear that his familiarity with the Patriots was one reason. A second he cited emanated from a practical on-field standpoint. Vrabel said he took the job because he had quarterback Drake Maye. He was astute enough to see that Maye had been completely mishandled in 2024, with a supporting cast of bottom-of-the-NFL quality. He knew he could win with Maye.
Drake Maye on his relationship with #Patriots HC Mike Vrabel:
— Carlos A. Lopez (@LosTalksPats) December 21, 2025
“It’s important to have a great relationship with your head coach. He’s been awesome to me. He’s not tryna teach me the quarterback position, he’s tryna teach me the role I have as a quarterback. I think that’s been… pic.twitter.com/UbTAaffge8
Drake Maye recognizes he has a gem of a coach in Mike Vrabel
The quote by Drake Maye is illuminating and loaded with meaning. Clearly, the young (still only 23) appreciates the quality of NFL experience Mike Vrabel brings to the table. He was also thrilled that Vrabel said one of the main reasons he even took the Patriots job was that he had him as his quarterback. He knew he was appreciated from Day One.
Additionally, Maye had to be excited even before summer camp began. (And remember the media's laughable, the "sky is falling" after Maye's four-interception first practice episode.) He saw how professionally and determinedly Vrabel assembled an NFL-ready roster.
He'd now have an offensive line that could actually block, after signing three free-agent veterans. Then, Vrabel used two premium draft picks on the O-line, including on the best left tackle in the draft, Will Campbell. Vrabel also signed two top veteran wide receivers in Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins to anchor that listless unit.
Yet, perhaps the most telling thing Maye had to say is that Vrabel is teaching him how to be a quarterback, and all that entails. That's not from a technical standpoint, but from a leadership standpoint. Indeed, that is exactly the Head Coach's primary role with a talent like Maye.
All this has led to a massively improved team, a playoff team, and a dramatically evolving MVP-level quarterback, back-stopped by a very possibly second-time NFL Coach of the Year. The Patriots are back, and for certain, the rest of the NFL should be shaking in their cleats. Happy New Year.