After the downfall of Bill Belichick and the disaster that was the Jerod Mayo era in New England, it was important for Robert Kraft to hire an experienced and proven head coach to bring the Patriots back to relevance, and quickly. It's a big reason he was in on Mike Vrabel from the start, and is the foundation for which he was hired.
We've seen the fruits of his labor already this season, as the Patriots went into their bye week with an 11-2 record and at the top of the AFC playoff picture. It's not what anyone could have predicted, despite how good Vrabel has shown himself to be as a head coach in the past, and he's proving that again with what he's led the team to in such a short amount of time.
He's already considered one of the top nominees for Coach of the Year, an award he won with the Titans in 2021, and could easily win it again just four years later.
He certainly walked into an ideal situation, with the league-high cap space to use in the offseason and what appeared to be a franchise quarterback to build around, and Vrabel has helped ensure they will reach their highest peak this season, as they're on the brink of locking down the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
That could be the way he becomes the undeniable favorite to win COTY as soon as next week.
There's a path to Mike Vrabel locking up Coach of the Year as soon as Week 15
When the Patriots return from their bye, they will prepare to face the Bills at home in Week 15, hoping to sweep Buffalo for the first time since the 2019 season. It was a feat that Cam Newton and Mac Jones were unable to accomplish, but the Drake Maye-led team can get it done next Sunday.
A win would extend their win streak to 11, and could lock up the AFC East since Tom Brady's final season in New England, which surely makes it easy to award Vrabel with the Coach of the Year title.
Not a single analyst believed the Patriots could win double-digit games this year, and they certainly didn't predict that they could win the division at all, never mind in Week 15. But if that becomes reality, Vrabel deserves much of the credit, and giving him the award would be an appropriate salute to what he's done.
Leading a team to their first playoff berth in four years, along with an MVP favorite in their quarterback, and having one of the most improved rosters in all phases of the game is enough reason to have Vrabel at the top of the board for the award already, so taking back the vision from the Bills would only strengthen the argument.