With the Patriots expected to be among the handful of teams needing a new head coach for the 2025 season, Mike Vrabel was immediately at the top of the list as their favorite and most likely candidate to take over that role after Jerod Mayo was dismissed.
Although that's what inevitably happened, with the Patriots announcing the hire one week after their season ended, it was a lot closer to not happening than anyone realized.
It was no secret that Vrabel was one of the most highly pursued candidates for a new head coaching role this offseason. After being fired from the Titans, he spent a year with the Browns in various roles and was quickly viewed as a prime candidate once again. Almost every team needing a new head coach expressed interest.
Vrabel set up a few interviews with other teams besides the Patriots, and that's when the Raiders became a dark horse destination to potentially steal the former linebacker away from returning to Foxboro. Tom Brady's minority ownership was said to have sparked interest from both sides, but that wasn't entirely the case.
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The Raiders were allegedly interested in interviewing Mike Vrabel, but never followed through
Despite the ongoing rumors about a connection between Vrabel and the Raiders, NFL insiders Mike Garafolo, Tom Pelissero, and Ian Rapoport reported that Las Vegas never requested a formal interview partly due to comments Vrabel made to Brady.
“The most rumored landing spot for Mike Vrabel for months was with the Las Vegas Raiders considering they have his old friend and teammate, Tom Brady, there as the minority owner and running their coaching search.
My understanding is the Raiders never requested an interview or tried to bring Mike Vrabel in because Vrabel essentially told Tom Brady, ‘I’m gonna end up going back to New England.’ Other teams were aware that was the likely landing spot for Mike Vrabel for quite some time.”
Because the rumors began to heat up as soon as the Krafts decided to dismiss Mayo, it seemed like they had strong competition to hire Vrabel for the 2025 season. It only looked worse for New England once the Raiders fired their general manager, too, with rumors suggesting Brady would have more influence over the incoming new staff than previously expected.
Fortunately for the Patriots, the feeling of a reunion with Vrabel was mutual and stopped him from setting up an interview out west and allowing New England to hire the guy they wanted all along.