The biggest factor likely swaying the Patriots to hire Mike Vrabel over Ben Johnson is his prior experience as a head coach. Because Jerod Mayo was put into the role much too soon, the Krafts were assumed to be hesitant to hire another first-time head coach, almost immediately ruling out Johnson this time around.
Because he was the Titans' head coach for six years, there is a lot of history to look back on to assume what he will bring to the Patriots in 2025 and beyond. For the most part, Vrabel was able to elevate the Titans to a competitive level, even leading them to beat the Patriots at Gillette Stadium in what would be Tom Brady's final game with the team.
With that success, he also developed quite the reputation as a coach, with most players he worked with raving about the kind of man and leader he was. That's exactly what the Patriots need at this stage of their rebuild, but it doesn't mean everything will be great.
One of the more prominent players Vrabel coached in Tennessee, left tackle Taylor Lewan, posted a video to Twitter/X after the announcement was made about the Patriots hiring the ex-linebacker. In the video, he shared his feelings on the decision and warned current and future Patriots players about Vrabel's coaching.
Congrats to @CoachVrabel50 and the @Patriots franchise, y’all are gonna win some games 👀
— Taylor Lewan (@TaylorLewan77) January 12, 2025
To all the players and staff in the building, this is a little video for you to reference as you walk into OTAs.
I also suggest any player that gets drafted by the Pats take a peek at this… pic.twitter.com/9Jkuy3ZYSW
Mike Vrabel is the right guy at the right time to turn the Patriots team around
A lot of what Lewan had to say about the kind of coach Vrabel is sounds all too familiar to the Patriots because you could almost argue he was describing Bill Belichick. Although Vrabel was coached by the accomplished head coach, he never coached with him, making his style even more intriguing and probably more successful.
We've seen how far too many coordinators who went on to become head coaches around the league tried to emulate Belichick far too much and inevitably failed, but Vrabel has found a solid balance that gets players to buy in and perform accordingly.
As a former player, he has unique knowledge of the game, too, which will be incredibly helpful in all phases of the game, especially after how poorly the offense and defense performed during the 2024 season. Vrabel will have higher standards and won't be afraid to hold them accountable, just as Lewan said. Both of these seemed like failures of the last regime.
On top of that, the respect he has earned from the players he coached will be significant in this Patriots locker room, as getting them all on the same page, which appeared to be a massive issue this past season.
It's fair for Lewan to send somewhat of a "warning" to the Patriots roster, but as he also stated, there's a lot to look forward to, including winning.