The New England Patriots looked rudderless in the last few years of Bill Belichick's tenure, but they have managed to get their swagger back almost instantly after hiring Mike Vrabel to be their next head coach.
Vrabel quickly turning around and becoming a coach is not a shock to many, as one of his former teammates in ex-Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi had a premonition that Vrabel would be on the sidelines at either the college or pro level before he did anything else.
In an exclusive interview with FanSided on behalf of HeartMates, Bruschi said that Vrabel being in this position isn't too surprising for him, as he and many of his Patriots teammates knew that Vrabel would head into the coaching ranks once he decided to hang it up as a player.
"We all thought he would be [a coach]," Bruschi said alongside Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin. "We didn't think he would be a head coach, but we figured that he was going to find his way into coaching because of the way he approached the game, even as a player."
Patriots great Tedy Bruschi says he knew Mike Vrabel would be a coach
Vrabel jumped into coaching right after retiring from the Kansas City Chiefs in 2010, as he joined his alma mater Ohio State as linebackers coach before moving to defensive line coach. Former Patriots assistant Bill O'Brien brought Vrabel to the NFL with the Houston Texans as defensive line coach in 2014 under another ex-Pat in defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel.
After one season as the DC in Houston, another former Patriot in Jon Robinson named him head coach of the Tennessee Titans. Vrabel turned things around, even bringing them to the AFC Championship, but a sour ending to his time in Tennessee led to his return to New England.
Even though the result of the Super Bowl was what it was, Vrabel has given this franchise a spark after years in the doldrums. How else does one explain going from picking No. 4 overall in 2025 to coming just one game away from the sport's ultimate prize in one offseason?
Bruschi knew that Vrabel had the smarts and leadership needed to be a coach in this league, but it seems like the speed with which he has gotten the Patriots back on the right track has even surprised someone who shared the linebacker room with him for years.