Once the Patriots announced they were moving from head coach Jerod Mayo after one season, there was a lot of concern about who Robert Kraft would ultimately decide to be his successor. They had just fired tenured coach Bill Belichick the year before and the inexperience of the 2024 staff appeared to set the team back much further than progressing forward like the owner hoped.
That made it clear that the next man for the job had to be experienced in the NFL as a coach and/or coordinator and knew many good people to help make up his staff for the 2025 season.
With that in mind, it made sense that ex-Patriots linebacker and former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel was the frontrunner for the job. Not only was he well versed as a player, spending time in all three phases of the game throughout his career, but he also had experience as a coordinator and spent six years as the head coach in Tennessee.
It's exactly what the Patriots need moving forward and he hired a great group to make up his staff for the season ahead. He brought in many coaches he had previously worked with and was expected to add his own front office hires, too, which made it surprising that he chose to keep Eliot Wolf around.
But hearing the latest on what's going on behind the scenes, it's not surprising that Vrabel kept the presumed GM in the building.
Mike Vrabel has been given a lot of say within the Patriots organization
There has been some speculation regarding the working relationship between Vrabel and Wolf this offseason, mainly because the head coach was used to having a strong voice regarding the roster and the draft, while Wolf solely had those responsibilities last year.
There was even more discussion about how they would work together once Vrabel hired some more front office personnel, including Vice President of Football Operations and Strategy John Streicher and Vice President of Player Personnel Ryan Cowden.
It appears things are so far so good in Foxboro, especially since the latest reporting from The Boston Herald's Andrew Callahan and Doug Kyed claims the head coach has a lot of say in what's going on with the roster and is involved in nearly every aspect of the offseason behind the scenes.
"In certain meetings, even with Eliot Wolf present, Stretch, Ryan Cowden. [Mike Vrabel is] in charge. He's running the room."
— Patriots on CLNS Media (@PatriotsCLNS) March 3, 2025
Checkout the latest @PatsInterferenc w/ @_AndrewCallahan & @DougKyed as they discuss all their intel from the NFL Combine: https://t.co/elvrSvlOjl
CLNS… pic.twitter.com/kPG5p8IrfP
Related: Patriots' plans for approach to free agency is exactly what fans want to hear
Considering the unmatched experience Vrabel has as a player and working his way up on the coaching tree, it's good to hear that he's involved in everything the Patriots are doing heading into free agency and the draft.
The biggest complaint last year was Mayo's and his coaching staff's vast inexperience, seemingly leading to a disappointing offseason and 2024 season.
That shouldn't be the case with Vrabel and Co., and the expectation is they will put the team in the best position possible next season by spending their league-high cap space and utilizing their draft positioning to add the best players to the team.
Hopefully, they'll accomplish that. They certainly have all the tools to make it happen.