(AP) — The New England Patriots have hired Mike Vrabel as their next head coach, removing a candidate the Bears had interviewed for their own head coaching vacancy.
The Patriots announced the hiring Sunday morning. It comes a week after Patriots owner Robert Kraft fired Jerod Mayo after the team’s season finale victory over the Buffalo Bills to finish 4-13 in his lone season as coach.
The Bears completed an interview with Vrabel last week, the team confirmed, one of several they’ve completed virtually with candidates so far. In the latest Bears head coaching development, the Chicago Tribune reported they will interview Ron Rivera at Halas Hall on Sunday, according to NFL sources.
The hiring of Vrabel also eliminates Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, perhaps the hottest head coaching candidate of this cycle, from the Patriots job. New England also interviewed Johnson, and the Bears confirmed Saturday that they have, as well.
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and former Houston Texans offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton also interviewed for the New England job.
But Vrabel, a fan favorite during eight seasons as a player in New England where he was a member of its first three Super Bowl winners and an inductee into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2023, was the preferred candidate because of his long association with the franchise and coaching success during his six seasons in Tennessee.
In hiring the 49-year-old Vrabel, Kraft is turning to another former Patriots defensive standout who, like Mayo, built a reputation as a coach for his ability to relate to players.
But Mayo, who served as assistant under former longtime Patriots coach Bill Belichick, was a first-time head coach and struggled to get results from a young roster led by rookie quarterback Drake Maye. In explaining Mayo’s dismissal Kraft said while he thought he’d identified the successor to Belichick, that in hindsight he now believes Mayo wasn’t quite ready to be an NFL head coach.
In Vrabel’s case, however, he arrives with a head coaching resume burnished by a 56-48 overall record in Tennessee from 2018 to 2023. That includes a 2-3 record in the playoffs and AFC championship game appearance in 2019 as part of a run of three straight postseason berths.
Vrabel served in a consultant role with Cleveland this season, but his contract expired, allowing him to speak with other teams. He also was interviewed by the New York Jets.
The lure of New England won out and now he will look to rebuild the franchise he’s been associated with most during his NFL career.