Mike Vrabel’s evolution with Patriots isn’t about changing who he is, but leaning into it

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Mike Vrabel’s evolution with Patriots isn’t about changing who he is, but leaning into it

Matt Vautour · MassLive

Sat, Feb 7, 2026 ·

4 min read

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SANTA CLARA, Calif. — For Harold Landry , the reason for wanting to play for Mike Vrabel again with the Patriots was simple.

“I play my best ball under him,” said Landry, who had 12 and 10.5 sacks in 2021 and 2023 playing for Vrabel in Tennessee . “I know what I’m getting from him. He knows my skillset.”

Landry and linebackers Jack Gibbens and Robert Spillane each came to New England to play for their former coach. They believed in his ability to make the Patriots successful and loved the experience of playing for him.

Recent Boston sports is filled with success stories of coaches who were fired from their first jobs and thrived with a second chance.

Bill Belichick, Terry Francona, Claude Julien, Doc Rivers and John Farrell each came to Boston after being dismissed and then led their teams to a championship. Each was better the second time around.

Vrabel will try to join that club. He was the Tennessee Titans coach from 2018-2023 and went 54-45. He was the 2021 NFL Coach of the Year, but was fired after the 2023 season following back-to-back losing seasons.

He sat out last year, working as a consultant with the Browns, before Patriots owner Robert Kraft hired him to replace Jerod Mayo .

As he prepared to coach his first Super Bowl on Sunday, Vrabel was asked what his goals were when he joined the Patriots.

“I just wanted to win more than what we did. That usually helps,” he said. “I mean, the biggest thing that I learned is that I wanted nothing more than to be a head coach again.”

His role with the Browns allowed him to work directly with players. That reinforced his belief in the value of connecting with players to get the most out of them.

“(It helped me) to just understand how important the connections are with the players and not losing sight of that, even as a head coach,” he said. “My office (in Cleveland ) wasn’t upstairs where the coaching staff was or where the personnel department was. It was downstairs with the players in the training room and the weight room. So, I kind of got back to the basics of just what this game is about and making connections.

“It’s about the people and getting the players to find ways to improve, and to develop them and give them confidence,” he said. “So, maybe it wasn’t something that I wanted to do differently, but it was just an affirmation of this is what’s important.”

His players appreciated the approach. Both Landry and Gibbens said Vrabel had improved as a head coach, but his core remained the same.

“I think he just does an unbelievable job setting the standard for what he wants out of the guys. Setting the culture. How you want to play and the identity we want to play with,” Gibbens said. “He does an incredible job relating to players. As a former player, he understands what we’re going through and he can give that message in a way that other people can’t. It’s super cool to play for a guy like that.”

Landry shared that devotion.

“I feel like Vrabes is one of the most consistent people I’ve known my whole life,” Landry said. “If there’s one area he might have changed in or evolved in — and he was already good at it early in his career, — he finds ways to connect with people outside of football.

“More on a personal level. The more he’s able to do that, the harder guys are going to play for him,” Landry continued. “That’s what makes Vrabes different than other coaches. He cares about you, more than just what you bring to the field.”

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