Rival was ‘in love with’ Mike Vrabel until New England Patriots snagged him (report).
It’s a good thing the New England Patriots wasted no time in hiring Mike Vrabel. The New York Jets were reportedly enamored with the idea of hiring him.
During an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak & Bertrand” show, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini outlined how Vrabel had blown away the Jets with his interview.
Mike Vrabel Hired by the New England Patriots: An Analysis
”He’s a beast, man. Like he had any option, and he picked New England,” Russini said. “The New York Jets were in love with him. I mean, talking to that building after his interview. He set the bar so high for them that I almost think it was bad. They were like, ‘This is what we want to be.’”
On Jan. 7, the Jets became the second NFL team to interview Vrabel for their head coach opening (following the Chicago Bears).
Clearly, that started a fire under the butts of team brass in Foxborough. It was just five days later that news broke that the Patriots were hiring Vrabel to be their next head coach.
Vrabel was one of the hottest candidates on the head coach market this offseason. After missing out on a job in last year’s cycle, the former Tennessee Titans coach, spent a year with the Cleveland Browns as a consultant.
Despite the strong market for Vrabel’s services, the Patriots quickly emerged as the front-runner to land him — and it was no secret why. The former linebacker is a member of the Patriots Hall of Fame.
As co-host Scott Zolak suggested, that might be why the Patriots sprinted through the hiring process this offseason. The team fired head coach Jerod Mayo mere hours after the season ended. A week later, reports emerged that Vrabel was New England’s guy once again.
“There’s got to be a little bit of that play in there of ‘We cannot let the New York Jets take our guy,’” Russini said. To me, it all makes sense, obviously historically him going back there. But I think the leadership that he’s gonna bring. He’s just a force. Love him or hate him – he can rub you the wrong way in certain situations – but he’s got a vision. He’s decisive. I’ve always considered him to be one of the smartest coaches in football.”
The Vrabel hire sparked a major overhaul of the Patriots coaching staff. Only a handful of staffers were retained, including special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer, Ben McAdoo and strength coach Deron Mayo.
