The Patriots have appointed Mike Vrabel as the 16th head coach in the history of the franchise.

Mike Vrabel has made his return to the New England Patriots, who have appointed the former player as their new head coach. While the specifics of the contract were not disclosed, sources informed ESPN's Adam Schefter that Vrabel has entered into a multiyear agreement with the team. The Patriots officially announced his hiring on Sunday morning, marking him as the 16th head coach in the franchise's history. Vrabel, who played as a linebacker for the Patriots from 2001 to 2008, was a key contributor to three Super Bowl-winning teams. He previously served as the head coach of the Tennessee Titans from 2018 to 2023, achieving a regular-season record of 54-45 and a playoff record of 2-3, which included a run to the AFC Championship Game in 2019. Recognized as the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year in 2021, Vrabel succeeds Jerod Mayo, who was dismissed on January 5 after a disappointing 4-13 season as head coach. The Patriots are set to formally introduce Vrabel at a news conference scheduled for noon ET on Monday at Gillette Stadium.

The Patriots conducted interviews with several candidates for the vacant position, including Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions, Byron Leftwich, the former offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Pep Hamilton, who previously held the same role with the Houston Texans.  Although Mike Vrabel is primarily recognized for his tenure as a player with the Patriots, which also encompassed periods with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1997 to 2000 and the Kansas City Chiefs from 2009 to 2010, he has not held a coaching position in New England. His coaching career commenced in 2011 when he took on the role of linebackers coach at Ohio State, his alma mater. After three seasons at Ohio State, he spent four years with the Texans before leading the Titans as head coach for six years, a tenure that concluded following two consecutive losing seasons. In 2024, he served as a coaching and personnel consultant for the Cleveland Browns. At 49 years of age, Vrabel was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2023, where he expressed his deep appreciation for the franchise and its owner, Robert Kraft, stating, "This is a special place with great leadership, great fans, great direction and great coaching. ... It's not like this everywhere." He also reflected on the fact that this visit marked only his fifth return to New England since his trade to Kansas City in 2009, reminiscing about his time there, particularly the early years of raising his two sons, Tyler and Carter, with his wife, Jen.

During his tenure as a player in New England, Vrabel earned accolades from Coach Bill Belichick for his exemplary fundamentals, commitment to team success, resilience, leadership abilities, situational awareness, and intelligence, among other commendable traits. The teams he subsequently led in Tennessee reflected these same qualities, particularly his proficiency in game management—a skill set heavily influenced by Belichick—that garnered significant admiration from Kraft, according to a team source. A prominent example of this occurred during the Titans' playoff victory over the Patriots on January 4, 2020, when Vrabel astutely took advantage of a rulebook loophole, enabling him to consume 1:49 from the game clock in the fourth quarter without running a play, effectively keeping quarterback Tom Brady off the field. In his 2023 address at the Patriots Hall of Fame, Vrabel reminisced about his time in the New England locker room, underscoring that the standards he experienced there serve as a model for his coaching goals. "We held each other accountable, because there was trust, there was an understanding, a respect that you could say things that needed to be said to each other," he stated. "Every day that's what I'm trying to recreate wherever I coach. I don't know if we'll get it, but every day I'm going to try because nothing was more important than the team."