New England Patriots fans became used to having the best coach in the NFL when Bill Belichick was the man in charge of a dynasty that won Super Bowl Championships.
Well, one NFL Analyst is predicting that Mike Vrabel will have a case of deja vu by winning the NFL Coach of the Year Award in his first season as head coach of the franchise where he once contributed to winning three Lombardi trophies as a player.
Mike Vrabel Predicted to Win Coach of the Year in 2025 by Analyst
Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated had a very bold prediction for New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel entering the 2025 NFL season in a recent article.
“Mike Vrabel will win Coach of the Year,” Orr wrote, “The Patriots will nearly sneak into the playoffs as a seven-seed but miss the postseason. While the AFC, particularly in the West, feels ruthless at the moment, there is still an opening for a grimy and competitive Patriots team to finish second in the East behind Buffalo. I make this prediction in full awareness of what was likely the worst prediction I’ve ever made, also in this space, when I projected a God-awful Patriots team to win the AFC East in 2023.”
This is a great time to remind everyone that wouldn’t be the first time Vrabel has won this honor. He was recognized as the Coach of the Year back in 2021 when he helped lead the Tennessee Titans to a 12-5 record, securing a bye before ultimately losing to Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Divisional Round.
Winning the award a second time hasn’t, considering only 13 coaches in NFL history have accomplished that feat with Kevin Stefanski being the most recent to win a second Coach of the Year Award.
What is the New England Patriots Ceiling in 2025?
The New England Patriots have not seen much team success since Tom Brady joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ahead of the 2020 NFL season.
Despite still having some talent on the defensive side of the football, the offense has been an inconsistent mess.
Fortunately, the Patriots saw some encouraging signs from Drake Maye in his rookie season playing behind a struggling offensive line and no true go-to wide receiver to speak of on the roster. They made it clear in the NFL Draft that building around him was a priority by drafting LSU OT Will Campbell, Ohio State RB TreVeyon Henderson, and Washington State WR Kyle Williams to help accelerate Maye’s development in year two under center.
Also, New England spent a ton of money this offseason and landed Milton Williams, who helped lift the Philadelphia Eagles past the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX. The Patriots didn’t stop there because they managed to bring veterans like Harold Landry, Carlton Davis, and Robert Spillane aboard to help bolster the defensive side of the ball too.
Sure, the Buffalo Bills are still going to be the team to beat in the AFC East, but one could certainly construct an argument that the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets didn’t definitively have a better offseason than New England — which could give the Patriots a path to finishing second in the division.
Will that be enough to push for a playoff spot? That remains to be seen, but with Vrabel’s coaching success, a young franchise quarterback, and a defense with some really nice pieces at key positions… the Patriots could exceed expectations in 2025.
