NFL Rumors: Patriots Could ‘Pry’ Coach After Hiring Mike Vrabel
The New England Patriots addressed their biggest offseason need by naming Mike Vrabel as their newest head coach, but that alone didn’t stop the rumors.
Vrabel, New England’s Jerod Mayo replacement, rejoins Foxboro with eight seasons under his belt as a Patriots player and 11 seasons as a member of the Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns coaching staffs. Still, that leaves a few more coaching voids to fill and perhaps Vrabel’s past ties could help that cause for New England.
“The question now is who would the coordinators be?” NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported Sunday. “… Shane Bowen, currently the defensive coordinator with the Giants. I had mentioned the other day, I didn’t expect the Giants to make a change at defensive coordinator but Bowen was with Vrabel in Tennessee so if they wanna pry him away perhaps the Giants will allow Bowen to walk and head up to Foxboro. We’ll see about all that. Those dominoes are going to fall into place.”
Bowen spent three seasons as Vrabel’s defensive coordinator with Tennessee, and the rapport between the two could come full circle with the Patriots. Vrabel and New England also have the liberty to seek permission to speak with Bowen, but the Giants could block the request. A departure makes sense, especially when considering how New York’s defense, which never fit under Bowen’s scheme, performed last season.
The Giants ranked ninth in allowing the most yards (346.8) per game and 12th in points surrendered (24.4), which wasn’t good enough to catapult New York into contention territory — the team finished 3-14 at the bottom of the NFC East.
Vrabel’s relationship with Bowen, coupled with their solid runs with the Titans, make the 38-year-old a reasonable and potentially effective follow-up hire as the Patriots work to clean up their 4-13, last-place campaign under Mayo.