The New England Patriots crushed it by hiring Mike Vrabel. At least that’s what coaches and executives across the league reportedly think.
That’s according to The Athletic, which recently polled 10 NFL personnel executives and coaches and asked them to assess the seven hirings this offseason.
Vrabel and the Patriots dominated the polling. The hire in Foxborough received nine of the 10 first-place votes along with one third-place vote. The only other hire to receive a first-place vote was the Bears hiring former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
“(Vrabel has been a) successful head coach with bona fide leadership ability, which is underrated with the personalities in today’s game,” an executive said to The Athletic. “He’s really organized situationally within the game. His personality fits the northeast, where they’re going to run the ball and play good defense. And he has a quarterback.”
The Patriots were the lone team to appear in the top five on all 10 ballots. The Johnson hire appeared on five ballots, as did the Raiders hiring Pete Carroll.
Here are the full results of the poll from The Athletic:
- Mike Vrabel, Patriots
- Ben Johnson, Bears
- Pete Carroll, Raiders
- Aaron Glenn, Jets
- Kellen Moore, Saints
- Liam Coen, Jaguars
- Brian Schottenheimer, Cowboys
The Saints officially closed out this year’s hiring cycle Tuesday when they announced the hiring of Moore as head coach, filling the league’s last head coach opening.
