{"id":9806,"date":"2025-01-09T15:35:36","date_gmt":"2025-01-09T15:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806"},"modified":"2025-01-09T15:35:36","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T15:35:36","slug":"patriots-news-between-johnson-and-vrabel-nfl-insider-makes-key-point-patriots-should-consider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806","title":{"rendered":"PATRIOTS NEWS: Between Johnson and Vrabel, NFL Insider Makes Key Point Patriots Should Consider"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Between<\/p>\n

As the New England Patriots continue pondering their next head coach, Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson \u2013 at least so far \u2013 have been the two names we\u2019ve heard talked about the most this week as their potential candidate.<\/p>\n

Obviously, everyone in New England is familiar with Vrabel\u2019s history both here and in Tennessee, with the former linebacker having had a significant amount of success in his first head coaching stint with the Titans.\u00a0 Having been coached by Bill Belichick, Vrabel clearly learned quite a bit.\u00a0 He was situationally smart as a player, and it carried over to making the right decisions in key moments on the sideline when he finally got his first head coaching opportunity.<\/p>\n

As a former player, many of the guys he\u2019s coached also seemed to relate well to him, albeit he\u2019s also a guy who was tough and \u2013 at least judging by some talk as of late \u2013 did a good job of striking a good balance between that.<\/p>\n

But more importantly, Vrabel seemed to do a good job of not only handling his own role, but also managing the people around him and getting the most out of his players.\u00a0 Given how things just played out with Jerod Mayo, that\u2019s clearly a big concern as the Patriots try to ensure they don\u2019t go through a repeat of some issues that were apparent this past season.<\/p>\n

Former NFL Network analyst James Palmer, who is now also an NFL Insider for Bleacher Report and Underdog Fantasy, spoke to Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston in a recent\u00a0Next Pats Podcast and made a good point when it comes to the challenges of a first-year coordinator adjusting to their role as a head coach.\u00a0 With so many responsibilities, it makes it tougher for guys who are so focused on their side of the ball.\u00a0 Perry asked Palmer what might be the solution for someone like Johnson, and if bringing in more people might be the answer, Palmer explained that it sometimes goes beyond having more guys around them, with being able to manage those people being an even bigger factor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know Phil if it\u2019s more people,\u201d explained Palmer. \u201cI don\u2019t know if [former Raiders coach] Antonio Pierce could have brought more people into the Raiders organization than he did. I think it\u2019s making sure you bring the right people. I think we saw with Jerod Mayo\u2019s staff, and you know the intricacies of that probably better than I do, about what went wrong and went right with the things that were below Jerod. I do think he would be one of those people that you look at, and this is something that I\u2019ve heard during this cycle quite a bit, and I\u2019m glad you asked it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like, these these play callers that are outstanding on the offensive side of the ball. Obviously, a lot of them get attention because they work with quarterbacks, and they work as a play caller, and they work designing schemes and coming up with things, and rightfully so. But we all know that this snowballed after one major hire, right? Like Sean McVay. Well, what did McVay do in that first year when he started with the Rams? He brought Wade Phillips in to run a defense to where it\u2019s like, \u2018I don\u2019t have to really be all that concerned, former head coach, guy that\u2019s been around forever, to run one side of the ball so I can maybe have the ability to grow and learn on the job with all of the other intricacies that come with it.\u2019\u00a0 I think those are, not that Ben can\u2019t answer those questions, but it\u2019s the fact that those questions are definitely much more available and prevalent than they are with Mike Vrabel, allows you to ask this question.\u201d<\/p>\n

The point about Phillips is a big one because there were several people who have brought up the fact that Mayo never hired a more experienced coach, who had been a head coach previously, to help him there.<\/p>\n

Some felt Ben McAdoo might have been that person, but with Alex Van Pelt overseeing the offense and essentially handling all of that, it didn\u2019t feel like McAdoo made any impact from that standpoint.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Between<\/p>\n

(PHOTO: Christopher Hanewinckel \u2013 USA TODAY Sports)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But that point is interesting because it was something discussed prior to the final weeks of the season before things melted down.\u00a0 There was discussion that bringing in someone who had been in that position onto the staff to allow Mayo to learn on the job seemed like it might be the plan.\u00a0 But additional factors beyond what happened on the field ultimately ended Mayo\u2019s tenure, which made it a non-factor.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, it sort of fits what they might be thinking with Johnson.\u00a0 Johnson is a guy who is really good at what he does, but Palmer brought up the fact that when you\u2019re the head coach, it changes the way you\u2019re forced to operate given all the other responsibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the best way to describe it is this. I was speaking to a head coach that\u2019s going to get his second goal around, and they\u2019re pretty in vogue in this cycle, Phil, honestly, guys getting their second chance at a head coaching spot,\u201d said Palmer. \u201cI was talking to one of these guys this past weekend, and he said, \u2018This is no slight to Ben Johnson at all. He\u2019s the best play caller in football, in my opinion. This guy\u2019s on the offensive side of the ball.\u2019 He said, \u2018But there\u2019s zero chance him or anybody coming into their first year as a head coach will be the exact same play caller they are as a coordinator. It\u2019s impossible.\u2019 I asked him, \u2018Why?\u2019 He said, \u2018Because there\u2019s just not enough hours in the day anymore.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018There\u2019s a knock on your door every five minutes, whether it\u2019s a coordinator, position coach, the PR team, the training staff with injuries. There\u2019s so many other things that go to it. You just can\u2019t have the time to be the same play caller you were when you were just a coordinator.\u2019 So when these guys like Vrabel and others that have been through it as a head coach before in the past, there\u2019s many more boxes checked on time management, on the ability to handle the week.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Between<\/p>\n

(PHOTO: Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cNow, Ben Johnson, this is no slight to him, you can learn those on the job. A lot of guys have, Kevin O\u2019Connell, [Matt] LaFleur, [Sean] McVay, Kyle Shannon, a lot of them. You just have to know that that\u2019s part of what you\u2019re getting, that those boxes aren\u2019t checked. I think they\u2019re just already checked with Mike. Then you\u2019re going to have to look at Mike\u2019s staff as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the end, for those reasons, that\u2019s why Palmer feels Vrabel may be the better choice for a team that\u2019s looking for the fastest turnaround.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hiring Mike Vrabel. I might be biased in that sense, but just I\u2019m looking for the CEO,\u201d said Palmer. \u201cI\u2019m looking, if I\u2019m Robert Kraft, for\u2026 You look at Robert\u2019s age, you look at where he is, Phil. What did I just describe? Most likely these guys have a quicker turnaround on a program that is near the bottom of the league right now because Mike can check multiple boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve ever seen him work a pro day, it\u2019s one of my favorite times to watch Mike Vrabel. He does it differently than everybody else, finds a way to pull a guy off to the side alone, and he\u2019ll be getting the three-point stance against him, working with technique and all. His player evaluation, he checks so many of these boxes. Not to say Ben won\u2019t be great. I think Ben has a chance to be outstanding. It really does. Really do. But Mike checks more boxes that you\u2019re looking for right now, and he\u2019s had more time to put his staff together. I\u2019m taking Mike Vrabel probably over almost anybody, and I think fit and situation really matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see a better fit in New England than Mike. I think it\u2019s why you see both of these guys who have more options than anybody, Phil, being as selective as they are with where they\u2019re taking interviews. I think they know about the fit as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the Patriots continue pondering their next head coach, Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson – at least so far – have been the two names we’ve heard talked about the most this week as their potential candidate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-england-patriots"],"yoast_head":"\nPATRIOTS NEWS: Between Johnson and Vrabel, NFL Insider Makes Key Point Patriots Should Consider - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PATRIOTS NEWS: Between Johnson and Vrabel, NFL Insider Makes Key Point Patriots Should Consider - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As the Patriots continue pondering their next head coach, Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson - at least so far - have been the two names we've heard talked about the most this week as their potential candidate.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-09T15:35:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/FS4ERD.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806\",\"name\":\"PATRIOTS NEWS: Between Johnson and Vrabel, NFL Insider Makes Key Point Patriots Should Consider - Breaking News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/FS4ERD.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-09T15:35:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-09T15:35:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/FS4ERD.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/FS4ERD.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"PATRIOTS NEWS: Between Johnson and Vrabel, NFL Insider Makes Key Point Patriots Should Consider\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"Breaking News\",\"description\":\"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\",\"name\":\"MrKen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrKen\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"PATRIOTS NEWS: Between Johnson and Vrabel, NFL Insider Makes Key Point Patriots Should Consider - Breaking News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"PATRIOTS NEWS: Between Johnson and Vrabel, NFL Insider Makes Key Point Patriots Should Consider - Breaking News","og_description":"As the Patriots continue pondering their next head coach, Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson - at least so far - have been the two names we've heard talked about the most this week as their potential candidate.","og_url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806","og_site_name":"Breaking News","article_published_time":"2025-01-09T15:35:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/FS4ERD.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"MrKen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MrKen","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806","name":"PATRIOTS NEWS: Between Johnson and Vrabel, NFL Insider Makes Key Point Patriots Should Consider - Breaking News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/FS4ERD.png","datePublished":"2025-01-09T15:35:36+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-09T15:35:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/FS4ERD.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/FS4ERD.png","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=9806#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"PATRIOTS NEWS: Between Johnson and Vrabel, NFL Insider Makes Key Point Patriots Should Consider"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/","name":"Breaking News","description":"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15","name":"MrKen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MrKen"},"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9806"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9808,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9806\/revisions\/9808"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}