Getty Image / billie Weiss
The New England Patriots made a smart move when the cut ties with Jerod Mayo after just one year, a year in which Mayo showed that he was frequently outclassed by other head coaches. They seem to have made a great hire by bringing in team legend Mike Vrabel to be the team’s head coach on Monday.
On Tuesday, Vrabel raised some eyebrows when he made comments about his offensive philosophy. In fact, the comments should scare Patriots fans a bit, as they’re pretty out-of-touch.
All things considered, Mike Vrabel is a pretty good hire. He went 54-45 in six seasons with the Tennessee Titans, including three playoff appearances and one appearance in the AFC Championship Game. That’s a pretty good resume, especially when an average-at-best Ryan Tannehill was the quarterback he had to work with. Drake Maye will be, by far, the most talented quarterback that he has got to work with. And, as a defensive coach by trade, you know that he will improve the defense.
But, these comments on offensive philosophy raised an alarm with me and I’m sure did the same with many Patriots fans. Take a look.
the complementary statistic to “teams who ran the ball 40+ times in a game are 155-2” pic.twitter.com/THo7Joxs2d
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) January 14, 2025
Yes, it is true that teams that run the ball a lot in a game happen to win a lot, and teams that throw the ball in a game happen to lose a lot. But, that doesn’t really tell us anything about optimal football strategy. What it tells us is that teams that are ahead in games are more likely to run the ball and teams that fall behind need to pass to try to catch up. It’s like saying teams that get in victory formation win football games 99.9% of the time. It’s technically true, but doesn’t mean anything.
Hopefully, Vrabel brings someone in with some clue on analytics-based offensive thinkings. These comments make it seem like he doesn’t have a clue.