Patriots Rumors: When New England Could Hire Next Head Coach

The Patriots quickly moved on from Jerod Mayo and appear on track toward filling their head coaching vacancy before the conference championships.

New England reportedly will interview Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson this week. The Patriots already interviewed Byron Leftwich and Pep Hamilton, satisfying the NFL’s Rooney Rule, so they can hire a head coach anytime they want.

There’s a case to be made that Robert Kraft and the rest of the team’s leadership should go through a whole process before making an offer. However, The Athletic’s Chad Graff on Wednesday reported that “a decision is expected to come quickly” after Vrabel’s and Johnson’s interviews.

“Patriots owner Robert Kraft has a track record of being decisive when it comes to picking head coaches,” Graff wrote. “The expectation is that this will continue and New England will have an agreement with its next head coach next week.”

Graff added that team president Jonathan Kraft, executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf and senior personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith were part of the head coaching search.

Vrabel remains the frontrunner, according to multiple reports. However, Johnson still has a shot, and a final decision will depend on how the interviews this week go.