Not Even Bill Belichick Accomplished Mike Vrabel’s Latest Feat With Patriots
There are a lot of reasons why the New England Patriots have raced out to a 9-2 start in the 2025 campaign. The addition of Mike Vrabel as the team’s new head coach, though, appears to be very close to the top of that list.
After enduring a horrific 2024 campaign with Jerod Mayo leading the charge, the Pats opted to quickly move on from him and bring Vrabel to town. At the time, it was a bit of a controversial move, but the results are hard to argue with through 11 games.
New England is riding an ongoing eight-game win streak, with its latest victory coming in Week 11 over the New York Jets. With that win, Vrabel ended up joining an exclusive club of Patriots’ head coaches to have a winning record in their first year in charge of the team. Notably, the legendary Bill Belichick isn’t even a part of this list.
Of course, it’s worth noting that first-year success, or lack thereof, doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things when discussing Belichick. Considering how he went on to win six Super Bowls with New England, his rough start in 2000 is largely forgotten.
No two coaches take the same path to success in the NFL, and Vrabel is off to a red-hot start with the Patriots. The work has only just begun for him, though, as he has to help his squad not only prove that they are a true contender, but that they can consistently win at this level for years to come.
That is what Belichick was able to do with the Pats, and if Vrabel can do the same thing, he’ll join some lists that his former head coach is on, which is the sort of company most coaches in the NFL are looking to join. Vrabel will lead his team into battle once again in Week 12, as a meeting with the Cincinnati Bengals awaits.